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I was bored and missing the islands. So, I did a house search and found some pretty nice homes in the Puna area of the Big Island for pretty darn good prices. Why? Here is an example; Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties ~ Property Search
Actually, you can find some for less. And sellers are very motivated, because a lot of property has been on the market for a long time.
In case you missed the story, the economy is in the tank, and very little property is moving here. It's a classic case of supply exceeding demand. As in, there's mucho supply, and almost no demand currently. Real Estate Agents are applying for jobs at McDonalds. Lots of houses on the Big Island are second homes, and lots of people are trying to get out from under their second homes. Other properties belong to people who didn't make it in Hawai'i and left. There are a couple of each in my nabe. All are nice, have been on the market forevah, have seen multiple price reductions, and are getting no action whatsoever. Great time to buy a house if you have the money.
The house you lined to appears way over-priced for the current market here.
If you are a serious buyer, you need to look, and buy, in person.
What if the neighbor next door raises roosters? Has 10 barking pit bulls? Is growing 100's of a particular, illegal plant? Never assume any house here is what it seems from pictures or a description.
Thanks, but I am not looking to buy. Still paying for our house in Oregon which we have lost over $30,000 on so far. I was just bored last night and missing family. When this happens I get online and start looking at things back in Hawaii. I have only been to the Big Island once (all my family lives on Oahu) and I just didn't know there were prices that low anywhere in Hawaii.
If you look at some houses which were built without permits, then the prices can go even lower. Although, no permit will cause trouble eventually.
It's beginning to get the feelings of the bottom of the market. The MLS listings over on the Kona side are starting to have almost (almost, not quite but almost) as many sales as listings each day. I don't know if it is a seasonal blip or what, but the Kona side inventory should probably be leveling off if not decreasing. If that is true, then after several months, that trend should slowly move to the Hilo side as well. After the inventory levels off or decreases, then the house prices should start going up. It is a slow sort of thing, though. It wouldn't surprise me, if somehow TPTB manage to raise house prices since they've foreclosed on so many houses and now own a significant chunk of them. If they can get the prices to go up, they win big time. Even more so than they do now.
I saw a listing for the Hamakua coast which had a house and was well under $100K. It was in Paauhau, which isn't all that desirable of a village, but it's still the Hamakua coast with stunning views and more sunshine than a lot of the inexpensive Puna locations.
One of the reasons the house prices are so low in Puna is the lack of jobs in Puna. It used to be that folks would live in Puna and then drive to the Kona district for their employment, but with the gas prices what they are now, folks can't afford to do that, either. So, they've either quit their job in Kona or moved to Kona.
There was a moratorium on foreclosures in Hawaii - it has now been lifted and the news reports stated that we should expect foreclosures to jump backup again; meaning more homes for cheap, on the market.
There are some good facts in the article, a bit of sensationalism and several "ifs" and "we don't really know" statements. Predictions for any one part of the state are a bit tricky.
When analyzing Realty Track numbers keep these realities in mind (from the article above):
RealtyTrac counts three types of filings in its data that can occur at different stages of the foreclosure process — initial default notices, auction notices and lender repossessions.
The methodology produces a somewhat imprecise measure of how many homes are in the process of foreclosure because RealtyTrac counts different types of filings on the same property if they occur in different months, which means some properties may be counted in more than one month.
RealtyTrac also doesn't exclude commercial property from its count, which means popular vacation property in Hawaii such as time shares and condominium-hotel units can be among RealtyTrac's tally.
Location: Big Island- Hawaii, AK, WA where the whales are!
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Yes it is also another reason for part of Puna's prices. Lava zones 1 and 2 make it harder to get financing and insurance. However it is not impossible.
Again as a looking someday buyer for 2 years now what you see on the web and in person can be incredible difference. Many pics are old and house sitting empty for months in wet weather can really make an impact.
One house I made an offer on this year that was short sale.. mortgage company in the end didn't even look at my offer and auctioned the house in Honolulu for less than my offer.
Again...never buy without seeing with your own eyes in person.
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