Adam and Ashley Cachero attended the Hawaii Homebuyers Fair on Saturday, hoping to find out whether they should buy a home.

By the time they were ready to leave, the Kalihi couple decided they would definitely buy either a town house or condo between Salt Lake and Pearl City or a house farther west on Oahu.

"It’s pretty much a guarantee," said Adam Cachero, 31, who works in the medical field. He said he learned he can buy a house with a mortgage for about the same or less than his current rent. "It was actually really informative."

About 900 people attended the second annual event hosted by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser at the Hawai’i Convention Center, said Cyd Kamakea, the paper’s advertising manager.

She said eight mortgage companies and 16 real estate companies participated, giving attendees a chance to prequalify for home loans and look for properties at the same time. About 40 vendors also attended the event, offering information on home renovation and construction.

Elina Grugier-Bell, mortgage banking manager at First Hawaiian Bank, said the bank’s loan officers were busier than at last year’s event and were able to prequalify some for loans. She said buyers were younger this year and interested in purchasing in the Kakaako area.

Linh DePledge, vice president of marketing at Prudential Locations, said the market is good for buyers because interest rates remain low at about 4 percent for a 30-year mortgage. But at the same time, sellers may receive multiple offers because the inventory is low.

She said attendees filled the company’s two free seminars on first-time homebuying, showing a demand for information.

"There’s a lot of confusion," she said. "There’s a lot of news about what’s going on in the market, but the key thing is for them to be informed about what’s going on in the neighborhood that they want to get into."

She said the homebuyer’s workshop aims to educate buyers so they can determine what they want. Prudential offers the workshop every month at its Diamond Head and Pearlridge locations.

"Right now, there’s a lot of different things happening in the marketplace that’s ideal for first-time homebuyers, but they need to be educated," she said. "Real estate is about timing and being prepared to act."

She also pointed buyers to Prudential’s app, which shows what’s on the market as soon as it becomes available.

The one-day event also included several free trolley tours of ongoing residential development in Kakaako.

Christian O’Connor, senior asset manager with Kamehameha Schools, narrated part of the tour, describing how Kamehameha Schools and the Howard Hughes Corp. will develop Kakaako into a walkable community.

He said Kamehameha Schools plans to add about 2,750 units in seven towers to nine blocks bordered by Ala Moana Boulevard, South Street, Halekauwila Street and the UFC Gym — all by 2017.

With seven new towers on 29 acres, the community will still be less dense than what was proposed in a previous master plan, which slated 18 towers for the same area, he said.

He spoke about design that will "enliven the pedestrian experience" and commercial space with an emphasis on production rather than transactions so residents "can learn and grow within this community."

But some remained unconvinced by the vision.

Lee Hutchins, 72, of Tucson, Ariz., who is looking for a one-bedroom home in Honolulu, said the tour was like "listening to the salesman talk."