Neighbor Island Home Prices See Broad Recovery

When you look at the neighbor islands and rewind to 2008 and 2009, they were disproportionately affected by that economic downturn. Prices really dropped. Sales dropped off.

The good news is, on each of the neighbor islands you’re seeing broader recovery both in prices and in sales. Similar to Oahu, we’re seeing that the neighbor island real estate markets of Maui, Kauai and the Big Island are picking up—limited inventory on Maui is boosting one in seven homes over asking price, and one in 12 condos are being bid-up over asking price thus far in 2013.

This means that now is a good time to sell, while the market is strong. Especially with today’s low interest rates, properties are selling quickly and getting top dollar. The good news for the neighbor islands is second home buyers are coming back. Confidence has improved over time, interest rates continue to be low and people are feeling better about coming back into the marketplace.

We’re seeing pockets of recovery, pockets of places where people still view this as a really beautiful place to live. We'll continue to see confidence; the recovery will take longer because the price drop was so significant, 25-35 percent depending on the marketplace, which was very different from Oahu.

Luxury markets are also seeing an increase in activity. Home prices in Wailea, Maui, for example, have nearly doubled as compared to prices ten years ago.

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Scott Higashi Howard Dicus Hawaii New Now Wailea Home Prices