“Maui condo prices up 18% in April as volume rises”

“Oahu home prices up in April, but sales volume drops”

“Hawaii Big Island condos see prices, sales gain”

File these under “Headlines I Like To See!!!”  These headlines appeared in a Hawaii Business publication that’s widely read here on the islands.  For the month of April home sales on Kauai rose and median prices soared by double-digits, statistics are taken right from our local MLS.

I SOLD Regency Villas #211 Fee Simple 2 bedroom 2 bath for $477,500. Amenities include air-conditioning, washer/dryer, granite counter tops, upgraded furnishings, travertine tile, and more.

The median price of a single-family home on Kauai in April was $680,000, a 60 percent jump from $425,000 last year. That was based on 29 sales, up from 27 sales in April of last year. Nine of those sales were in the Koloa district, where the median price more than doubled to $825,000 in April, from $400,000 last year.

The median price of a condominium on Kauai jumped by 49 percent to $312,000 from $209,665. That was based on sales of 33 units, compared to 23 units sold during the same month last year.

I’m always careful to note that these are broad headlines and while they help sell all properties island wide you need to dig in with your Realtor on your specific property that you own or are interested in.  Last week Kauai continued the trend of more properties going into escrow and selling then coming on the market.  I sold a Regency Villas 2 bedroom 2 bath unit of $477,500.  This unit had all the bells and whistles; air conditioning, granite counter tops, travertine tile, fantastic furnishings and window treatments.  This unit had previously sold for $784,500 in November of 2008 and had sold for $600,000 in May of 2005.  Its deals like these that are dominating the sales island wide.

For a list of what sold, went into escrow and came on the market island wide for last week CLICK HERE FOR SPREADSHEET

Hawaii Hotel Occupancy Rises For All Islands

Beautiful Waikiki with Diamond Head in the background. Taken from the grounds of The Royal Hawaiian Hotel

Last week the hotel occupancy went up 11% and Oahu was in the top 25 markets in the nation for occupancy and room rate increases.  I was in Oahu last week and I heard from a taxi driver that the 3^rd largest convention was in town, makes sense because when I went to book my hotel a month ago several were 100% booked.

So that explains that Oahu hotels were at 83.9% occupancy but the rest of the islands rose in occupancy as well. Kauai saw the largest gains at 67.3% which is 14% higher than last year.  Maui was second in occupancy gains of 12.1% giving them 71.5% occupancy and the Big Island was 4.6 higher than last year and had a 51.5% occupancy rate.

Air New Zealand To Add Auckland to Honolulu Flight

Air New Zealand plans to add an additional weekly flight between Auckland and Honolulu between October and March.  The airline is also upgrading the aircraft used to fly this route to a larger Boeing 777-200 between the months of June 1 and Sept. 1.

Hawaiian Airlines Adds Flights Between Hawaii and Japan AND Changes Their Baggage Rules

Pending government approval Hawaiian Airlines plans to add flights between Hawaii and the Japanese city of Sapporo in November. This flight will run 3 times a week and is the fourth city in Japan to have a flight to Honolulu. The flights to Sapporo, which is known for its ski resorts, will add about 41,000 new air seats between Hawaii and Japan, and restore nonstop service to northern Japan that was discontinued by other airlines in 2003.

Hawaiian Airlines also changed their baggage policy due to Federal transportation requirements.  Passengers who book their interisland flights separately between Honolulu and the mainland will need to collect their bags and exit security at Honolulu  then put their bags through agricultural inspection and recheck them before going through security again. Hawaiian Airlines states this affect the majority of the airline’s passenger because most fly on a single-itinerary ticket.

This begins June 1, 2012

Superferry Update

“Whatever happened to the Superferrys?”  I get that question from time to time and now I have an answer.

The two high-speed ferries built for the shuttered Hawaii Superferry were renamed last  Tuesday by the vessels’ new owner — the U.S. Navy.  The Alakai and the Huakai were renamed the USNS Guam and the USNS Puerto Rico.  They will be used for peacetime operations such as troop transport training, exercise missions and humanitarian and disaster relief.

