The Hilo real estate market, the largest component of the Big island real estate market, saw increasing home sales despite an extremely high rate of foreclosures. According to a May 5, 2010 article from Pacific Business News, “The Big Island’s April home sales jumped 76 percent over the previous year while the number of condominium sales climbed 72 percent. The Big Island recorded 162 single-family home sales last month, up from 92 in April 2009.” The piece, which was highlighting what was likely the result of the federal homebuyer tax credit, went on to say that “Condo sales totaled 43 last month, up from 25 in April 2009, according to Hawaii Information Service. The median sales price for a single-family home rose 4 percent to $239,950 from $230,500 in April 2009. The median price for condo units declined 13.8 percent to $250,000 from $290,000 during the same month last year.”

There were more foreclosures in the Hilo and Hawaii markets during the month of April, however, which may have flooded the housing market with low-cost Hilo homes for sale. According to a May 13, 2010 article from the Honolulu Advertiser, “Real estate in Hawaii’s foreclosure pipeline hit a high for the year last month, signaling that homeowners continue to struggle with mortgage payments even as the economy and real estate market are showing signs of a slow recovery.” The piece, composed by Andrew Gomes, continued to say that “Hawaii was one of six states with foreclosure counts that at least doubled in April from a year before. At one foreclosure filing for every 348 households, Hawaii’s foreclosure rate was 11^th-worst in the country. It was also worse than the national average of one filing per 387 households. The Big Island had the worst rate, at one filing per 179 households, or 445 filings in all.”

A survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association reported the same negative news for the Hilo housing market. According to a May 20, 2010 article also by Andrew Gomes in the Honolulu Advertiser, “The Mortgage Bankers Association said in a report released yesterday that 7,889 home loans statewide were in foreclosure at the end of the quarter, representing 4.76 percent of loans.”

For many years Hawaii has promoted health through its pure water supplies, clean air, and healthy living environment, yet Hawaii is also the source of many locally grown products that also promote health, one of which is the Noni fruit.

Grown primarily on the Big Island and on Maui, the Noni fruit comes from small evergreen trees that grow primarily along Hawaii’s beaches and forest areas.

The fruit has long been used by the native Hawaiians for its medicinal properties, and today the fruit is known to contain an extremely rich source of cellular rejuvenating enzymes. Noni fruit grown in Hawaii is said to be the best because of the pure air, water, and soil in which they are grown.

Some of the many benefits the Noni fruit is said to promote include strengthening immune functions, improving digestive health, and overall promoting a prolonged and healthy lifestyle. The fruit has often been used to help treat heart problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, and other degenerative ailments. Hand picked and processed, the Noni fruit can provide its health benefits through products including, Noni capsules, Noni vegetarian capsules, Noni soap, and Noni sun screen.

The island of Hawaii is often referred to as the Big Island in order to avoid confusion with the state of Hawaii. With an area of 4,028 square miles, the Big Island is the largest and youngest of the eight major Hawaiian Islands, which include Ni’ihau, Kaua’i, O’ahu, Moloka’i, Lana’i, Kaho’olawe, Maui, and the island of Hawai’i. The volcanic island is said to have been named for Hawai’iloa, the Polynesian navigator who is believed to have been the first person to discover the Hawaiian Islands.

Another story also claims that the island was named after Hawaiki, a place where the Polynesians believed they came from and where they would go to in the afterlife. The Big Island is administered as the County of Hawaii, and the county seat is Hilo, which is also the largest community on the Big Island, with a population just over 200,000.

The Big Island is perhaps most well known for its volcanoes, especially Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Kilauea, which is also one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The most popular volcanic attractions on the island is the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is home to both Mauna Loa and Kilauea, as well as a volcano museum and hotel called the Volcano House. Aside from the town of Hilo, which is located on the island’s east coast, the other major settlement on the Big Island is Kailua-Kona, which is located on the island’s west coast. Most visitors to the island stay at either Hilo or Kailua-Kona, where most of the island’s dining, shopping, and entertainment opportunities are located. ]]> http://www.theviewpoint.org/hawaii/the-big-island/feed/ 0