Kona Kohala Blog

There has been very little activity in the sales of raw, undeveloped land in the last couple of years in these two districts, North Kona and South Kohala or North Kohala for that matter.  The problem is two fold; first, there is so much inventory of existing homes that buyers can get pretty close to their dream home with what's on the market now.  Second, even though labor costs have gone down, the cost of building supplies is still on the rise.  We've had a couple disasters that have put a large demand on building supplies coupled with ever increasing fuel costs and building materials in Hawaii are expensive.

What this means for the savvy investor is negotiable land prices.  There was a beautiful one acre lot in Kahakai Estates subdivision, wonderful views and close to town that was listed at $395K and sold for $310K, a more than 20% drop from asking price.  This is a great time to buy a piece of land and hold onto it until either it's time to build your dream home or the market turns and builders are again looking for good lots to build on.

Now, my current peeve . . . Our current administration is citing Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal as a model for getting us out of the mess we find outselves in from decades of financial shenanigans since Reagan left office.  I predict the following quote will ring just as true in 7.5 years as it did when it was spoken over 60 years ago.  Henry Morgenthau, Jr., Roosevelt's treasury secretary said after 8 years of the New Deal, "we have tried spending money,  We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work . . . We have never made good on our promises . .  I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started . . . and an enormous bebt to boot"

An extensive study was conducted by UCLA economists Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian in 2004 and they said, " . . . ill conceived stimulus policies . . ." extended the Depression by seven years.

I can not for the life of me understand why our current administration embraces policies that have been proven not to work and turn their back on Reagan's policies which were proven to work in very similar circumstances.  What am I missing?