I believe this could be Kauai’s most expensive and exclusive listing yet.  Kahu’aina Plantation is a 357 acre beachfront property in Hanalei that comes with some interesting options; there are 80 fully entitled homesites ready for immediate construction, or you can do multiple family estates or your third option is to build one incredible estate that would rival any other in the world.  The price is $67,500,000 for this fee simple waterfront property with direct beach access.  It’s been 7 years of meticulous planning for the Sellers to offer this property with all development requirements.  Call or email me for more information.

Sales to note last week were 4 of the little houses our company was offering all went into escrow.  These are incredible buys for a little house in the heart of the Poipu Kai Resort.  6,000 square feet of land and 1,132 area of living space with a great floor plan to convert to a home.

Last week we had a huge number of properties go into escrow, the number of these properties that went off the market far exceed what came on the market.  For a complete list CLICK HERE FOR SPREADSHEET

Safeway Grocery Store Update

I get asked about Safeway in Puhi a lot, believe it or not.  Currently we have one Safeway on the island and it’s in Kapaa which is an hour drive from Poipu and about a half hour drive from Lihue.  The store is very popular but with traffic can be hard to get to.  A couple of years ago Safeway announced they were opening up a center in Puhi, right by the elementary school.  Then the road improvements started and understandably Safeway put off construction.  So that’s the back story.

It was announced this week that they are expected to start construction the second half of this year.  This center will be a commercial center with Safeway being the anchor store, additionally there will be restaurants and retail.  Leases are being finalized and updates will be released as they become available.

Seven People Rescued At Sea

It’s Gilligans Island all over again, with a twist!  Blue Dolphin, a leading tour boat company, spotted 7 people standing atop their overturned boat last Saturday and they were able to facilitate a rescue.  If you were on that Blue Dolphin tour that day you got a lot more for your money than lunch and snorkeling!

When found the “castaways” had been standing on top of their boat for 2 hours.  The 7 occupants were in their boat heading for Hanalei when the sea started getting really choppy throwing more and more water into the boat.  The locals were bailing water out of the boat and shifting from one side to the next to avoid capsizing but it was no use, the boat flipped over but fortunately the anchor flipped over as well and it grounded itself and kept the boat in one spot.  The occupants climbed on top of the boat and waited for help that they were not sure would come.  One of the castaways said they found a wayward gecko on the boat so she put him on her shoulder and he got rescued along with the rest of the crew.

No injuries were reported and the castaways enjoyed Mai Tais on the trip back into shore along with the rest of the tourist.

Vacation Rental Homes Pay More For Trash Pick Up

Owners of Vacation Rental Homes will no longer be eligible for trash pick-up under the Residential Refuse Collection Assessment ordinance.  They are now subject to commercial rates under the new County Ordinance 905 which starts May 15, 2012.  The monthly fee for vacation rentals is $84 for weekly pick up instead of the Residential rate of $6 a month for weekly trash pick up.  For owners of vacation rental homes that have not applied for a county commercial account by the May 15 deadline will cease on July 1, when refuse bins will be collected, the county states.

If you own a vacation rental condo there’s a good chance this does not affect you.  It’s likely due to the volume of trash collected they have already contracted with a commercial contractor.

Kiahuna Plantation (LH) #234 List Price $239,000 SOLD for $225,000. This unit has been nicely upgraded and has a "peek a boo" view of the ocean. Located in building #36 this unit is a Garden View Deluxe and had a lot of direct owner bookings that came with the sale.

My listing at the Kiahuna Plantation (LH), #234, SOLD last Friday for $225,000, the list price was $239,000.  This unit is a one bedroom one bath remodeled ground floor unit with a little peek-a-boo view of the ocean.  Really nice direct rental income and turn-key interiors.  Did you miss out on this one?  Give me a call if you’d like info on another unit in this complex.

