The Honolulu Advertiser reports on Hawaii's housing bubble. "In January, the median list price of a single-family home was $699,000, according to the Honolulu Board of Realtors. Last year, the high point for single-family list prices came in October, when the median list price was $698,000."

"While sellers continue to list at high prices, the homes aren't moving as fast as they used to and the inventory is growing. January saw 738 new single-family listings,. The number of new single-family listings in one month topped 700 in August for the first time since the Board of Realtors began keeping records in 1986."

"'The inventory has risen considerably,' said Bryn Kaufman, a real estate agent in Kailua. 'The fact that some sellers are starting to reduce prices and accept lower offers is helpful. It started to happen right near the end of last year and it's working its way into this year. A lot of people priced into the upswing in the market and now they're overpriced.'"

"Out of 1,627 single-family homes for sale, 533 have seen price drops, Kaufman said. For homes that have been on the market six months or more, the average price was $2.5 million, Kaufman found."

"Alicia and Jon Sturnick of 'Ewa Beach dropped the asking price on their Ocean Pointe house by $15,000 and are starting to get the uneasy feeling that they missed the peak of O'ahu's latest housing boom. 'If we had put it on the market earlier, we would have definitely sold it already,' Alicia Sturnick said. 'I knew the market would slow down but I didn't know it would happen so soon.'"

"The Sturnicks, like many others interviewed, have dropped their price and continue to hope for any kind of offer. But in their Ocean Pointe neighborhood, they have found that 52 other homes are also for sale. Several other single-family homes are brand new and priced in the same range. 'I think I missed a very profound peak,' Jon Sturnick said. 'I'm a little bit disappointed. But I know our house will sell and the price will go up.'"

"Raul and Nancy Dollente originally listed their Kapolei house at $581,000, 'then we dropped it to $579,000, then $565,000,' he said. 'Now we're going $555,000.' I'm not really sure how long we've had it for sale,' Raul Dollente said. 'Since October? It's been so long already.' The assessed value is $581,000. 'Somehow it will be sold,' Raul Dollente said. 'I just don't know when.'"

"Kari Waldhaus and her husband, Jack, bought their three-bedroom, two-bathroom house on Kakoo Place in upper Makakilo in 2004 as a rental home. After renting the house for a year and cleaning out the smell of the renters' Great Dane and bulldog, the Waldhauses put their house on the market in October for $549,000."

"They had one offer below their asking price that fell through. After that 'nothing happened,' Kari Waldhaus said. 'Then in November we dropped the price to $515,000 and offered a credit back for closing costs. Thirty days later we dropped it to $499,000. We were thinking that getting it under $500,000 would make it sell. We were wrong. Now the house has sat vacant for five months. That house has a negative cash flow. Not fun.'"

"The house and property are assessed at $506,400. Kari asked whether she and her husband should invest more money in improvements, but her agent said that would only drive up the sale price or their costs, which they might not recoup. So the Waldhauses are left with an empty home and the nagging suspicion they missed O'ahu's real estate peak."

"'We should have gotten in in July or August when things were flying off the market,' Kari Waldhaus said. 'I read and pay attention to the market and everybody thought it would be a gradual thing. But it's like somebody flipped a light switch and people stopped buying.'"