Lynda Gill’s Poipu, Kauai, Hawaii Real Estate at Pacific Ocean Properties

Kauai Real Estate Update

I Just Listed Kiahuna Plantation #320! Priced at $145,000 (LH) this ground floor 1 bedroom 1 bath is located in building 39 and has the bonus feature of a washer/dryer already installed. Serious Buyers contact me for more information on this soon to be released listing! Lynda Gill (RA) 808-346-0056

I’ll start off our real estate news by plugging my new listing at the lovely Kiahuna Plantation!  It has not been released yet so this will be a sneak peek for you!  Also I’d like to announce a price reduction on my other listing at Kiahuna Plantation unit #433 located in building 41 top floor, now priced at $120,000 (LH).  I am listing unit #320 which is a ground floor unit in building 39 that has a lanai that is flush with the lawn and nice views of the Moir Cactus Gardens beyond that.  This unit is completely tiled throughout and has a washer and dryer.  The list price is $145,000 (LH), serious Buyers please contact me for more information and keep in mind; you are the first to hear about this!!

We had a decent amount of sales and new escrows last week and not a lot of new properties coming on the market.  A house in the Wainani track did come on the market for $1,200,000 (FS).  This house is two story and was one of the original 7 homes that were built.  It was bought at auction some time back and now is being re-sold.  The foot traffic has been slow but that is to be expected the first couple of weeks of June, this week we should start seeing a ramp up of people inquiring about properties.  Did you know….for vacation rental homes/condos we are NOT heading into our buying season?  Mostly we are getting families that have other financial concerns than buying a second home, but they could be buyers in the future or know of a buyer so it’s always good to keep making those connections.  The residential market for the people who live here will be good for these first couple of months.  For a complete list of what sold, went into escrow and came on the market CLICK HERE FOR SPREADSHEET

Mokulele Airlines Adds More Interisland Routes

Mokulele Airlines announced that they are preparing to expand their interisland service this summer with the two new Cessna Grand Caravan turboprop aircraft that will be arriving soon.  This will make 4 new planes and brings the airline up to 9 planes for their fleet allowing them to expand their services to neighbor islands.  Exact routes have not been announced yet but their advanced bookings for summer are around 20,000 passengers.

Short On Short Sales Inventory

Nationally real estate sales for the first quarter of 2013 were released and the report showed that properties being sold as foreclosure or short sales were at 15%.  Compared to the same quarter in 2012 where the amount was at 35%.  Keep in mind that these are National numbers.  Hawaii had one of the lowest percentages in the nation with only 2% of all residential home sales were sold below what the Seller owed on the home.  Hawaii also fell just behind New York on the Median Price for a short sale, which came in at $438,562, and New York was number one at $476,292.  Those looking for short sale and foreclosure bargains in Hawaii are a year plus too late, that market has passed us by.

So where is the 15% coming from?  Who is still having a tough time of it?  In order of the percentage of the number of sales that are distressed by state;

▪   Rhode Island (44%)

▪   Connecticut (42%)

▪   Massachusetts (40%)

▪   Nevada (29%)

▪   Florida (26%)

▪   Ohio (24%)

Our New Buyer; The “Institutional Investor”

Another sign of the times that 2013 is a good year to buy is the emergence of the Institutional Investor.  The Institutional Investor is and organization which pool large sums of money and invest in securities such as real estate.  Consider these groups’ recent residential interests;

Blackstone Group recently bought 26,000 homes, Colony Capital owns 10,000.  JPMorgan has initiated a fund the buy up to 5,000 homes and Morgan Stanley has raised enough money to buy up to 10,000 homes.  While these numbers are not enough to make a massive impact Nationally they would be a concern to the Buyers that are buying homes in the same market as these heavy hitters.  Markets such as Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Phoenix and Tampa.

For these markets if you got outbid on a home it might not be another couple, it might be the Institutional Investor.  However, as home prices climb the prices won’t make sense to the Institutional Investor and they will begin to stop buying in these markets.

What Is That Wall Going Up By Poipu Beach???

If you have been here recently you might have seen a very long lava rock wall being put up along the left hand side of the road as you drive down to Poipu Beach.  Up until now residents and tourists alike have been driving by this area having no idea that this is a 13 acre complex and a historic cultural site of an ancient Hawaiian Village known as “Kahua O Kaneiolouma” and it dates back to the 1400’s.

Within the complex are walls and terraces, remnants of house sites, fishponds, taro fields, irrigation channels, shrines, altars and idol sites.  This area also has the only intact Makahiki sporting arena in the state.

The County of Kauai granted formal custodianship to the group that is restoring the site.  The vision is to create an authentic Hawaiian Village that will serve education, cultural and tourism needs while preserving the history of this area.  The group is working with the County of Kauai as all work that they are doing is subject to their approval along with the consultation of the historic department of the DLNR.  This is a seven year plan and currently the project is in phase one which is establishing the site security, clearing the brush, building the rock wall and increasing the public awareness of what they have been driving/biking and walking past for all these years.

Former Kauai Timeshare Renovated To Condominium Resort

The Kauai Kailani was one of the first timeshares to be built on Kauai over 40 years ago along with the Mokihana.  Both are in Waipouli on either side of the Waipouli Beach Resort in Kapaa right across from Safeway.  We have friends that were one of the original owners there and had been in the condos many times.  They were pretty much original and had a funky island feel to them.  The location was great, right on the beach and close to shopping.

When the lease ran out a developer bought the Kailani Timeshare Resort, The Mokihana and the Bullshed Resaurant for $14 million and plan to completely renovate all the structures.  Additionally they plan to turn the timeshares into privately owned fee simple condominiums.  There will be 11 three bedroom 2 and ½ bath units and 45 two bedroom 1 bath units.  They will start at $200,000 and if you want a piece of this action you are too late.  All of the units have reservations on them!  This project is going through the approval of the Condominium Property Regime and sales are subject to approval.