For the rest of the island we had a great week for properties going into escrow and an impressive number of properties that sold.  The number of properties that came on the market is fairly low.  The National Association of Realtors just last Thursday reported that existing home sales were down in March from February but continue to outpace last year.  Inventory on a national level is tightening and home prices are showing signs of stabilizing.  For the month of March the total existing home sales were at 3970 million, in March of 2011 it was 3750 million.

For a list of what sold, went into escrow and came on the market CLICK HERE FOR SPREADSHEET

Vacation Home Sales Surge In 2011

This entry could also be called “Why People Bought A Second Home”  The data coming from the National Association of Realtors on the year end statistics for the secondary vacation rental home market for 2011 is favorable.  Sales jumped in 2011 and now has the highest market share since 2005.  Prices, as we have seen here in Kauai, are beginning to stabilize and will continue to do so the more inventory is bought up.

The National Association of Realtors 2012 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey showed second home sales surging 64.5%.  In 2010 749,000 second homes sold and in 2011 1.23 million!  In 2011 11% of all transactions were vacation homes and most were paid for with cash.  The median price (on a national level) was down 19.1% in 2011 the average price was $121,300 and in 2010 it was $150,000.

The main motive for people buying investment homes and vacation rental homes?

Lifestyle.

82% said the primary reason for buying was to use the property themselves for vacations or as a family retreat.  30% were going to use it as a primary residence and only 22% plan to rent it to others.

This might surprise you if you are looking to buy a place as a vacation rental home in hopes that you’ll make a profit off the rental income.  The main motive needs to be a lifestyle choice first and always.  Vacation rental properties have amenities and other expenses that make them a different animal than a long term rental property near where you live.

I’ve personally been an owner of a vacation rental property here in Poipu for 14 years, 6 of those years I was living in California.  The overwhelming statistic that show people buy for lifestyle verses rental income motive I know are correct from a personal and professional standpoint.

If you have any questions on this give me a call.

Sheraton Poipu Beach Renovation Complete

The Sheraton here in Poipu completed their 15 month renovation which cost $16 million.  They upgraded lobby, added new restaurants, banquent rooms, water park and pool.  They have a big banner on Poipu Road for “RumFire” restaurant and bar which is where The Shells was.  The renovation added 25 jobs and they are presently hiring.

Kauai Gets Federal Money For Floods From Barack Obama

When we had the heavy rains last March I heard from mainland clients that it was on the news that there was a “disaster declaration” for theislandofKauai.  I got a lot of concerned calls, emails and text messages.  The declaration sounds a lot worse than it is but there is a reason for it and the reason just came into play this last week.

That declaration is needed to get federal funds for emergency road work when an extreme condition like this comes up.  Last week President Barack Obama approved the disaster declaration and approved federal funds to cover 75% of the costs to repair the damage that had been done due to the flooding.

The county has 30 days to prepare an assessment and they will get 75% of that money with the remaining 25% coming from county or state funds.

My listing Kiahuna Plantation (LH) #234 in escrow. Listed at $239,000. One bedroom one bath upgraded ground floor unit, Garden View Deluxe.

Nothing but good news for the Kauai real estate market this last week.  First off my Kiahuna Plantation (LH) unit #234 which is listed at $239,000 is in escrow and will be closing very soon.  This is a ground floor unit in building #36 and had some really nice upgrades.  Secondly you will see on the excel spreadsheet a huge amount of sales activity and properties going into escrow and not a lot coming on the market-at all.  Of note are two properties;  One is a Kuhio Shores short sale that was listed at $427,800 and sold for $461,100 and was a cash sale, that’s right it sold for over the asking price (this can happen in short sales as there may be multiple offers and/or the bank is the one that sets the final price).  Also you’ll see a Kiahuna Golf Village home that’s listed at $1,100,000.  This home I know well as it’s in my neighborhood and close to where I live, it was foreclosed on and a bank owned property (different than a short sale).  I called the agent on it and she said on day 3 they had an accepted offer.  So its shows as active on the spreadsheet but its under contract.  I toured the home anyway and it’s a steal at $1,100,000, one of the cleanest foreclosed on homes I’ve ever seen.

