Here I am at the Waikiki Shore in Waikiki and today we're going to talk about 3 reasons why now at the Waikiki Shore.
1. Waikiki Shore is the Only Oceanfront Condominium in Waikiki
The first reason is Waikiki Shore is the only true oceanfront condominium in Waikiki. They have a shaved iced stand, beach services, At Waikiki Shore from the beach, you have a great view of Diamond Head and the Gold Coast. You're on a white sandy beach in Waikiki and you're right next door to Fort DeRussy, which is a 70 acre park managed by the U.S. Government and military. Right next door, you have arguably a billion dollar resort at the Outrigger Reef. There, you've got some great restaurants like Monkeypod and there's a Starbucks. The location itself sells everything...
Castle Resorts at Waikiki Shore
In addition to Waikiki Shore being a condo, you can rent them short term legally. It's resort zoned resort, so you can put them in a hotel pool, which is currently Castle Resorts. You can also self manage them and rent them on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Or, you can actually live in them. One of the perks is it has really low maintenance fees because the HOA owns the commercial property within Waikiki Shore. That's reason #1.
2. Recent Lobby Renovation
Reason #2 is they just went through an extensive remodel in the lobby here.
Recent Lobby Renovation
Waikiki Shore History
As you walk outside the lobby towards the beach, one of the cool things about Waikiki Shore is the retail space owned by the HOA. There's a lot of cool shops for locals and tourists. There's surfboard rentals and you've got a 70 acre park next door at Fort DeRussy. Once again, this is the only ocean or beachfront condo in Waikiki. All the prime real estate is taken up by the hotels.
3. Legal Short Term Rental and Less International Buyer Competition from Japan
The 3rd reason why Waikiki Shore is a great buy is everyone wants to get in on the vacation rental craze with AirBnB and VRBO. Aa I mentioned earlier, you can rent these out short term. This product is not going away. They're not building anything new like this in Waikiki. So, it's a supply and demand issue.
What happened over the last 6 or 7 years is a lot of the buyers, demographically buying up Waikiki Shore were from Japan. The reason why is in Japan you could actually get a tax break for depreciation if you were to buy in a building that's older than a certain age (which Waikiki Shore is) and you can rent it out short term. So, these wealthy investors from Japan were buying up Waikiki Shore because they could depreciate it over 7 years.
We had 1 outlier sale in a "00" stack, which would be the direct ocean front. There was a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom around 1,100 square feet that went for $5.7 Million. That's over $5,000/square foot! That's where things peaked out during COVID.
Waikiki Shore #418 Priced at $2.3 Million
Now, there's a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom on the 4th floor. This is a great buy! They're priced at $2,300,000 now. I sold this same unit about 5-6 years ago for $2,200,000.
Waikiki Shore #418 Dining Area and Primary Suite
If you look at anything else on the island, it's gone up significantly in the last 5 years. So, I feel this unit #418, that's still available for over 3 months on market is a great buy. If you're in the market for a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom legal vacation rental in Waikiki, with low maintenance fees, Waikiki Shore may be the place for you.
Contact a Waikiki Expert
If you have questions about Waikiki Shore or have questions about any other condo product in Waikiki, feel free to reach out and give us a shout. Mahalo!