Well, the numbers in our Kauai market for January 2009 did not look great. The market volume was down almost 50% from the prior January. But, the numbers can sometimes be misleading. In December, only six escrows were opened. However, in January, 40 properties are either in a contingent escrow or under contract (meaning there are no contingencies to the sale).

There are definitely more buyers on island, and  lots of folks stopping into OPEN HOUSES, which are held pretty much seven days a week in this vacation resort destination paradise. The good news is that people are getting off the fence, and realizing that given interest rates and the sellers becoming more flexible, this is an excellent time to be buying. I hear many people comment that they wish they had some extra cash so they could be buying up the good deals on island.

Remember that January's number are pretty much a reflection of what happend in November, not in January. So, January increase in volume will certainly effect the sales numbers in the upcoming months.

You can DOWNLOAD the statistics for the KAUAI REAL ESTATE MARKET for January 2009