24,000 people come to help Oahu real estate

This morning, roughly 24,000 people ran past my home, which is about half way down the route of the Honolulu Marathon.  A couple of my friends ran it and lived to tell about it.  It only matters to me because the Marathon causes money to trickle into our economy. 

24,000 people in a race on Oahu means more than 12,000 visitors from out of state, which means thousands of hotel rooms, meals, and dollars spend on everything from little palm tree and coconut shaped souveniers to medical care for people who got injured.  Now maybe none of those people will buy a house, but they don't need to.  All they need to do is stay in the hotels, buy our food, take our taxis, and pay taxes on what they spend. 

That money goes into our local economy and helps all the business owners and employees to pay their mortgages, to buy new houses, and to spend their money on whatever they see fit.  And the thing it, there are constantly thousands of people visiting Oahu for various reasons.  It may be the huge Dentists' conference, or the Jack in the Box company getaway, or whatever giant organization is going to show up next week, or whatever individuals happen to be visiting that day, all helping our local Oahu economy, and thus Oahu real estate. Last month, 30,000 people came for a religious conference, and next month, 20,000 people will come for something else. 

And this is one reason that Hawaii real estate has been so strong, much stronger than other states around the country. This is one reason that inventory has remained pretty low since 2001, and homes take 40 days to sell on average.  To state it simply, it's Hawaii.  It's mid December as I write, and I'm sitting out on my lanai in shorts, because it's 78 degrees outside.  By the way, it's 6pm, and my kids are playing in the grass. 

No wonder we have only 4 months of inventory and a median price of $600k, which has barely dropped at all in 5 years.  No wonder we have the highest per capita number of millionaires in the country.  It's Hawaii.  

So thanks to all 24,000 people who ran today, and thanks to all the huge groups and all the families that come and visit Hawaii!  You're all contributing to the strength of Hawaii real estate.