The Hanalei real estate market, a portion of the Kauai housing market which is heavily influenced by the tourist industry, is seeing some encouraging news in the most recent tracking periods. According to a November 5, 2010 report from the Honolulu Star Advertiser, “The state's tourism industry is recovering faster than expected, and visitor arrivals could approach record levels in 2012, according to one of Hawaii's leading economists."Hawaii tourism has proven to be more resilient than most of us thought a year ago, and hopefully that will be the leading edge of economic growth as it spreads to other sectors of the local economy," First Hawaiian Bank economic adviser Leroy Laney said yesterday at the bank's 41st annual business outlook forum at Dole Cannery Ballroom. Laney said visitor arrivals -- as well as spending -- are tracking ahead of this year's estimates, and he expects arrivals to easily exceed his 2010 estimate of a 5.5 percent increase. Through September, visitor arrivals were up 7.2 percent to 5,298,830, and expenditures were ahead 13.7 percent to nearly $8.4 billion, according to data released yesterday by the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Laney said a 4.5 percent increase in arrivals next year would be "realistic" and bring the state above the 7 million threshold so that in 2012 it would be in position to challenge the 7.5 million arrivals record achieved in 2006 and 2007.”
Less Hanalei home owners are facing serious financial distress, according to new statistics reported by the Honolulu Star Advertiser. Hopefully, this means that fewer Hanalei homes for sale will be Kauai foreclosures or short sales on Kauai. The November 2, 2010 article by Alan Yonan noted that “The number of Hawaii residents filing for bankruptcy dropped below 300 in October for the first time in eight months, although local bankruptcy attorneys say business is still brisk by historical standards. The 297 filings last month were the fewest since 291 cases were filed in February, according to federal Bankruptcy Court statistics. There was an 8.4 percent rise in filings from October 2009, the smallest increase in nearly a year. Bankruptcy filings for the first 10 months of the year are still running well ahead of last year's pace. Despite signs that the economy is finally showing signs of improvement, many consumers are continuing to dig themselves out of debt racked up during the recent recession, which saw Hawaii's unemployment rate hit a three-decade high.”