Honolulu, HI
2021 will be a year that Honolulu will be glad to put behind it. The city’s construction market underperformed forecasts by a fair margin, as the lingering effects of the pandemic on the tourism industry are still being felt.
Fortunately, the market’s fundamentals have not changed much: people still want to go to Honolulu for business and leisure. The city is still roughly equidistant from the two largest economies on Earth, and it is still a great place to do business. The last two years are shaping up to be an anomaly rather than the start of a new trend.
Tourism and leisure are the biggest drivers of Honolulu’s economy, and the hospitality sector employs more than 20% of the labor force. The city is home to the largest airport in all of Hawaii and acts as the gateway to the islands. This makes it a convenient location for businesses looking to expand into the Pacific. These businesses – combined with the military and education sectors – kept the local economy afloat over the last two years. Unemployment is still relatively high – particularly in the hospitality sector – but is improving. Construction employment is above pre-pandemic levels: indicative of an active market in the future.
