Kona Kohala Blog

Once again Hawaii runs counter to the national statistics.  On the mainland CNN reports that the sales of existing homes has declined by <3.8%>.  Most of the drop in sales is blamed on bad weather and gas prices.  Well, gas prices have come down and continue to decline so we'll have to wait to see if that has any effect on house sales in the future.

Mean while, in West Hawaii, North Kona and South Kohala to be precise, our home sales for May are up over last years numbers.  In North Kona, Single Family Residence (SFR) sales were up 5.9% and South Kohala went through the roof with a 150% increase in the number of sales over May of 2010.  Condo sales were also up in both districts with South Kohala up a respectable 21.1% and North Kona reporting a 9.4% increase over the year before.

Median price, with the exception of South Kohala condos, continue to decline.  North Kona is keeping with it's trend of a smaller decline each month as we seem to be at the bottom with just a <3.6%> drop for SFR's to $436,825 and condos down <16.9%> to $192,450 reflecting the investors holding back on condo purchases while families continue to take advantage of good deals.

In South Kohala,  median price for a SFR is down <5.8%> to $315,000.  Condos, however, are going the other way showing a 5.5% increase in price moving up to $390,500.

If you're waiting and watching and trying time your entry into the housing market I wouldn't wait too much longer.  The increase in sales activity is the demand in the equation that makes prices go up.  We still have a surplus inventory but even that is dropping off.

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