Well, I can't believe it's already been a month since the 4th of July. We're now rolling into August, 2024. This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate and what we're going to do is recap what we've seen over the past year. I diid a YouTube video this past year covering VA loans and PCSing to Hawaii and celebrating the 4th of July.
4th of July in Hawaii
We've had a really busy summer with home sales and I'm just trying to play catch up now. Please take a look at the video above celebrating the 249th birthday of our nation. We're excited about 250 coming up next year! We're going to talk a little about 4th of July in Hawaii, what it means.
Then, we're going to jump into VA home loans in Hawaii, history of VA loans, going back to COVID (you'll see some charts below) going back to 2020 and through today, 2nd quarter of 2024. Then, we're going to cover the higher value loans for VA, which are basically north of $1 million. Once, again, enjoy the video of our national anthem on the 4th of July in Waikiki. Last year, it was really special as my sister in law and this past month, my daughter got to sing with her.
National Anthem in Waikiki
MacFarlane Regatta in Waikiki
A tradition in Waikiki is they have the Walter J. MacFarlane Regatta, which is a canoe race in and out through the surf in Waikiki. The first event of the day, which is really cool is an event catered towards our veterans. We have all branches of the armed services there. I've helped participate in this in the past.
VA Home Loans in Hawaii
Now, let's dive into the meat of the VA home loans here in Hawaii.
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As we look at this first chart, we're going to start off where we left off last year, which was basically the 2nd quarter of '23. As you look at this, we're continuing to see strength in condo sales over single family homes. That's purely because of affordability in this current interest rate environment. Now, what you will see is after the 3rd quarter of '23 sales volumes tapered off into the 4th quarter (which is pretty standard). It did pick back up as we got here into 2024.
Now, this next chart has to do with high value VA loans over $1 million here on Oahu.
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Like the previous slide, we're tracking from the 2nd quarter of '23 to see what's happened over the past year (which will be more to the right side of this chart). To take you back to a little bit of history, in early 2020, President Donald Trump removed the ceiling for VA home limits in Hawaii and across the nation, as long as you qualify for the loan. So, we've been doing deals north of $1 million and some over $2 million, as long as those buyers can qualify.
You'll see the bulk of the deals taking place are for single family homes. After the '21-'22 peak of our real estate market here on Oahu, we started tapering off once interest rates started tightening, when we got into '23. What you will see with the blue lines, with the single family homes, sales have started to increase again. However, in the 1st quarter of this year, there were literally zero VA loans on Oahu for condos over $1 million. That got a little bit alarming, but the 2nd quarter we saw 5 condo loans over $1 million for VA loans on Oahu. It's a sign that things are starting to pick back up and this past week we've a little bit of a loosening of rates. So, it'll be interesting to see how we finish out this summer.
Best Deal for Veterans
In the big scheme of things, VA loans are one of the best deals going for our veterans. Not only can you do 100% financing, but the rates are lower than what us as civilians are having to pay. One of the awesome things about veterans buying in Hawaii is our BAH (Basic Allowance of Housing) rates are some of the highest in the nation.
If you take a look at the link here, you can see what the BAH rates are for Hawaii.
PCSing to Hawaii
I hope you found that information useful. Now that we've covered VA home loans in Hawaii and what's been happening with them, as well as the high value VA home loans north of $1 million. I hope you enjoyed that special treat of our national anthem and 4th of July in Waikiki. That's what we do for a living. We help our veterans. Whether you're buying or selling here in Hawaii, feel free to reach out and give us a shout. Mahalo!