Kona Kohala Blog

So good to be back.  Just spent 7 days in Oregon where the temps got into the 100's.  Not bad if you're staying inside or on the river somewhere but standing on a roof replacing shingles was not the place to be. 

Meanwhile. Pele continues to rumble but not erupt meaning clear air and clear skies for the Kona side.  Blue blue skies and seas, truly paradise to the eyes.

Real estate remains slow but steady with price continuing their downward trend as buyer wait on the sidelines hoping always for the best price.  Today, mid way through July (already) North Kona number of sales Year to Date are down 23.62% for Single Family Residences (SFR's) and down 44.06% for condos.  The median price for a SFR is $605,520 in North Kona and a condo here is $394,950, down 7.26%.

In Waikoloa Village there are 42 SFR for sale and 4 in escrow giving us a 10 month inventory, a buyer's market.  There are 46 condos for sale and 7 of those in escrow, still a strong buyer's market here as well.

Where do you think this is going?  Should buyers wait out the market or is it coming close to the bottom?

As we near the end of July, sales figures are not encouraging for sellers but should be of interest to buyers, there are some deals out there and some sellers willing to negotiate.

In North Kona the number of sales of Single Family Residences (SFR's) is down 24% for July and 20% year to date.  Condos are down 59% for July and 41.76% year to date.  Median price for a SFR is $604,040 and condos are at $391,950.  With interest rates taking a dip recently, housing is coming back into the realm of reasonable.

In South Kohala which consists of both the higher priced Waikoloa Beach Resort and the more reasonably priced Waikoloa Village, median price for a SFR is $550,000 and condos, $855,000.  Don't let that price scare you away, it's high number is because of the many more expensive condos on the market in the Waikoloa Beach Resort where development has been rampant.

For a complete update of West Hawaii real estate please email me at Ferrari.RealEstate@gmail.com and I'll put you on our mailing list.  aloha

Question of the Day:  Why can Nissan come out with a line of cars that boast 35 and 36 miles per gallon and no other auto manufacturer can seem to do it?  Why does our lame congress and senate have to waste time passing gas economy laws instead of all manufacturers realizing it's the thing to do right now?

Kona real estate remains stable.  aloha

Pele is back but more passively than with a vengence.  Pu'u O'o crater continues to slowly fill with lava but most of the activity is in fissure eruptions along the south east flank.  We don't have a lot of VOG so far but the air and view are noticeably different.

On the real estate front, things continue to move along much like the lave at Kilauea, slowly.  As of today, the number of sales of Single Family Residences (SFR's) in North Kona are down 19.42% year to date.  Condos are down 42.91%.  In South Kohala, SFR's are down 33.01% and condos are down 38.82%.

Median price is down in North Kona but up in South Kohala.  North Kona is down 7.07% for SFR's and 8.66% for condos, year to date.  In South Kohala, SFR prices are up 3.48% and condos prices are up a whopping 25.72%.  South Kohala increases are due to the sales of higher end properties in the Kukio, Hualalai and Waikoloa Beach Resort areas where activity continues to be brisk.

North Kona has 392 active SFR listings and 55 homes in escrow.  There are 380 condos for sale and only 36 of those in escrow.  In South Kohala, excluding Waikoloa Village, there are 150 SFR's for sale and 38 in escrow.  Condos in South Kohala have 252 active listings with 20 in escrow.  In Waikoloa Village there are 44 SFR's for sale with 5 in escrow; 46 condos for sale with 8 in escrow.

With nothing of any consequence happening in the financial world and interest rates staying about where they are for the rest of the year, now is a good time to consider buying into the Hawaii market.  Prices will probably continue to come down a little bit at a time for a while longer.  Still, if you're buying as a long term investment, 5 to 10 years, trying to time the market may be a mistake.  As interest rates bounce around you may find that waiting for the "lowest" price may cost you in additional dollars on a mortgage payment if interest rates bounce up at about the time you're going to close. 

For more detailed information about West Hawaii real estate you can subscribe to our free weekly Aloha Friday newsletter.  Email me through this site or at Ferrari.RealEstate@gmail.com.  aloha

Pele has again begun her fiery march to the sea with fissure eruptions along the Pu'u O'o flanks.  We've enjoyed clean air and clear skies for the last month or so but we can once again expect VOG along the Kona Coast.  Until then we enjoy the view.

