Hawaii Real Estate Resource

As part of taking a fresh look at the Hawaii real estate markets, I've updated my charts for days on market for Kauai & Maui residential sales.  Kauai residential sales continue to average just under 6 months of marketing time.  By definition, this is for homes that actually sold and while I've not looked to see time on market for those that haven't sold, I'd guess that some are way out there.  Maui residential sales time has taken a sharp increase in 2009 and is now averaging well over 6 months.  Both markets continue to deal with a large number of short sales and foreclosures.

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Aloha,

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

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Data is increasingly convincing that Kauai's real estate inventory has peaked.  It's rarely possible to discern trends until sufficient time has elapsed to look back and see where we have been.  For Kauai, the inventory buildup began in the Fall of 2005 and continued to build for 3 years.  Now the number of active listings has been decreasing for a full year.  This is a good sign for sellers and may be a signal for buyers to act now while inventory remains high with negotiable pricing and low interest rates. 

For techies, the smooth yellow curve superimposed on the chart is an Excel 3rd-order polynomial curve fit.

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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

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Sunset over the Forbidden Island as seen from Kauai's popular beach at Kekaha

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

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Islander on the Beach on Kauai's Coconut Coast

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

Kukui'ula Shopping Village

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Photo taken before access opened to public

Poipu on the island of Kauai is a major resort destination yet has had limited shopping for tourists and residents. That is in the process of changing with the phased opening of Kukui'ula village. Kukui'ula Village is the shopping component of a huge 1,000 plus acre Kukui'ula development adjoining Poipu on the Western side. On Friday, a handful of stores opened for business in the 87,000 plus square foot shopping village and the total is planned to increase to around 50 by the end of the year or soon thereafter. Our local newspaper reports that stores opening Friday included Bubba Burgers, Bungalow 9, and 3 art galleries including that of local artist James Hoyle.

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's #1 industry is tourism so when tourism is down is has a major ripple effect in both the public and private sectors of our economy.  Jobs are being lost, income is down, and homes are going into foreclosure.

In a supposedly unrelated matter, the county prosecutor is issuing subpoenas in preparationfor possible prosecution of owners who have been renting accommodations to tourists.  More details can be found in today's Garden Island newspaper HERE.  While I'm sure there is a logical explanation it escapes me at the moment and I regret I'm unable to explain further.

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 July 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.  Some economists think we may be at or near the bottom of the cycle.

This Month's Update

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

Year-to-Date Number of Sales (Jan-July 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

Photo taken from out West...way out West on the island of Kauai.

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   

Those of us living in Hawaii were busy stocking up on hurricane supplies over the weekend because Hurricane Felicia was headed our way.  But fortunately it fizzled and came through our island chain as a very wimpy rainstorm and not much else.  Cooler waters around Hawaii helped and Godess Pele's 2.5 mile high Mauna Kea creation on the Big Island finished it off.

Today it's a little more breezy than normal here on Maui but clouds are thinning, the rain has stopped, and the sun is out.  Thank you Pele!

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  

Hawaii residents and owners have reason to be concerned about Hurricane Felicia which was once a Category 4 hurricane.  This morning I read that it was downgraded from Category 1 to a Tropical Storm with the potential for very heavy rains, flash floods, wind damage, and dangerous surf.

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center has extensive information on the storm including preparation tips and tracking maps which can be accessed HERE.  Their map widget can't be displayed in this post but I have it on my website at www.KauaiRocks.com.  Their current tracking map projects the center of the storm passing over the Big Island and Maui early Tuesday morning.  Other resources of information include the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper and local radio and TV stations.  I'm riding out the storm on Maui.

Aloha & be safe.

 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