08-29-2006, 04:35 AM
My own very amateur opinion about Puna real estate is that we are going through a correction and not a crash. The market overheated last year, experienced record new construction, and now is absorbing excess inventory. There is price cutting going on, but there does not seem to be a panic selling counterpoint to last year's panic buying spree.
It will take a few more months of statistics to see how deep the correction will be. So far, the median prices have not gone into anything like free fall. (They even seem to be holding flat in some areas.) That said, any price moderation brings opportunities for buyers who may have felt priced out of the market. Timing is tricky, though. It may not be obvious when prices begin to go back up again. As others have correctly pointed out, buying decisions should be based on need, comfort, and affordability and not one's best guess about where prices are going.
Aloha,
Jerry
It will take a few more months of statistics to see how deep the correction will be. So far, the median prices have not gone into anything like free fall. (They even seem to be holding flat in some areas.) That said, any price moderation brings opportunities for buyers who may have felt priced out of the market. Timing is tricky, though. It may not be obvious when prices begin to go back up again. As others have correctly pointed out, buying decisions should be based on need, comfort, and affordability and not one's best guess about where prices are going.
Aloha,
Jerry