If the real estate market in Hawai'i is "dead" why am I working 7 days a week?

Over the weekend I was juggling four incoming offers on three different listings, a buyer client in town and multiple showings on other listings in both my North Kohala real estate and Kohala Coast condo markets. Oddly enough, we had three "lowball" offers come in (two on the same property) because the prospective buyers believed the press that this is a "dead" market and a "dead" season of the year!

The two sweet spots seem to be the entry-level residence in the Hawi - Kapaau area, and the price point under $1 million in the condo market.

As I was working on counteroffers, I pulled the following statistics:

• There are currently 34 condos showing as "contingent" in the Mauna Lani and Waikoloa Beach resorts.
• Of those, two are REOs and 20 are short sales. That leaves 12 properties - over a third of those with offers - that are not distress sales or foreclosures.
• Although there are no condos in escrow at the Mauna Kea Resort, a bank-owned condo at Wai'ula'ula just came on the market. At $742,900 when the next lowest available competing listing is over $1 million, this is likely to have multiple offers.

This Wai'ula'ula condo REO is likely to be the next sale at Mauna Kea Resort

One of the reasons I am working so hard is that while there are still "deals" to be had, it takes more diligence to sort through the available inventory with my clients--and to counteroffer those unrealistic "bottom fishers". That's just not where the Big Island real estate market is at, at least in my territory.

A hui hou

Beth