Keep in mind that this sales activity that I’m writing about is general in nature for the island of Kauai and not meant to be a blanket statement for every property.  Call or email me to find out where your property, or the property that you are interested in, is doing in this market.  There is recovery island wide, no doubt, however the speed of recovery will vary with different segments of the market.  Call me to discuss (I LOVE to talk about Kauai real estate!).

For a list of what went into escrow, sold and came on the market CLICK HERE FOR SPREADSHEET

Allegiant Air Announces New Non-Stop Air Service

Last week Allegiant air announced the company will begin new, nonstop air service from the mainland to Honolulu.  We’ve seen this pop up every now and again in our news and now its official.  The routes will be Honolulu to Las Vegas (which is the eighth Hawaiian island) and……Fresno!  Andrew Levy, Allegiant President said “Service to Las Vegas and Fresno reflects a moderate growth plan by our company. With the addition of the four aircraft we have acquisitioned, we plan to expand service to other mainland cities in the future. We anticipate the service will be very popular, especially when customers take advantage of Allegiant’s low pricing when bundling their air, hotel and car rental package.”

Allegiant announced last week they will have special airfares to celebrate the new flights, call them at 702-505-8888 to see if you can take advantage of those specials.  Here are the new routes;

1. Fresno, Calif. — begins June 30

2. Las Vegas — begins June 29

Disney Plans Family Adventure Movie Set In Hawaii And Brings 2 New Cruises To Hawaii

A nice shot in the arm for Hawaii’s economy comes from Disney.  Screenwriter Joe Gazzam, whose credits include “21 Jump Street,” has been hired to write a family adventure film for Disney that will be set in Hawaii.

Variety reports that the untitled project will be produced by Ahmet Zappa’s Monsterfoot Productions and Scott Sanders Productions.

The Walt Disney Company opened its first Hawaii resort Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina last summer and is scheduled to bring two Disney cruises to Hawaii this year starting at the end of this month.

Kauai Property Tax Revamps Assessments

People who own property in Kauai have been getting a form from the Department of Finance asking them how they use their property.  Rather then taxing by established zoning they are now going by usage.  My guess for this change is the County can flesh out those vacation rentals that are operated in residential zoned areas and tax them at a higher rate.  You need to fill out the form and send it in within 45 days or they will automatically figure your property at the “highest and best use”.

Barrons Magazine Rates Kauai #2 Place To Buy Second Home

The prestigious Barrons Magazine starts off their article saying “The luxury second-home market is now firming up again….”  They go on to list 20 of their tops picks for their readers to focus on.  Number 1?  The Hamptons.  Number 2????  Kauai!!!  Here’s how they start off describing us “Kauai is quainter than Oahu, Maui or the Big Island, and is the least developed of the major islands and the most reminiscent of South Pacific.”

No surprise Kauai is so high on Barrons list.  #6 is Maui and no other Hawaiian island made the list.

The statewide real estate data for the State of Hawaii just became available for February.  The information is put together by the Hawaii Association of Realtors and pulled from the various MLS services that we have in this state.  Kauai was the big winner with a 25% increase in the number of homes sold but were down in the number of condos sold, good news is we were not nearly as down as some of the other islands.  The Median sales price for homes had Kauai as a leader again but in a negative way, down by -92.88%.  Condo Median price was up 116.26%!  It’s interesting to see the island by island data.  To see how this data relates to Kauai property you own or are interested in contact me.

For sales on Kauai last week we had a great week!!!  It was an incredible week for the amount of properties that went under contract and a good amount of sales as well.  New listings not so much.  For a list of our island wide activity CLICK HERE FOR SPREADSHEET

New Alaska Airlines Flight 

Alaska Airlines is adding a new non-stop flight on August 27, 2012 between Portland Oregon and Pasco Washington.  What is significant for Kauai is Alaska Airlines flies direct from Oregon to Kauai so now it’s just that much easier!

