The Garden Island reports from Hawaii. "Kaua‘i home sales had a slower start than last year, with the Kaua‘i Board of Realtors reporting an almost 17 percent drop in the number of January island-wide house sales. January condominium sales fell about 70 percent."

"However the numbers don’t necessarily represent a trend, said Scott Lindman, president of Kaua‘i Board of Realtors. 'This is a very small sample,' he said. 'I believe that the demand is going to remain constant, and supply will remain constant.'"

"Both houses and condos stayed on the market longer in January 2007 than in January 2006. Houses took an average of 164 days to sell, up from 100 days in January 2006. Condominiums took 300 days to sell, compared to 38 in the year earlier period."

The Honolulu Advertiser. "The O'ahu single-family median home price slipped to $600,000 in January as the housing market continued to cool from record highs. The Honolulu Board of Realtors said the median was down 2.4 percent from $615,000 in January 2006."

"The median O'ahu condominium sales price was $320,000. Both condominium and single-family home prices are below record highs of $329,000 and $668,300 set in July 2006 and May 2006, respectively."

"The market is cooling off as we've seen for over a year now, and it will probably continue to cool, but prices are holding," Shapiro said. "I think it will stay this way at least through 2007."

"Harvey Shapiro, the board's research economist, is projecting that the number of homes and condominiums sold on O'ahu this year will fall for a second consecutive year, but remain at healthy levels compared to the low transaction rates of the mid-1990s."

"'The market is cooling off as we've seen for over a year now, and it will probably continue to cool, but prices are holding,' Shapiro said. 'I think it will stay this way at least through 2007.'"

"Richard Rice, an Olomana resident who has his four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath home on the market for $759,000, said he believes prices won't dip much farther based on his experience with Hawai'i real estate and what he's read from experts. He said he believes prospective buyers visiting his open houses in recent weeks have the 'buy-before-it-takes-off again' mentality."

The Star Bulletin. "Inventory of single-family homes also grew, to 1,747 last month compared with 1,578 a year ago, according to the board's economist, Harvey Shapiro. The condominium inventory grew to 2,288 last month compared with 2,125 a year ago."

"However, the total inventory remains less than it was three months ago, board figures show."

"Jim Wright, president of Century 21 All Islands, says the volume of homes sold shrank over the past five quarters but that more contracts are moving around, meaning that more shoppers are out negotiating."

"'It's what I call a neutral market,' he said. 'It's not a seller's market and it's not a buyer's market. It's just a negotiable market. You're going to get a fair deal if you work it out.'"

"Wright said he expects to see a 5 percent decline in value this year but also a higher number of units sold."

"Veteran Realtor Margaret Murchie said buyers today are cautious. 'I think we were flying so high, we were due for a transition,' she said."

"Murchie, who specializes in selling, said she has canceled a few listings from clients whose asking prices were unrealistically higher than the current market."

"Sales seem to have slowed on the North Shore and Ewa side, according to Realtor associate Tony Kawaguchi. 'If you have a nice house, and it's updated with granite counters and wood floors and it's in decent condition, you can sell it in a few weeks,' he said. 'A lot of homes are not in great condition ... and people are just not buying those anymore because there's more selection.'"

"A notable boost to Kaka'ako's population began yesterday as the first residents of the twin-tower Moana Pacific condominium picked up keys. An estimated 2,000 or so people who over the next few months will settle into their units."

"The project's 720 units make it the third-largest residential high-rise condo project on O'ahu. The first two, Hokua and Ko'olani, opened early last year. Five others are planned or under construction in Kaka'ako, while several more are planned or under construction in Waikiki and downtown."

"Research analyst John Jacobson, said the impact on O'ahu's real estate market of such a large condo will be that many people will be moving out of homes, apartments and other condos, though the greater effect on the market won't be huge."

"'With our continued growth of the condo inventory, the (new) building is a relative drop in the bucket,' he said, adding that there were more dramatic condo development booms in the late 1970s and late 1980s."