Page 4 Friday, February 5, 2021
THE GARDEN ISLAND
www.thegardenisland.com
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Julie Black, Principal Broker & Owner (808) 652-6174 with daughter Kela Caspillo, Realtor Sales Person (808) 652-6173 kauaidreams.com
Featured Homes
Wailua Rise Poirson Estates #2 Beautiful and spacious home includes 3 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms of multi-level living including a loft that overlooks the first floor. This home has high ceilings, tall windows, air conditioning and new house fan. Detached garage, covered patio, an entry lanai with mountain views, and backyard privacy. This property is part of a 2 unit CPR. Solar photovoltaic, energy battery storage seller. Price reduced. Easy to see. Give us a call. $750,000 MLS 639345. Donavan Flores (808) 346-6484 kalakaneboi@gmail.com
Long-term mortgage rates flat; 30-year stays at 2.73% ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — U.S. long-term mortgage rates were flat this week, staying near record lows as the economy remains burdened by the coronavirus pandemic. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate home loan remained at last week’s 2.73%. By contrast, the rate stood at 3.45% a year ago. The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate loans, popular among homeowners seeking to refinance their mortgages, ticked up to 2.21% from 2.20%. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell to 779,000 last week, the government reported Thursday, a still-historically high total showing that a sizable number of people keep losing jobs to the coronavirus pandemic. The damage from the pandemic to the U.S. and global economies suppressed mortgage rates through most of 2020. Economists forecast modest increases in home-loan rates this year. But they likely will remain relatively low, with the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates near zero as needed until the economy recovers.
US contract signings to buy homes hits record for December ASSOCIATED PRESS SILVER SPRING, Md. — The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes declined slightly for the fourth straight month, but it was still a record high for December. The National Association of Realtors’ index of pending home sales dipped 0.3% to 125.5 in December, an all-time high, according to the Friday report. An index of 100 represents the level of contract activity in 2001. Contract signings last month rose 21.4% over December 2019. Contract signings are considered a barometer of purchases that will take place the next one to two months. While it’s not always completely accurate, Friday’s report would suggest a strong winter for the housing market. Regionally, contract signings were essentially flat in the West and South, while they declined 3.6% in the Midwest. Signings rose 3.1% in the Northeast.
SURVEY: CHANGES IN PANDEMIC MOVING Mike Schneider ASSOCIATED PRESS ORLANDO, Fla. — Mattie Scull moved with her boyfriend last summer from a 500-square-foot apartment northwest of Orlando to an oceanside house near Daytona Beach because they were tired being on top of each other while quarantining in the small flat. “We were sick of it, sick of each other,” she said. But now Scull, 26, is searching for a less costly place to live as she and her boyfriend have decided to separate. Like many U.S. residents who have moved during the pandemic, her reasons for moving have shifted over the course of the year. The survey released Thursday by Pew Research Center said people who moved because of the pandemic in the fall were more likely to cite financial stress as their top reason compared with those who moved in the spring, when fear of catching the virus was the most important reason. The Pew survey said that 5% of U.S. adults moved because of COVID-19 in November compared with 3% in June, the last time the survey was conducted. A third of those who moved because of COVID-19 in November cited financial reasons, such as a job loss, compared with 18% of those in June. Meanwhile, the percentage of those surveyed who said the reason for the move was fear of getting COVID-19 declined from 28% to 14% from June to November. Some 12% of pandemic movers surveyed in November said the reason was because there were too many COVID-19 restrictions where they were living — a ques-
MARK LENNIHAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Workers load boxes into a moving truck in The Bronx borough of New York for a family leaving their 14th floor apartment amid the coronavirus pandemic. tion that wasn’t asked in June. A smaller share of pandemic movers during that time moved in with family, going from 61% to 42%. A reason for that decline could be that more people purchased or rented their own homes, like Scull, rather than moving in with others, according to the survey. “It gave us more space,” said Scull, a proposal manager for a software company, referring to July’s home purchase. “We had been planning to get a house together anyway, but the pandemic made it irresistible.” Young adults in Scull’s age group — 18 to 29 — were the most
likely of any age group in both surveys to have moved, with 11% saying they did so in the November survey. Hispanic and Black adults were more likely than white adults to say they had moved because of the virus, according to the November survey. In that survey, 9% of Hispanic adults, 7% of Black adults and 4% of white adults said they moved because of the pandemic. From Nov. 18 to 29, Pew conducted a survey of 12,648 U.S. adults and the results were compared with those from a survey conducted June 4 to 10, 2020. The participants were members of Pew
Research Center’s American Trends Panel, an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. Shana Roen was one of those pandemic migrants who moved in with family last fall. Roen, 32, who works in event planning, was living in Atlanta but gave up her apartment and relocated to her parent’s home in Orlando in November after conventions and other events dried up. “I decided to move home because I couldn’t afford rent, and there wasn’t job stability,” Roen said.
