According to an article from the August 18, 2008 Honolulu Advertiser, it seems the Hawaii economy is tougher than anticipated.
It’s not as bad as all the experts expected or the sensationalist media had hoped.
But rest assured that the numbers will continue to be crunched and they will find some way for it to look bad. After all, most people don’t realize that an economy like Hawaii’s moves in cycles. It moves up and down as it trends one direction or the other. So the condition of the economy has as much to do with ‘when’ you look at it, as it does with ‘what’ the numbers say.
The conclusion is that the Hawaii economy has taken some big hits and still is hanging in there.
Never count out Hawaii.
August 21st, 2008 at 7:59 pm
I think alot of people forget one major fact when making a decision to buy now or wait to buy a home….. You still need a place to live. Home ownership is still better than renting. A neighbor of mine (military family) purchased 18 months ago and are currently in the process of selling their home for a little less than they paid for it. They are not upset about this, nor do they feel as though they made a poor investment. On the contrary, when they crunch the numbers, they realize that over the last 18 months, it cost them a little less than $5000 for housing expenses, where if they were renting they would have paid well over $30,000 in housing expenses. They are elated at the savings.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Honolulu is a strong economy because it is much more diverse. The neighbor islands are more susceptible to change due to their reliance on tourism.
Aloha,
Keahi