O'ahu median home price tops half a million for first time - 2005-02-02
O'ahu's housing market began the new year with a new record, as the median price of a previously owned single-family home topped the half-million-dollar mark for the first time.

Average rates on a 30-year mortgage provided by Hawai'i lenders have hovered around 5.5 percent during the last several months, after edging over 6 percent in the middle of last year.
Read the full story at Honolulu Advertise

Fed Raises Interest Rates by Quarter-Point - 2005-02-02
The Federal Reserve nudged short-term interest rates higher Wednesday, part of a campaign begun last June and expected to continue well into this year to keep inflation and the economy on an even keel.

Even with the Fed's string of rate hikes, longer-term interest rates, such as mortgage rates, have behaved well, in part reflecting investors' confidence that the Fed is managing inflation. Rates on 30-year mortgages fell last week to 5.66 percent, declining for a fourth straight week.
Read the full story at ABC News