Hawaii buyers lead local home, condo purchases, Title Guaranty report finds

It is no secret that some of Hawaii’s priciest real estate is being bought by those who don’t live in Hawaii, but a quarterly Title Guaranty report found that local residents, or at least buyers with recorded local addresses, were purchasing most of the state’s residential real estate, handily eclipsing rates set by buyers from…


It is no secret that some of Hawaii’s priciest real estate is being bought by those who don’t live in Hawaii, but a quarterly Title Guaranty report found that local residents, or at least buyers with recorded local addresses, were purchasing most of the state’s residential real estate, handily eclipsing rates set by buyers from other U.S. states.

Between January and September, buyers with local addresses bought 11,638 properties in Hawaii worth a combined dollar volume of $6.3 billion. California buyers outpaced other Mainland states by purchasing 1,167 Hawaii properties, totaling $955.6 million, during the first nine months of this year.

But some real estate industry experts say those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Mike Imanaka, senior vice president of data services for Title Guaranty, said the recorded addresses of some Mainland and foreign buyers, particularly those who have purchased high-priced Hawaii homes and condominiums, can be tied to law firms or limited liability corporations with a local address. These kind of property purchases, he explained, would be grouped with sales made to Hawaii residents.

Meanwhile, buyers from Washington state were second, purchasing 262 properties for a combined total of $202.2 million, between January and September. Buyers from Texas trailed close behind with 211 properties with a dollar volume of $113.9 million, followed by buyers from Colorado with 117 properties with a dollar volume of $90 million.

Darin Moriki
Reporter
Pacific Business News