The Honolulu Advertiser reports there is no shortage of housing on one island. "Carmen Leal was so frustrated in her search for a home to rent last summer that she remembers the experience with horror. But as Honolulu's rental market enters a much different summer this year, conditions are so renter friendly that Leal feels she's the one in control as she searches for an apartment."

"Leal posted a request on the Internet for a two-bedroom unit at around $1,600 per month and landlords are suddenly coming to her. 'I'm just getting flooded with responses,' said Leal, now emboldened to negotiate for a better price."

"The Advertiser Sunday classifieds listed 1,074 units for rent on Sunday, May 14, compared with 752 on Sunday, May 15, 2005. 'All of us are experiencing vacancies unlike a year ago, where that was very limited,' said Cathy Matthews, property managers on O'ahu.'"

"Landlords and property managers say the increased supply is being fueled, in part, by military families moving back to the Mainland while their military members are deployed; and by real estate investors who can't resell their properties at the prices they want and have to add them to the pool of rental properties already on the market.'"

"The addition of even more rental homes means that some landlords, already facing rising property appraisals and property taxes, have to cut rents just to keep properties occupied and cash flowing through their units."

"'Inventory is definitely higher than before,' said Carl Frazier, owner and property manager. Frazier has been unable to find a tenant for a luxury two-bedroom, two-bath condominium. The condo has sat on the market for more than a month. To try to generate interest, Frazier has dropped the price $100 to $2,800 per month. 'It would have gone very quickly one year ago. Now lots of inventory is driving prices down,' Frazier said."

"For investors, Frazier often has to tutor them on the change in Honolulu's rental market. 'I have owners that want me to raise the rent because their property taxes went up,' Frazier said. 'They don't understand that I can't arbitrarily raise rent under a lease. Their monthly bill has absolutely nothing to do with what we can get for rent. What the market will bear is what the market will bear, even if their monthly negative (cash flow) is too high.'"