A phenomenon regarding Maui real estate we have been describing over the past several months, the prominence of the Canadian buyer was a lead story in today's International Herald Tribune. While the article doesn't really add anything new, it does make a couple of points that are worth restating:

   Now, Canada's strong oil economy and robust real estate appreciation has increased its citizens's discretionary income. And, while Canadians still view Hawaii as a faraway locale, the buying power of their dollar has brought second-home and investment purchases within reach...The Canadian dollar now is worth about $1.02, compared with a low of about 62 cents in 2002. Last autumn, the loonie, as Canadians call the currency because of the dollar coin bears a loon's image, surpassed the American greenback for the first time since the mid 1970s...In the 1970s Canadians purchased two-thirds of all new development in Waikiki; this time, more are interested in the resort properties on the Neighbor Islands...Hawaii stacks up well both in price and quality to other top resort and second-home destinations favored by Canadians, said Alexander Gray, president of Skylight Global Investments, who also owns luxury real estate in New York; Daytona, Florida; and Las Vegas. "I'm very choosy," said Gray, who works in Toronto. "I only buy properties in the best vacation spots in the world."...Canadians view the downturn in our market as an absolutely great opportunity and they are out there looking for a deal...  

Perhaps the most important thing to take away from the article is that Maui competes with the finest resorts all over the world and that wealthy buyers are willing to compare them that way. A couple of points not explicitly made in the article that we believe are also worth mentioning are that when it comes to Maui real estate, Canadian buyers are much more deliberate that Americans, more analytical, more willing to lowball and take more time to find the perfect property.