It's a new week so we'll see what it has to bring in the world of real estate.  We've seen increases activity, gradual but steady, for the last couple of weeks as more buyers test the waters.

Actually, western Oregon, a moss back.  I grew up in the Portland area, the bustling community of Milwaukie.  Mom and one brother still in the area, the others scattered with the wind.

People are looking for real estate this week end.  Perhaps finding the perfect home during Cosme, a tropical depression, could mean good luck and good fortune.  We are getting scattered rain showers but one thing you quickly learn living on an island is that we always need rain . . . preferably at night only.  aloha

Since Pele has ceased her eruptions the more normal weather patterns have reemerged along the Kona coast.  This means clouds in the late evening followed by night time showers.  By morning it's usually clearing and we have a nice sunny day again.  Truly paradise.

Real estate continues to trudge along.  To date in North Kona, just over $3M in condo sales and $11M in Single Family Residencial sales have closed escrow.  In South Kohala there's been just over $2M in condo sales and about $10.5M in residential sales.

The Fed chief made a disparaging comment yesterday about the housing industry as a whole.  He said the slow down should continue into the foreseeable future.  Since way too many people hang on his every word, buyers will continue to hang on the sidelines waiting to find the bottom of the market before venturing in.

The problem with that thinking is that once again, the bottom will come and go and those who wait for all knowing advice from some financial guru suddenly wakes up only to realize the market started up some time ago and they got caught sitting on the hind end. . .  again.

Real estate is a long term investment i.e., there is no bad time to buy.  You're not buying real estate for a quick flip and easy money.  Real estate in a long term investment.  Held for 5 to 10 years, real estate has always shown a positive return.  You can't time the real estate market any more than you can time the stock market so if you're in a position to buy, buy.

We are truly fortunate to have the blue skies we've had.  After 20 years of living with the VOG the clear skies are a dramatic contrast.  We were thinking that hazy skies were the norm but now we see the true beauty of Hawaiian skies and Kona sunsets.

Real estate continues to plug along but has the potential to improve as soon as this fall.  There are still plenty of people wanting to move here and as the air clears, the attraction is even stronger.

I've been in Oregon for the last week enjoying the warm, 100 degree plus temperatures.  Hawaii's 80's and ocassional 90's seems very mild after this.  On top of that, we can be in the ocean in a matter of minutes when the outside air gets too oppressive.

Every time I leave I'm convinced again that choosing to live in Kona was the right thing for me.

June goes out with a fizzle, much like most of this year.  The number of sales continues its downward trend compared to last year and correspondingly, median prices continue down . . . or do they?  Basic economics would tell us yes, increased supply, reduced demand, prices go down, right?

In North Kona, yes.  The median price of a Single Family Residence (SFR) is down 7.3% year to date compared to 2006.  Condo prices are down 8.47% for the same time period.  South Kohala obviously, didn't pass econ 101; their SFR median price is up 4.67% and their condo median price is up a whopping 25.09%.

Now, before people begin rewriting text books on economics, let's look at what's really happening here.  West Hawaii is a very small market compared to Oahu or most market areas on the mainland.  A single large sale can skew statistics when there are only say, a half a dozen sales to look at.  In South Kohala, there have been numerous sales of million dollar plus properties in the resort areas which are a complete contradiction to what's happening in Waikoloa Village.

In general, prices are holding well considering the steady decline in the number of sales, island wide.  An interesting anomoly is the sales volume in the two districts.  South Kohala SFR volume is up 5.7% to just over $144M year to date while the condos are down 38.5% to $93.3M.  In North Kona, the SFR volume is down 18.9% with sales of $192.1M and condo sales are down a whopping 46.26% to a mere $58.9M in sales compared to last year at $109.6M.  Median price for a condo in North Kona is $389K.

Just like real estate is a local phenomenon, median pricing is as well.  We need to look at each price range to see where things are moving and where things are sitting.  You can subscribe to our free newsletter by emailing me at ferrari.realestate@gmail.com and I'll add you to the list.  Here, you'll get the details of our market and some general interest information as well.  aloha