Da Rail

[Manly Souza]

For those that do not live on Oahu, we make the top ten worst traffic states every year.  USATODAY.com put us at number 3 this year - http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015...

It's no secret that traffic is essentially wasting time and money, and the people have been wanting a remedy for decades.  This remedy comes in the form of a public transport system called "The Rail".  This is an attempt to, hopefully, mitigate a bunch of drivers from actually driving to and fro.  Here is the official website for the rail - http://www.honolulutransit.org

I don't want this thread to be turned into some sort of debate on whether if this rail will be good for us or not, or how the fraud allegations and the money tracking seem super scandalous.  The narrative for the rail, from a real estate angle, has been that people are buying up properties in Ewa, Ewa Beach, Makakilo, Nanakuli, Maile, Waianae, Makaha, in hopes that their equity will magically double once the rail is complete.  

I've talked to multiple people who somehow have gotten the notion that once the rail is complete, they'll be a millionaire.  I'm not sure where this sense of hope is coming from.  I tell clients I work with that this may not be the case.  I foresee a slow gradual build on the west side of the island.  Quicker equity growth than somewhere without the rail such as Mililani or Wahiawa, but I do not foresee, like some envision, a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.

What do you guys think?

[Linda Weygant]

In the Denver metro area, there has been a recent expansion of our light rail system.  What was formerly only a southern and central system has branched north and west into the suburbs and east out to the airport.  Property values near the new stations have increased very significantly and values near proposed new stations have also started to rise.

However, we have significant growth in Denver right now anyway, so it's really hard to pinpoint what's a factor of overall growth and what's a factor of the light rail expansion.  Real estate agents do point out the closeness of their properties to the rail stations though, so at least THEY think it's worth something.