There are now 20 brand new homes for sale in HPP.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Speaking of HPP MLS listings, there’s a new vacant lot at $600,000 on Ala Kai, highest I can remember for a half acre, and a home (new listing) on Beach Road for almost $1.3 million.

[Punatang]

Speaking of HPP MLS listings, there’s a new vacant lot at $600,000 on Ala Kai - Edge


There is a lauhala mat for every okole.   

[My 2 cents]

This is the 4th bubble that I have observed here over the last 40+ years.  There have been various factors, but one thing has been consistent with all of them: as the prices start to climb, more and more developers and speculators jump on the bandwagon and start building houses and selling them.  The ones who get in early make out very well as long as they know when to stop.  The ones who get in late or keep going thinking the heyday will last forever end up scrambling. 

What we are seeing now is not a buyers’ or sellers’ market.  It’s a non-market.  Builders are scrambling to get their houses finished and on the market before it’s too late, but it’s already too late.  Prospective buyers are seeing the prices go down and will wait until it levels off and at that point they will have many choices of foreclosures and houses priced below what it cost to build them.  We are still a long way from that, the crash is just beginning.

“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.

“Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”       (E. Hemingway from The Sun Also Rises)

That quote is from before bankruptcy went from a shameful experience to a strategic business maneuver.  And as such it’s most successful when it’s a big surprise to everyone.

“It sounds like you have a great deal of experience with the real estate industry.”

No, not at all.  My experience comes from 43 years of observance as a Puna resident/property owner.  My statement “the crash is just beginning” is not something you would ever hear from someone in the industry.  That would be considered real estate blasphemy.

I would hate to be in the framing stage of a spec home right now.  And on that note, I hope that the developer that is suing the lady for his mistake has reinvested his earnings from the 11 properties that he sold and is in some stage of incompletion on a dozen more.

[HiloJulie]

"McDonalds and Monsanto merged into a single company, McSanto"

Wait till you taste the new McAsprinRoundUp McFlurry!

[terracore]

Wait till you taste the new McAsprinRoundUp McFlurry!

Reportedly, the test group they had in Hawaii thought that it had something to do with roundabouts, so the idea went into the circular file.

[Punatang]

This is the 4th bubble that I have observed here over the last 40+ years.  There have been various factors, but one thing has been consistent with all of them: as the prices start to climb, more and more developers and speculators jump on the bandwagon and start building houses and selling them.  The ones who get in early make out very well as long as they know when to stop.  The ones who get in late or keep going thinking the heyday will last forever end up scrambling. 

What we are seeing now is not a buyers’ or sellers’ market.  It’s a non-market.  Builders are scrambling to get their houses finished and on the market before it’s too late, but it’s already too late.  Prospective buyers are seeing the prices go down and will wait until it levels off and at that point they will have many choices of foreclosures and houses priced below what it cost to build them.  We are still a long way from that, the crash is just beginning.

“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.

“Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”       (E. Hemingway from The Sun Also Rises)

That quote is from before bankruptcy went from a shameful experience to a strategic business maneuver.  And as such it’s most successful when it’s a big surprise to everyone.

“It sounds like you have a great deal of experience with the real estate industry.”

No, not at all.  My experience comes from 43 years of observance as a Puna resident/property owner.  My statement “the crash is just beginning” is not something you would ever hear from someone in the industry.  That would be considered real estate blasphemy.

I would hate to be in the framing stage of a spec home right now.  And on that note, I hope that the developer that is suing the lady for his mistake has reinvested his earnings from the 11 properties that he sold and is in some stage of incompletion on a dozen more.

Two someones in the industry who are active Realtors in HPP have said "this is a crash", to me.  That is 66% of the Realtors I have spoken with.  Blasphemy it is not.  Obvious it is.

[My 2 cents]

I stand corrected. Although, if you were a potential buyer or seller it might be different..

But yeah, it's getting pretty obvious.

[Punatang]

But yeah, it's getting pretty obvious.

You can say that two times!  

Minor weekend update. Full month end stats coming in a few days but since May 19th when $335,000 in reductions had been made by new home sellers in May, another $85.000 in price reductions has been sliced off of our stale inventory of 33 New Homes in HPP.  That is $420,000 in price reductions, just since May 1.  

That is the kind train you have to get well ahead of to catch. 

Chasing the market down is not a proactive business strategy.

[Durian Fiend]

Anyone have ideas about how the owners of these vacant homes keep the properties free from squatters and theft? My apologies if this has already been discussed.

[ChunksterK]

@Durian Fiend - The biggest problems with squatters are abandoned properties and foreclosures, i.e. places where there is no one local with a vested interest. Properties for sale have either an owner (sometimes a developer) or a real estate agent who makes it their business to check in from time to time. That doesn't mean that breakins and pooping episodes (as in the house built on the wrong lot) don't happen. They do, but they tend to be dealt with before somebody moves in.

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