An e-mail message from the Hawaii Association of REALTORS® asks its members to communicate with the Hawaii Supreme Court concerning a rule change proposal. Here's the message:

The Hawaii Supreme Court is considering a rule change proposal that would define the unauthorized practice of law in Hawaii . If adopted, the rule would prevent a real estate licensee from explaining certain aspects of a home purchase to consumers, and assisting a client in completing or responding to a Purchase Contract. To put it simply, it would effectively prevent real estate licensees from serving their clients.

Your livelihood is at stake.

This is an important issue for all REALTORS® and other professionals and it must be taken very seriously.

The Pearl City-Aiea area is a major population center and has a mix of many older homes as well as new dwellings. For research purposes, this neighborhood is geographically defined by the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® as Tax Map Key , Zone 9, Sections 6 through 9.

During 2007, this area had the most severe drop in sales on the island, but the median prices were unchanged. Last year, 207 single family homes changed hands, a 22.5% decline from the number of 2006 sales. In the first 2 months of 2008, there was a 50.0% drop in sales.

The median price paid in the Pearl City-Aiea area in 2007 was $615,000, exactly the same as in 2006. The highest price paid for a single family dwelling in 2007 was $1,400,000. This year, with even fewer sales, the median price has jumped to $700,000 for the first 2 months.

There is a shortage of listings in this area, with only 65 homes available in February. This compares to 57 at the same time last year, an increase this year of 14.0%. Asking prices have fallen somewhat, with the median list price at $659,000, down 2.4% from one year ago.

Sales in 2007 took only 29 days to consummate, the fastest for any research area on O`ahu, including in the condominium market. This compares very favorably to the 41 days required to sell a home in 2006, in a stronger market.

For further information about recent activity in your specific neighborhood, check out the information available on the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® website www.HiCentral.com or contact a REALTOR® in your area.

Sales for February were reported today by the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® and the figures were very low, both compared to last year and in real terms. Median prices, however, continue to be holding at current levels.

The reported sales for February came in at 163 single family homes and 321 condominiums. These figures represent a significant decline from a year ago when the numbers were 272 and 402, respectively, and this means sales decreases of 40.1% and 20.1%.

The median prices for February were $599,000 and $335,000, with the latter price tying records set last year. The single family home price fell below the $600,000 mark for the first time since 2005, but only by $1,000, and prices are still double what they were in 2000.

Why did we have such a major sales shrinkage? My theory is that there's been an overwhelming number of negative reports on housing in the national media that consumers are reacting to and are taking a wait and see attitude. Even though the economic conditions in Hawaii remain pretty strong, incomes are still rising and unemployment is still low, people are afraid of what's around the corner.

I continue to believe that the current softness is probably a normal part of the regular business cycle and shouldn't be a reason to avoid the market. Financing costs are still quite low and the FHA loan limit was just raised, a positive move for the housing industry. Asking prices for the inventory continue to be reduced, even though there hasn't been much of an increase to the supply of available homes.

We need to see what happens to the economy in the next few months to predict when (not if) the market will recover, but this is certainly a good time to arrange a deal on real estate.

The Kaneohe neighborhood is home to a large military community and houses many military families. For research purposes, this neighborhood is geographically defined by the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® as Tax Map Key , Zone 4, Sections 5 and 6, as well as parts of Sections 4 and 7.

Sales were off in 2007 from year earlier levels but the percentage comparison showed less of a decease than for overall O`ahu. In 2007, there were sales of 227 condominiums in Kaneohe, a 12.4% decline from the 259 units sold in 2006. Last month, in January, 11 sales took place, a drop from the 15 dwellings that were sold at the same time in the prior year.

Prices for Kaneohe condominiums actually advanced in the last year. The median price paid in 2007 was $400,000, a 5.3% rise above the $380,000 price paid during 2006. The highest price paid for a condo in the past calendar year was $1,850,000.

Market times were little changed in the last year. The median time a property was available before a sale occurred was 35 days in 2007, a single day faster than in 2006.

For further information about recent activity in your specific neighborhood, check out the information available on the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® website www.HiCentral.com or contact a REALTOR® in your area.

The Honolulu neighborhood is one of the oldest residential areas on O'ahu. For research purposes, this neighborhood is defined by the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® as Tax Map Key , Zone 1, Sections 8 and 9, and all of Zone 2.

Activity in Honolulu during 2007 almost matched that of 2006. There were a total of 237 single family homes sold last year which compares to the year earlier of 240, just 3 sales more. In January of this year, there were 11 properties changing hands.

Median prices in this area have been pretty solid. For 2007, the median price paid for a dwelling in the Honolulu neighborhood was $805,000, a decline of 2.4% from 2006 when the price was $825,000. The highest price paid for a home in 2007 was $2,600,000. Last month, the median price was over $1 million, at $1,100,000, and the highest price was $2,000,000.

The inventory of available homes in this area increased 12.4% in the past year, quite a bit more than the overall O'ahu increase of 7.4%. And, asking prices have decreased, going from $1,095,000 last year, to the current $975,000. The inventory count for Janaury was 109 homes.

Sales speed actually improved in 2007. Last year, single family homes sold with a median market time of 39 days, a week faster than in 2006, and substantially faster than the overall island statistic for 2007 of 47 days.

For further information about recent activity in your specific neighborhood, check out the information available on the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® website www.HiCentral.com or contact a REALTOR® in your area.