Not only the wealthy are actively buying West Hawaii real estate
While most Americans are not buying much due to the economy, in terms of wealth, what are the top 9% buying? The Luxury Institute recently reported that 24% of those wealthy consumers have purchased residential real estate since 2008. Early 2008 through early 2011, 38% of that group purchased at least one second home. Of those, nearly half took advantage of the lower prices to purchase a second home more than 500 miles away from the primary residence.
What got me digging into these records were recent news reports that Mercedes Benz unit sales in the United States recently broke a record; an Italian handbag retailer experienced difficulty keeping its $1,000+ handbags on the shelves; and the top two luxury purchase types by wealthy consumers were either a $1,000+ case of wine or piece of jewelry.