Yes, I think we've finally entered a buyer's market even in East Honolulu. There are fewer buyers who are qualified to purchase and more inventory on the market. Buyers who have been on the fence shouldn't be afraid to make offers. If they are preapproved or cash buyers they have the power in the current market.

The market overall on Oahu is almost evenly split, with half of the areas going up and half going down:
http://hicentral.com/hbr-stat.asp
SF is down from a year ago, condos/townhomes are up. For April 2008, SF Days on the Market has been dropping across the state since January (61) to 43 this month. I think this is because median list prices have dropped down to $725,000 for SF from $749,000 6 months ago. That should tighten up inventory and hopefully set more realisitc expectations for sellers.

Aloha:

I am Broker In Charge at RE/MAX Honolulu.
If you want accurate Sales Data for Oahu and associated Neighborhoods, please visit my website at http://www.hawaiirealestatestatistics.com

You can email me directly at mikeg@hawaii.rr.com

Much Aloha,
Mike Gallagher
Broker in Charge
RE/MAX Honolulu

Here's a gread article on how you can tell if it's a Buyer's market:
http://www.crystalclearmarket.com/?p=66

Trulia has the stats for Hawaii Kai here:
http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Honolulu-Hawaii/

Hope this helps. Good luck to you.

Yes, it continues to be a Buyer's Market!
Here are the numbers for Sept. 17, actives and sales, in Hawaii Kai:
Single Family Homes
Active Listings: total 123
Under $1,000,000 - 37
$1,000,000-$1,200,000 - 12
$1,200,000-$2,000,000 - 48
$2,000,000-$17,888,888 - 26
Listings Under Contract: total 23
Under $1,000,000 - 13
$1,000,000-$3,575,000 - 10
Sold in the last 6 months: total 130
Under $1,000,000 - 86
$1,000,000-$1,200,000 - 15
$1,200,000-$2,000,000 - 23
$2,000,000-$4,500,000 - 6
Condos
Active Listings: total 83
From $365,000 to $1,288,000
Listings Under Contract: total 34
From $320,000 to $1,580,000
Sold in the last 6 months: total 152
From $300,000 to $1,150,000

Just wanted to follow up with August numbers for Hawaii Kai. Single family home prices in Hawaii Kai did increase a healthy 3%. http://www.prudentiallocations.com/oahu-real-estate-report.asp. So if you have some buyers waiting for prices to fall, you might want to share the numbers with them.

If you you look at the stats just released in Prudential Location's July Oahu Real Estate Report http://www.prudentiallocations.com/oahu-real-estate-report.asp prices for both condos and single family homes have dipped in Hawaii Kai. Although prices in general for Oahu show growth, Hawaii Kai showed a drop -1.6% for single family homes and -7.6% for condos.

Yes it is, and as always the deals happen when the buyer learns how and when to say Yes!