Hawaii Real Estate Resource

Prime real estate indeed on Hawaii's Big Island but access is only by foot or 4WD.  It's called Waipio Valley.

Aloha,

 Search Kauai/Big Island| Search Maui| Email| About Me| Visit Website| Phone/Text (808) 651-4550

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes &; Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information  

Kauai residential sales continue to look a little more healthy than early in the year.  Back at the end of February, pretty much the only price category that was selling was homes below $500,000 which had a whopping 62% market share.  Now at the end of June, that share is down to 48% and the next higher category has more than doubled.  The charts below tell the story.

Median sales prices used to be in the high $700K range but dropped off a cliff when higher-end homes quit selling.  It's important for those homes to start selling again and clearly there is a move in that direction.

January to February 2009 sales spread

 January to March 2009 sales spread

January to February 2009 sales spread

 Aloha,

 Search Kauai/Big Island| Search Maui| Email| About Me| Visit Website| Phone/Text (808) 651-4550

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes &; Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information  

According to the current issue of Pacific Business News, Hawaii foreclosures have jumped in 2009 and are expected to continue to increase.  They report that the number of foreclosures for the first half of 2009 is up 300% from 2008 and is expected to continue to increase as banks get more aggressive in clearing out delinquent properties.  Maui is reported to lead the state in foreclosure rates with 1 per 81 housing units.  Kauai is not far behind with 1 in 98.

Clearly the foreclosure monkey has reached Hawaii with many owners in distress.  For those that have not been caught up in financial distress, now is a great time to buy that dream home in Hawaii.

Aloha,

 Search Kauai/Big Island| Search Maui| Email| About Me| Visit Website| Phone/Text (808) 651-4550

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes &; Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information  

I'm beginning to hear talk of an upturn in sales and this update of Kauai sales seems to bear that out.  The uptick in 2009 is pronounced and appears to be real now that we have data over halfway through the year.  Those who think prices will closely follow may be disappointed as we have huge amounts of inventory to clear out.  I saw data on the way down that showed price declines lagging sales declines by 2 years.  I expect a significant lag on the upside as well.

For the techies out there, the Excel curve fit is a 5th-order polynomial.

Aloha

 Search Kauai/Big Island| Search Maui| Email| About Me| Visit Website| Phone/Text (808) 651-4550

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes &; Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information 

Today is the kickoff for a week-long celebration of Koloa Plantation Days.  This year's theme is "From Sugar to Statehood".  This year is extra special as it's the 50th anniversary of Hawaii statehood. 

Some fun events for today include the historic Hapa Trail walk, steer roping at CJM stables, and evening entertainment by Willie Kahaiali‘i at the Sheraton Kauai.  The best is coming a week from today with the annual Koloa Days Parade and a full rodeo at CJM stables.  On Kauai, much of our entertainment is free and these events are no exception.

Here's a photo of one of the past rodeo's where this rider got her steer!

Aloha!

 Search Kauai/Big Island | Search Maui | Email | About Me | Visit Website | Phone/Text (808) 651-4550

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information 

Kauai and Muai year-to-date sales statistics through June 2009 compared to the same period in 2008 show that this continues to be an unprecedented opportunity for buyers. Selection is huge and prices are down substantially There remains a large amount of inventory to be cleared out before downward price pressures ease. An upturn in number of sales is key to that and there are hints that this may now be happening.

This Month's Update

Year-to-Date Median Sales Price (Jan-June 2009)

Year-to-Date Number of Sales (Jan-June 2009)

An article in the Maui News on the Maui housing market can be read HERE.  The article makes it sound like the downturn is a sudden catastrophe but we agents know better than that.  The downturn is painful for sellers and for agents but a golden opportunity for buyers.

[Data extracted from Kauai and Maui multiple list reports.  Data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should not be relied on for buying or selling decisions. There are likely to be differing opinions and interpretations of the data.]

Aloha & Mahalo!

 Search Kauai/Big Island | Search Maui | Email | About Me | Visit Website | Phone/Text (808) 651-4550

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information

I assume those GEICO insurance commercials with the little Gecko guy play on the mainland as well as here on Hawaii.  The little fellow has many siblings here on Hawaii including this little guy trying to read my email!

Aloha!

 Search Kauai/Big Island | Search Maui | Email | About Me | Visit Website | Phone/Text (808) 651-4550

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information

This large 2-story home on Kauai has just become available for rental.  It is my former home and is very nice inside and out.  Please contact me for details.  Richard Dolbeare at (808) 651-4550 or Aloha@RichardDolbeare.com.

Mahalo!

Kauai Sales Statistics For June 2009

Kauai home sales statistics have been released for the month of June 2009. The figures are island-wide comparisons of current sales versus year ago periods. Monthly values fluctuate widely and I've always preferred to use year-to-date data to average out the fluctuations.  Both are presented below.

It's important to keep in mind that the data reflects what is actually selling and not necessarily a change in value of a particular property. In my experience investor purchases tend to be in higher-priced resort areas whereas owner-occupant purchases tend to be more focused in value-priced areas. My buyer clients today are much more heavily weighted toward owner-occupant than in previous years when investors dominated. More sales in value-priced areas and fewer in higher-priced resort areas will drive median sales prices down.  Of course the number of sales speak for themselves although here again, an absence of investor sales will drive the numbers down. 

Number of Sales

Median Sales Price

Additional breakdown of this information is available to my clients upon request.

 Search Kauai/Big Island | Search Maui | Email | About Me | Visit Website | Phone/Text (808) 651-4550

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information 

[Data extracted from MLS reports. Information contained herein is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. Buying & selling decisions should be made in consultation with a real estate professional and not on representations herein. Opinions are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my brokerage.]