Easter At Kiahuna Plantation

Every Easter at the Kiahuna Plantation the resort sponsors a Sunrise Service on the Great Lawn followed by an Easter Egg Hunt.  Invited are all children and parents at the resort, neighboring resorts and neighborhoods.  I go every year because the event is so much fun.  The service is over at 8 a.m. and then the parents come with their kids and the “Egg Hunt” starts at 8:30 a.m.  The children are divided into age groups and each lead to different lawn sections of the resort where there are Easter eggs to be found out in the open and some not so out in the open.  Difficulty in finding the eggs is based on age group.  Each group has a “Golden Egg” somewhere which can be redeemed for a large “Da Kine” Easter Basket.

Also in attendance was the Easter Bunny.  Mr. E.B. took photos with anybody who wanted to pose with him so I got into the action.  The weather cooperated, thankfully.  Yesterday we had a bit of a storm come in and on Sunday morning it cleared to sunny skies for the Easter Egg Hunt, then for the rest of the day we had on and off again light showers.  For the rest of the blog I’ll have photos of the event, next year I hope to see you there!

The Easter Bunny, Lynda Gill and A Rainbow!

Easter Morning At Kiahuna Plantation Beach

Before we get to Kauai Real Estate we’ll cover the most important piece of business, the glorious weather here on Kauai!!!!  I took a power walk with a girlfriend on Sunday morning and we ended it at Poipu Beach at 10:15 a.m. where I took this photo.  There were lots of people at the beach and it was so fantastic I ran home and grabbed my suit and hit the beach myself!  The water was glorious and I got too much sun, but I loved every minute of it.

I had a very, very busy week with two of my listings at Kiahuna Plantation going under contract.  I brought in the Buyers for Kiahuna #321 which is listed at $150,000, another agent in

Kiahuna Plantation (LH) #321 List Price $150,000 IN ESCROW

Kiahuna Plantation )LH) #57 List Price $249,000 IN ESCROW

our office brought in the Buyers for my other listing #57 listed at $249,000.  I had written about #57 in my last blog (in case you missed my “Kiahuna Trifecta” blog CLICK HERE  )  Last week we did not have a lot of properties that came on the market (this is good!) but we did have a fair amount go into escrow and a fair amount of closings (again, this is good!).  For a complete list of what sold, went into escrow and came on the market CLICK HERE FOR SPREADSHEET

Entire Island Of Kauai Loses Power

On Wednesday my husband and I had just gotten home and were catching up on the news when we lost all power as did the entire island.  Kauai Island Utility Cooperative stated a large fault in one of its generators cut power to the entire island.

You can imagine the impact of traffic lights and stores going dark at 5:15 pm.  By 6:30 pm only 15% of the island had power restored and by 8:00 pm 66% were back online. It was around 8:30 when the power came on in Poipu.  The island in its entirety had their electricity up by 10:32 pm.

5 Arrested In TSA California/Honolulu Drug Ring

A meth amphetamine drug ring that connected Southern California and Honolulu via employees at Delta Airlines and Honolulu TSA workers was broken up on last Tuesday.  The ring had been in existence since January 2011.  Hundreds of thousands pounds of meth were transported here and hundreds of thousands of dollars were transported back to California.

5 people have been arrested here in Hawaii and 8 have been arrested in California.  The allegations are a Delta Employee in Honolulu used her security credentials to bypass airport checkpoints to transport money to California.  In California another Delta employee or a TSA employee would use their security credentials to place 30 to 40 pounds of meth in luggage that had already gone through screening.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been recording cell phone conversations and intercepting text messages.

Mega 9 Plex Movie Theatre Coming To Kauai

Last Tuesday the Planning Commission approved a $10 million multiplex cinema that will have 9 screens and will seat 1,274 people.  It will be built in the back parking lot of Kmart.

The “Kukui Marketplace Stadium 9” will offer 3D movies, luxury seats, digital projection capabilities and a 67 foot wide screen which will be the largest in the state!

