With the new year, comes new VA loan limits. Unfortunately, to the surprise of many, the loan limits for 3 out of 4 Hawaii counties have gone down considerably.

  • Honolulu County: 2010 VA Loan Limit =$700,000 (2009 Limits – $783,750)
  • Hawaii County: 2010 VA Loan Limit = $625,500 (2009 Limits – $625,500)
  • Kauai County: 2010 VA Loan Limit = $625,500 (2009 Limits – $775,000)
  • Maui County: 2010 VA Loan Limit = $625,500 (2009 Limits – $681,250)

You would think that the the new loan limits are in direct correlation to the median sales prices in those particular counties, but we found a few anomalies that contradict this as referenced below:

According to City-Data.com, below are the median sales prices for a house or condo in 2008 (most recent numbers I could find):

Now check out the relationship between median sales price and 2010 VA Loan limits for the following three counties:

Now keep in mind that these median sales prices are for 2008, but really, has the values in these counties gone up that considerably since (if at all)?