As Maui real estate experts, we like to keep our eye on the Hawaii economy as a whole, especially when the reports focus on statistics that can influence the Maui housing market. Amid the nervousness and tension surrounding last week’s government shutdown, we were glad to read about the report from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu that provided statistics on a 4.4 percent drop in the number of bankruptcy cases filed in Hawaii, compared to the same month last year.

The change wasn’t astronomical, but slow and steady wins the race. According to the report, there were a total of 153 cases filed under all the bankruptcy codes, compared to 160 cases filed during September of last year. There were 329 cases filed in September of 2010, and 574 in 2005, which makes it really clear that we have come a long way.

If you look more closely at the breakdown of these statistics, you find that the 38 Chapter 13 cases comprised an 8.6 percent increase compared to the 35 cases filed in September of last year. However, there was a 9.6 percent drop in Chapter 7 liquidation cases with 113 filings, compared to 125 during the same month last year.

In a nutshell, we’re seeing gains and losses, but the gains are more substantial. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court also announced that they would remain in operation for 10 working days, through October 15th, during the government shutdown. Hopefully, the economic impacts of the shutdown will be minimal. In the meantime, we can be glad of the good news we’ve had.

If you need any assistance with your Maui real estate search, you’ll find our contact information at the bottom of the page. We would be happy to help. Mahalo for reading this week!

RealEstateMauiHawaii.com – By Mark Harbison