This theatre will be ready by the summer of 2013.

Molokai Couple Sues Condominium Board And Wins $3.9 Million

A Molokai couple was awarded nearly $3.9 million in damages last week after a Maui jury found they had been subjected to threats, harassment and intimidation in a dispute with their condo association.

The story spans out over 6 years and is a tale of death threats, car vandalism, marginalization etc.  A couple moved into their Molokai condo 6 years ago and their trouble started when they used an outside contractor instead of the condominiums handyman to do renovations.  According to the homeowners, and others of the condo complex, the condo was being run by a board of directors who treated the condo complex as their own “personal fiefdom.” They worked in concert with two “thugs” being the resident manager and an unlicensed handyman who had a criminal record and boasted of having ties with the mob.  This couple became a target by not using the condo complexes unlicensed handyman to do the work in their condo.  Over a 6 year period the situation got completely out of hand on every level.

The Jury hearing the case was “completely ticked off” and their verdict included $500,000 in general damages and more than $3 million in punitive damages to be paid by the board of directors and condo association, as well as by three members of the board individually, the former resident manager and the handyman.

Here’s the kicker; punitive damages are not likely to be covered under the condominiums insurance so the $1.3 million levied against the Board of Directors very well could come out of their pockets.

Kiahuna Plantation #230

Kiahuna Plantation #57

I’ll start my blog off with a trifecta of Kiahuna Plantation Real Estate information for you!  I just listed Kiahuna Plantation (LH) #230 which is on the top floor of building 37, this unit has some had some nice upgrades and is being sold for $130,000.  For a video tour of #230 click on this link Video Tour KP 230  Additionally I just lowered the price of Kiahuna Plantation (LH) #57 to $249,000.  This unit is in building 11 on the ground floor with a short walk to the beach.  For a video tour of this unit click on this link Video Tour KP 57 Kiahuna Plantation (LH) #309 also lowered their price to a competitive $130,000.  This unit is on the middle floor of building 38 with a great Moir Cactus Garden View and upgrades!  You can see that video tour here Video Tour KP 309 All of these units are in active vacation rental programs and additionally the owners do direct rentals and their built in income is being passed on to you!  For more information give me a call.

Kiahuna Plantation 309

Island wide we had an even number of properties that came on the market, sold and went into escrow.  For a detailed spreadsheet CLICK HERE FOR SPREADSHEET

Mortgage Rates Rise

The average U.S.rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose above 4 percent for the first time in five months. The sharp increase suggests the window to buy or refinance a home at historically low rates is closing.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said today that the rate on the 30-year loan jumped to 4.08 percent, up from 3.92 percent the previous week. A month ago, it touched 3.87 percent, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.  The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 3.30 percent, up from 3.16 percent last week and a record low of 3.13 percent two weeks ago.

“With the economy getting stronger, the markets are beginning to recognize that rates are too low,” said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. “That means mortgage rates should rise.”

Higher mortgage rates could spur more sales, especially if home prices begin to rise. Potentially buyers will likely move quickly to avoid paying higher rates down the line.

Naroff feels the buyer reaction could be strong and might move people off the fence and into the buying ring.  January and February made up for the best winter sales in the last five years.  Additionally Builders have grown more confident and the numbers of permits from them are rising, employers have added an average 244,600 jobs per month from December through February, unemployment rate has dropped to 8.3 percent, the lowest level in nearly three years.

Could New Southwest Airline Planes Be Used For Hawaii Routes??

On Wednesday Southwest Airlines announced they have gotten their first Boeing 737-800 which, according to Mike Van de Ven, is going to “make us more profitable from day one”.  These planes will hold 175 passengers which is about 40 more than their biggest plane.

Where it gets interesting for us here in Hawaii is the new plane allows Southwest to fly to Hawaii and the Caribbean as stated by Southwest’s CEO Gary Kelly.  First, the airline needs to negotiate Hawaiian-trip pay scales for union pilots and flight attendants, he said.

