Editor's Note: Honolulu, Hawaii real estate expert Anne Perry joined us for a Q&A on the area's market over the last months and going forward, and more.
Photo Credit: Travis Rowan Living Maui Media
Now that Summer is close to ending, what do you see as the takeaways from the last six months?
COVID has been a game-changer and one with ebb and flow like the ocean tides. The State of Hawaii has seen strong interest from the continental United States. Internet site activity off the charts. The neighbor islands in particular, the resort communities along the Kohala Coastline on the Big Island of Hawaii and the Wailea/Makena and Kapalua/Kaanapali coastlines on Maui have enjoyed the majority of the “sight unseen facetime/zoom time" purchases.
We have seen multiple buyers fly to the Islands and quarantine in place for 14 days just to get to Hawaii with the objective of purchasing a property. I have had two buyers who have actually written offers with the contingency of being able to actually “quarantine in place” at the house they wished to buy based on what they had seen online or via virtual tours.
Recently we have seen a strong pick up of activity on the island of Oahu for larger single-family residences offering larger interior and exterior living areas, flexible floor plans, two home offices, pool/spa, and home fitness areas. Total single-family homes sold 5,000,000 or in escrow since March 2020 on Oahu total 17. Luxury residential condominium sales have slowed with the exception of the residential condominium development of Park Lane which has monopolized the sales and escrows with five sales over $5,850,000 since March.
The takeaways are diligence, positivity, and creativity. Thinking out of the box to promote my listings and the Islands. Due to our strategic geographic location with both the US and the Pan Pacific Basin we are a prime destination. With the major shift to work at home – Why not work at home in Hawaii with our climate, lifestyle, outdoor living and being the 50th state we are positioned well. We are also seeing people who target the islands as we basically are islands in the middle of sea without the ability to drive across a border or from state to state. This has become very important to some who feel it limits the spread of COVID, political/cultural unrest and recently the issues with the fires
What activities took place on Labor Day this year around Honolulu?
Not much the Island of Oahu has been in a new lockdown due to the rise of COVID which has now started to back off due to the earlier restrictions Hawaii hopes to open its borders in October.
Photo Credit: Augie Salbossa
Is there an area from which buyers are relocating to your market?
Continental/domestic United States – in particular, California, Washington, Texas, Arizona, Utah, New York, and Chicago.
To contact Anne Perry, click on "Learn More" above.