Hawaiiana Management Company, Ltd. Serving Kauai’s Condo & Community Associations with award-winning service
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awaiiana currently serves nearly 60 residential and commercial associations on the Island of Kauai. Kauai native Sunshine Ruiz Hatto serves as Hawaiiana’s Director of Kauai 2SHUDWLRQV IURP LWV RIŅFH DW WKH .XNXL *URYH Executive Center in Lihue.
Sunshine Ruiz Hatto Director Kauai Operations
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Serving nearly 60 associations on Kauai 99% retention rate among clients Local (vs. mainland) banking All employees are in Hawaii
BOB WILSON SR. MANAGEMENT EXECUTIVE
LUCY TAYLOR SR. MANAGEMENT EXECUTIVE
KIMBERLY NORTON MANAGEMENT EXECUTIVE
RICHARD ROBERTS MANAGEMENT EXECUTIVE
WHIT VAN BLARGEN MANAGEMENT EXECUTIVE
THERESA LEWIS MANAGEMENT EXECUTIVE
Hawaiiana’s Kauai Properties: Alihi Lani Alii Kai at Hanalei Alii Kai II Aliomanu Estates Apopo Hale Emmalani Court Halaulani Condominium Hale Honu Halelani Village at Puhi Halemalu at Puhi Hanalei Bay Villas Hooluana Condo at Kohea Loa +RRNHQD DW 3XKL Kahala at Poipu Kai Ka‘iulani of Princeville .DNHOD 0DNDL 2FHDQYLHZ Kalaheo Pali Kai Kalihiwai Ridge Kauai Beach Resort Kauai Beach Resort Association Kawaihau Sports Villa . * (QWHUSULVHV &RQGRPLQLXP .RKHD /RD 0DVWHU $VVRFLDWLRQ .RORD *DUGHQ $SDUWPHQWV Kuhio Shores at Poipu .XNXLĢXOD Lae Nani 0DNDQXL 0DQXDORKD Paliuli 3LNDNH Plantation at Princeville Poipu Crater Poipu Kai Association Poipu Kai Racquet Club Poipu Kai Water Reclamation Poipu Kapili Poipu Sands Princeville II Community Association 3ULQFHYLOOH 0DNDL 5DQFK DW +DOHOHĢD Princeville Paniolo Princeville Sealodge I Puamana 3XKL ,QGXVWULDO 3DUN Pu‘u Po‘a Regency at Poipu Kai Regency Hule‘ia Regency Villas at Poipu Kai Sandpiper Village I The Villas at Poipu Kai Villas at Puali Villas of Kamali’i Villas on the Prince :DLNRPR 6WUHDP 9LOODV Wailua Bay View Waipouli Beach Resort Hawaiiana is “here” and open for business during this uncertain time. Deemed an essential business, Hawaiiana is maintaining its regular business hours. While our meeting room is open to the public, we are currently only able to accommodate a maximum of three people. Please feel free to contact us via phone or email. You may also visit our website at hmcmgt.com to contact your property management team, ask questions about your bill or receive COVID-19 updates.
For more information about Hawaiiana’s services, contact Sunshine Ruiz Hatto at 792-0515 or email sunshine@hmcmgt.com. HINAHEA LANGI OFFICE MANAGER, SENIOR ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
RACHELE BURNS ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
TORI WAIALEALE ISHIBASHI ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
www.hmcmgt.com