Bargain Condos in Hawaii? Honolulu Reported Among Weakest U.S. Markets

Brave investors might want to take a vacation soon in Hawaii to shop for a bargain. Honolulu is among the 25 weakest housing markets in the U.S.,Forbes magazine using Moody’s Economy.com has reported, with prices expected to drop 30.9 percent by 2011.

Why? fewer affluent buyers from Asia and California looking for vacation homes and investment properties, the report said.

But Harvey Shapiro, research economist for the Honolulu Board of Realtors, told Pacific Business News: “My feeling is that the report isn’t really relevant here. Our prices went down 3 percent last year. There are some drops, but they are in the single digits.”

According to listings on Escape Homes, a 1 BR, 638 square-foot condo, in an apartment building in the Makiki area, shown above, recently sold for $305,000. Another is listed for $293,000

Forbes Picks Posh Deep Creek

From Forbes magazine comes a list of new "hot spots" for second homes being bought by affluent buyers, even in this down market. Author Lauren Sherman features One Bal Harbour in Bal Harbour, Florida, where prices for condos started at $1-million.... Deep Creek, Maryland, a four-season resort in the western part of the state that includes lakes and Wisp ski resort... South Lake Tahoe, California, where Vail Resorts is building the Chateau at Heavenly Village, a new condo hotel... and Roxbury, Connecticut, a celebrity-studded community with multi-million dollar properties. Click here for article.