 |
 Real Estate Corner
|
The market continues to be very active and in fact is being described as a boom by analysts at the University of Hawaii. It seems as though hardly a week goes by without someone or an other relating an "unbelievable" tale of the price someone else received for their home, condo or land. For anyone here ten years or longer, it is a welcome relief after what happened immediately following Hurricane Iniki on September 11, 2002. In those days you couldn't give property away and after two hurricanes in ten years, who knew what the future would bring? But the market apparently has a short memory (same thing is true about the stock market)and will most likely continue rising as long as demand continues to outpace supply.
Although the run up in the past year or two has been especially dramatic, looking at the past ten years provides a bit more perspective. The total increase averaged over those ten years is not too much greater than historical averages in the Hawaiian Islands. It's just that Kauai had a lot of catching up to do after the steep decline in prices following Iniki.
The question often asked is "How much longer can this continue?" And unless you have a crystal ball, no one knows the answer. I have noticed that a much higher percentage of sales are being made by mainland buyers than was the case five years ago. Given the very high prices in many areas of California and other major metropolitan areas, Kauai's prices still seem, on balance, average. It seems to me that as long as this impression of affordability relative to their home market continues for these mainland buyers, demand and with it prices, will continue to rise.
|
BACK TO THE MENU »
|
|
|
|
PAST ISSUES 