These planes will join their current fleet on April 11.  The planes have wireless internet access and higher ceilings.

Earthquake On The Big Island

On Thursday morning a small earthquake shookHawaii Island, but no serious damage was reported and no tsunami alert was issued.  It was estimated to be of 3.7 magnitude and was 27 miles west of Kailua-Kona.

Last week was fairly quiet on all fronts for Kauai real estate, the properties going into escrow dominates the spreadsheet.  Interestingly one of the Wainani homes that had been auctioned off a year ago in February just re-sold for $200 over what the bidder paid for it.  This single story 3 bedroom 2.5 bath golf course frontage home was bought for $950,000 in February of 2011 and put on the market on December 10, 2011 for $1,185,000.  It went under contract 3 days later and closed as a cash sale for $1,150,000.

For a spreadsheet of what went under contract, sold and came on the market CLICK HERE FOR SPREADSHEET

Koloa Camp Residents Get Help From County Of Kauai

The Kauai County Council unanimously passed a resolution requesting that Grove Farm Co. meet with its Koloa Camp tenants to explore alternatives to eviction that they had issued to their tenants on November 8, 2011.  Grove Farm wants to bulldoze the property and put up 50 homes.

A landlord has every right to evict its tenants, Council Chair Jay Furfaro said, and the county has no legal power to involve itself in a landlord-tenant issue. The resolution is a non-binding request.

There has been a huge push to get the community and visitors behind this and last Wednesday one of the residents had a petition that had 2,034 signatures on it in support of the residents.

400 New Housing Developments in Princeville 

Development continues in Princeville for Phase II of the community of Princeville.  Developer Jeff Stone will connect the current Phase I and promises to be “less dense”.

Stone said Princeville Ranch Estates will be sold as lots located near the Prince Golf Course.  Seventeen ranch sites, ranging in size from 10 acres to 100 acres per parcel, have already been subdivided but are not actively being marketed. Pricing has yet to be finalized.

Collectively, it would total 400 homes and should bring 2,600 jobs.  Also on the horizon, Montage Hotels and Resorts plans to build The Hanalei Plantation Montage, an ultra-luxury resort hotel on 122 acres near the St. Regis.

Casualty Of Last Weeks Storm

A 58 year old woman from Sunnyvale, California was swept out to sea when she attempted to cross Hanakapai’ai Stream during the storm last week.  At 2:55 p.m. on Saturday, March 10 the police were alerted and a search began but crews never found her.  A tour boat spotted her body on Sunday and Police and the Fire Department.

I’ve crossed Hanakapai’ai Stream many times as has hundreds of thousands of residents and visitors.  There is a sign warning you that it’s extremely dangerous during rainy weather due to flash flooding that occurs.  This stream is crossed by boulder hopping and on the other side is Hanakapiai Beach which is breathtakingly beautiful.  And also extremely dangerous during the winter with its big surf and strong rips.

Hawaii Hotel Rates Climbs 7%

On average the cost of renting a hotel room rose by 7% over last year and occupancy is nudging upward.  Our hotels were 80% full (on average) for the week ending March 10.  Nice news considering we are just getting into spring break so the best is yet to come.

The Big Island was the Big Winner for the room rates at $191.02 and that’s 16.4% higher than last year.  Their occupancy stayed flat at 65.7%

Kauai, however, saw a jump of 11.4 percentage points in occupancy to 72.1 percent, while room rates rose 9.2 percent to $205.10.

Room rates at Oahu hotels also rose 9.2 percent last week, while occupancy was flat at 83.8 percent, 0.4 percentage points higher than a year ago.

Both occupancy and room rates were flat at Maui hotels. The occupancy rate on the Valley Isle was 83.4 percent, 0.6 percent higher than a year ago, while the average daily room rate of $253.82 was 0.4 percent higher than a year ago.

The National Association of Realtors released national data that shows existing-home sales rising in January and inventories decreasing.  This is the recipe for the market turning around, prices rising-inventory decreasing.  These sales are for existing homes sales which include single-family homes, town-homes, condominiums and co-ops.

