Ricky Cassiday has developed the most functional database of real estate transactions for analyzing the residential market across the state of Hawaii. The data draws upon both public and private data sources (realtor, developer and tax assessment), and goes back to 1985, encompassing 2 major market cycles. It encompasses all islands and all residential property types, including leasehold, for the following market segments:

  • Single family, primary, affordable (income restricted) and resort housing; 

  • Home site sales, primary, agricultural and resort;

  • Condominium for-sale housing, primary, restricted (age and income) and resort;

  • Condominium rental housing, primary, restricted (age, income, and profession, i.e., military end-user), investor and resort;

  • Condotel units, timeshare units, and hotel room units;
    Builder parcels, individual and bulk; and

  • Master Plan Community sales and development, primary and resort.

He has produced over 160 different studies (project feasibility, pricing programs, absorption projections, marketing strategy, product development, market entry and positioning) as well as long-term demand forecasts and models for specific markets and master planned developments.

His work has informed every major Hawaiian developer, financing institution, residential design firm and most landowners and construction companies. He has been a featured public speaker at the Hawaii Developer’s Council, the ULI Hawaii Chapter, the Society of Corporate Planners, Hawaii State Association of Counties, the Hawaii Association of Mortgage Brokers, the BIA Hawaii chapter, Association of Realtors for all the islands plus numerous private groups (including his annual resort residential client gathering, plus MBA Income Property Committee, Investment committee). He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Inman News.

Over 15 years ago, Cassiday began collecting new home sales information directly from developers for Gentry Homes, as well as buyer demographics and psychographics. He   provided senior management and colleagues with colleagues with quantitative data on the reservations, closings, pricing and inventory in the new homes market, as well as related data for the resale market. He continued that work with Castle & Cooke, Prudential Locations research & Consulting and then on his own.

Today, the practice is focused only on the residential market, and can be broken down as follows:

  • A 90%/10% split between private and public agencies (including the US Army, US Navy, State of Hawaii, and Hawaii Housing Development Corp.):

  • A 55%/45% split between Hawaiian and Offshore based clients;

  • A 40%/60% split between primary and secondary/investor target markets;

  • A 72%builder/17% lender/11% research aggregator split amongst end-users; and

  • A 57%Oahu/18% Big Isle/11% Kauai/10% Maui/4% Statewide split amongst the islands.

There have been over 100 specific study clients, the top five of which were DH Horton, Stanford Carr, Centex, Alexander & Baldwin and Hearthstone Advisors (23% of the work was concentrated in these five). In essence, he provides third party outside validation and verification to private and public entities.

The scope of work ranges from market entry by a national builder, master plan validation for zoning applications, market validation for property acquisition, product planning and development research, specific unit pricing, project absorption forecasting and market positioning and marketing messages. Some of the specifics addressed in his work include the regulatory and political environment vis-à-vis product and project, the product design vs. construction cost issue, and the marketing and sales channel opportunities and pitfalls.

It draws on the principal's 15 years in the residential development business, as well as his father’s and family's (seven generations) of owning land (Niu Valley, Kilauea, Kauai), supplying building materials and contracting (Iolani Palace, the Moana Hotel) and developing residential communities (Royal Kunia, Mililani, Ewa by Gentry).

 

  
 

Paul Richard Kaunahoakalani Cassiday, Jr. (Ricky) was born on Oahu in 1952, small part Hawaiian (2% rounded up), large part Austrian – English – Scottish – Irish (haole). He grew up in Niu Valley, land given to his great great grandfather, Alexander Adams, by Kamehameha the Great for services to the crown (he led an expeditionary force against Russian colonialists on Kauai, started the sandalwood trade for the king, designed the Hawaiian flag, and was the first harbor master of Honolulu).

Ricky attended Hawaii Preparatory Academy, graduated from Punahou and entered University of Hawaii, where he was an occasional student, due to a passion for surfing. From 1970-1974, he made surfboards, surfed in professional and amateur contests (ranked #2, Hawaii Surfing Association, Men’s Division 1973) and marketed several surfing movies in Hawaii and California. Tired of suffering for art, he transitioned out of surfing by transferring out of UH and into George Washington University, not known for it’s beach culture. On the other hand, it was great for discussing politics, so he worked part-time for Hawaii Congressman Cecil Heftel.

Upon graduation, he moved to England and worked at HandMade Films, a joint venture of George Harrison OBE, and Monty Python. While there, the company produced or distributed over a dozen films, including MONTY PYTHON’S LIFE OF BRIAN. After 5 years, he returned to Washington DC to work in lobbying and public relations (Hill & Knowlton, and the Heritage Foundation) before returning to Georgetown University to take a master’s degree (Master of Science, International Relations).

While studying, he went to the Philippines in 1985 at the invitation of the Marcos government and did a summer internship, and met his future wife, Maite Brias. In 1986, he became a trustee of the Henry Luce III Trust, replacing his mother, who passed away. He also got married and moved to Menlo Park, CA to do market research in the electronics field. He returned to Hawaii in 1990 and continued doing market research (expanding into consumer research and competitive intelligence) for housing developers and a consulting firm. In 1997, he started his own firm, first focused on Oahu and then on the other islands.

He got his first exposure to real estate and resorts, thanks to his father, Paul Cassiday, who was involved in resort and housing developments while at Amfac and later the Estate of James Campbell (Kaanapali, Whaler’s Village, Princeville, Ko Olina and Kapolei). And thanks to his mother, he got a good grounding in interior design and decoration (her houses had been featured in many national publications, from a Hawaiian beach house in Sunset Magazine in 1960 to a summer home on Fisher’s Island, NY in Architectural Digest in 1985).  

He has been blessed by great mentors (Clare Boothe Luce, Bob Panero, Harry Saunders, Walter Hahn, Harvey Goth, Jimmy Pflueger), supporters (Henry Luce III, Derek Taylor, Howard Hamamoto, Bert Kobayashi) and friends (Tom Zimmerman, Stanford Carr).

He is a member of the Hawaii Developer’s Council, the Urban Land Institute, the Outrigger Canoe Club, the Manila Polo Club and the Pacific Club. His wife, Maria Teresa Brias, is from the Philippines, where her family has a beachfront residential development, Bamboo Beach, outside of Manila in Batangas. His oldest son, Paumalu, is in Brent International High School in Manila and into Rugby. His youngest, Henry, is at Punahou, and is active in varsity volleyball and basketball. His stepson, Joey Manahan is a member of the State Legislature, representing the Kalihi district.