Kona Kohala Blog

Aloha!  I've just spent the last couple of weeks on the mainland aka the madland and is that name appropriate; some people are really crazy there.  We were in Portland, Oregon for just over a week for the annual "fix Mom's house" visit then to the Bay area to visit other family and friends.

Portland is a great city, a little cold and wet but beautiful when the sun comes out which it did for most of the time.  Spring is great there, so much life popping out of the ground after months of mud.  There's a wonderful climbing gym there, Portland Rock Gym in North East Portland.  Over 30,000 square feet of climbing surface.

Climbing is an exciting sport that can be shared by families.  It was very cool seeing whole families sharing the experience; watching little kids scramble up those walls reminded me of just how natural it is to want to climb things.  There were also the very talented and experienced climbers seemingly defying gravity as they move across the ceilings called "roofs" in climbing lingo.  It's a fun sport that can be enjoyed by just about anyone in any condition, pretty much.

Okay, real estate in west Hawaii.  Still plodding along ever so slowly but persistently.  The median price in North Kohala is up 31% this year so far at $900,000 although sales remain sluggish.

In South Kohala the number of sales is down <30%> year to date for Single Family Residences (SFR's) at $399,000 which is a <20%> decline over last year at this time.  Condo sales are down <67%> year to date with a median price of $539,500, a drop of <17%> from last years median.

In North Kona, the median price of a SFR is at $460,000, off <17%> from last year and the number of sales is <40%> lower than last year.  Condo sales are down <41%> year to date compared to last year and the current median price stands at $279,500, a decline of <24%> compared to last year.

The total number of listed properties is holding steady but we are seeing a slight increase in the number of escrows.  The biggest obstacle today is getting the final loan approval and funding the purchases.  Banks are still changing the rules almost every day so you can be qualified one day and not the next.  It's crazy out there and the government doesn't seem to be helping at all.  What happened to all that help for the middle income class?