Well, aside from the rare fire sale due to extreme matters that may force some owner of a condo to sell way below market, I'm here to tell you that finding something in Waikiki that is dirt cheap or for that matter far below market is a tough thing to do right now. The factors at play are a key ingredient.
As you know, Hawaii is a U.S. Dollar based economy. If you are a holder of that dollar your buying power has been shrinking ever so slowly for the past few years. However, while the purchasing power of some dwindles that means there is a rise in the purchasing power of others. Canada, Japan, Australia, China, and the European countries have been some of those mentioned whos purchasing power has continued to climb. I bring up those countries because they have a large part in ownership of Waikiki condos. See my blog on buyers from Canada. Buying U.S. property is a great way for people holding those respective currencies to make a play on making money via a currency correction in the future along with future price appreciation.
From my standpoint if I were from outside of the United States it would make pretty good sense to me investing in the U.S. right now. Why not put your bet on the U.S. dollar recovering? It has only been the the fuel for the worlds strongest consumer based economy the world has ever seen. Everything goes in cycles, buy the currency when it's low and sell it when it's high.
Waikiki is also a high demand area where people want to own property. So, Waikiki is protected a little by the theory of Supply and Demand. And even though Waikiki is always bringing on more supply it keeps getting eaten up by hungry buyers. This building below is a high end development called the Watermark. It still has to be completed, but it's virtually sold out.
Another reason why Waikiki is a little more stable is because the wild and crazy loans that were taking place on the mainland were a little more limited here. Mainland lenders do not really flourish here in Hawaii. Although Countrywide has a large presence here most of the lending is done by Hawaiian banks who have different lending requirements.
I keep my eyes open at all times for "dirt cheap" properties, but taking the above into consideration you can see why I don't come across them very often. It is a great time to buy and if you are interested in owning your own piece of Hawaiian property please give me a call and I'll let you know what I can do to make it a reality.
Brought to you by: Rob Gerichs - RE/MAX Honolulu
Your All Oahu Real Estate Agent
(808) 284-4441 http://www.hawaiirob.com/ Rob@HawaiiRob.com
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