Bottom Or Not?

Kahului, Maui - At a luncheon sponsored by First Hawaiian Bank, Leroy Laney, professor at Hawaii Pacific University, provided his 20th annual economic report to Maui Chamber of Commerce members. According to Laney, the economy on a national level has hit bottom. Recovery has begun, but it may be difficult to notice. For more details on Laney's forecast, see the article in the Maui News.

Not much is mentioned in the article about the Hawai'i or Maui real estate market. I'd like to believe we've hit bottom. I don't know if any economist can predict until it's six months to a year behind us.

Paul Brewbaker, chief economic advisor for Bank of Hawai'i, provided his economic forecast in late July. Although similar, Brewbaker was not quite direct as Laney about the bottom. I have hope that the worst is over and we can view it out of our rear view mirrors.