Bullish On Honolulu Real Estate
March 13th, 2008 categories: Reasons To Sell
Amidst all of the dismay broadcast on the evening news concerning real estate and mortgages, I remain bullish about core Honolulu real estate values over the long term. There are many reasons to be a bull and my goal with these next few blogs is to completely thresh out those ideas. Today, I am going to discuss the supply of available land for building homes in Honolulu proper.
Simply put there is none! Unlike the continental US, Oahu is an island and when we run out of land, there is no further valley, plain or country side to which developers and home owners can go. More specifically, core Honolulu is nearly completely built out. Outside of some small remnant pieces of land here and there, there are no major tracks of land available for housing between Moanalua and Hawaii Kai (what I call core Honolulu). There are some available condominium development sites, but even those do not bring enough housing capacity to the market to significantly impact the demand for centrally located housing. Given all of the demand pressures on this central area (traffic, schools, jobs, resorts, entertainment, shopping, dining and more), it will forever be the most desirable part of the island. Therefore over the long run, no matter the short term bumps, one should expect this core area to appreciate. If you ask the question, should I have purchase property in Honolulu 10 years ago? Almost always the answer is a resounding yes. Let’s see, would I have made a pile of money by buying real estate in 1998, 1988, 1978 or 1968 AND holding it long term through today? Clearly I would have done very, very well! So Buyers…now is the time to buy! On a final note, be sure to check out the recently released State of Real Estate Report.
