Hawaii Market Heats Up For Global Investors.  Do I need to say more? This great article in teh Pacific Business News is worth reading.

Sales of Hawaii real estate to global investors are heating up as the local market softens, with international buyers often paying top dollar for residential and commercial properties.

It’s a trend seen across the United States, with a weak U.S. dollar creating the perception of bargains to be had in American real estate, from beachfront homes to commercial land and buildings.

“It is a very significant bargain right now for people who have substance and the financial wherewithal,” said Michael R. Good, president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates, who was in Hawaii this week. “There is a dynamic that is happening and it is much more of a worldwide marketplace than I’ve ever seen.”

According to the latest annual survey by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate, its members — who own some $230 billion in real estate in the United States — said that more than half of their planned acquisitions in 2008 would be in the United States and that they planned to spend some 16 percent more than last year on U.S. acquisitions.