Good morning, and happy Thursday!

The Federal Reserve paused rate hikes for a 3rd straight time this year - if you’re considering a real estate purchase in Hawaii, is this good news?

As always, text me at (808) 228-5528 with any questions. Let’s win together.

Investors are growing hopeful that the Fed’s rate hiking campaign may be coming to an end. After last Friday’s weak jobs report showing a rise in unemployment rate, treasury bonds sold-off, while major stock indexes soared to it’s best week since November 2022.  

So what does this mean for the Hawaii real estate market?

Pending sales, or properties actively under contract to purchase, has steadily declined at a rate of around 300 a month, since the Fed started increasing rates in March 2022.  I don’t expect this trend to reverse until early next year. In this slower market, a homebuyer in most cases will be able to negotiate price reductions and seller credits to their hearts content. If you’re considering selling your home, it’s critical to price your asset correctly. Even now, there’s almost 8,000 active contracted buyers out there.

Rate Update with Pua

There have been more than a few days in the recent past with absolutely massive day-over-day swings in mortgage rates. In fact, on each of the 4 days of the month, mortgage rates changed by more than 0.10%, which is a relatively large move even when it shows up all on it’s own.

But the volatility is dying down quickly in the current week, in not a bad way either. Putting Monday’s corrective spike aside, the past two days have seen the average 30yr fixed rate fall by a total of less than 0.10%.