Last weekend, Hawaii was the topic of the Travel Channel, real estate in particular. It's like a reality show where the couple says they want to buy a home with 3 bedrooms and their budget is $250k to $350k. The next scene would show a real estate broker promising to have in his list a house with those criteria. What followed was the visit to the prospective house, a new house with no furnishing, built on a spacious lot with some trees. I was surprised when I computed the asking price of $265k is just about 12 million pesos. We definitely couldn't afford that but some here who have the money can certainly buy that house. This home of ours may have a value of more than 5 million pesos (more than $100k) and there are big houses in our neighborhood which costs as much as that house in Hawaii. I thought all along that properties in the US are very high priced like $500k at the minimum.
I would be very surprised that a house could be had for that in Hawaii as well. Very surprised...because things tend to cost more there unless they are grown on the island. I knew someone who grew up in Hawaii, and she said although beautiful...and paradise..she longed to live somewhere where there was "weather" goes to show you the grass is always greener on the other side!
It all depends where the house is located and that's probably true for Hawaii also. I've seen House Hunters in Hawaii and some places were very expensive and some cheaper. One are was very remote and flooded a lot but it was beautiful. On the coast in California you can't buy crap for $500,000. The more you go inland the cheaper it is. San Francisco is outrageous and I wouldn't even want to live there. Same for NYC. In the Midwest in a small town you can get a mansion for $5-$600,000. In Gary, Indiana you can get an old beautiful Victorian for $25,000. This was in the 90's, might be $30,000 now. I'm sure Detroit has some bargains also. The US is a mixed bag price wise and many factors are involved in what you get for what you pay.