Lawrence Yun,  NAR’s chief economist, said strong gains in contract activity in recent months show buyers are responding to very favorable market conditions. “The uptrend in home sales is in line with all of the underlying fundamentals – pent-up household formation, record-low mortgage interest rates, bargain home prices, sustained job creation and rising rents.”  He also went on to say that the inventory condition is not favoring Buyers or Sellers.  Foreclosures are moving swiftly and ready home buyers and investors are competing in all markets.  Of course Lawrence is speaking on a national level, here in Kauai we see this to be true however its more by price points, some sectors of our market are not responding this way.

The interest rates certainly play a big part as well.  According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was a record low 3.92 percent in January.

Kauai real estate last week had some good news to report, in spite of the weather.  We had a whole lot of properties go into escrow and a lot of closings as well.  New properties coming on the market?  Not so much!  Here is the excel spreadsheet CLICK HERE FOR SPREADSHEET

Our Weather!

I have been getting phone calls from the mainland and emails from clients asking about our weather this past week.  To be sure its been severe and unusual,  all that you have seen on the news on the mainland (from what I hear from my clients) is true.  It does sound like the same footage is being shown quite a few times over.  However life is moving forward over here, clean up work is being done, residents who have “house fixes” that got put off are now glaringly important and are needing to be addressed.  The streets are getting back to normal, the waters are reseeding and the weather forecast for this next week is looking up.  The wind is still unusually strong and we still have sudden rain showers, power outages and branches in the roads creating hazards.

According to our forecast things are looking up.  Rain showers are expected for the next few days, but forecasters say a more stable weather system is moving across Hawaii.

Over the weekend the National Weather Service said all Hawaiian islands, except Lanai, were under a wind advisory.  But for the first time in days, no island was under a flood watch or warning.

Forecasters are predicting trade winds to be moderate to strong through at least the first half of the week along with frequent showers, but area residents aren’t expected to experience to the severe weather that hit the islands during the past several days and the amount of rain will be a lot less than what we have had this last week.

Alaska Airlines Adds Service To Kauai

Alaska Airlines expands its Bay Area to Hawaii flying starting yesterday with new daily nonstop service from Oakland and San Jose, Calif., to Lihue on the island of Kauai and Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. The airline previously served these markets with three to four flights a week

“We are essentially doubling our service from Oakland and San Jose to Kauai and the Big Island,” said Joe Sprague, Alaska’s vice president of marketing. “Going to seven flights a week to each of these islands makes it more convenient than ever for Bay Area travelers flying to Hawaii.”

And if that’s  not enough…. starting April 10, Alaska Airlines will inaugurate daily flights to Honolulu from Oakland and San Jose. Combined with the carrier’s existing service to Maui, Alaska Airlines will offer daily service to Hawaii’s four major islands from both Oakland and San Jose.

Special air fares are being offered to celebrate these new services.  I hate to publish what I saw on their site in case its been sold out already, its definitely worth a look!

KIAHUNA PLANTATION #227

WAIKOMO STREAMS 101

I have a lot to cover this morning!  I brought in the buyer for my listing at Waikomo Streams (FS) unit #101, it closed at $180,000.  This was a cash sale and closed in less than 30 days!  Also I just listed Kiahuna Plantation (LH) #81, a lovely 2 bedroom 2 bath corner unit in building 15 for $565,000 for a video tour go to http://www.tourfactory.com/506895    Kiahuna Plantation (LH) is also in the news with the sale that our office did on unit #227, this one bedroom one bath was listed at $130,000 and closed as a cash sale for $118,000.

Warren Buffett got our attention when he appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box this week. During the interview, he was asked about the current real estate market and whether he felt now was the time to buy. His response was rather emphatic and has been used as a headline in hundreds of articles since the interview:

“If I had a way of buying a couple hundred thousand single-family homes I would load up on them.”

Reading further he stated that investing in real estate is a way to “short the dollar”.  You take a 30 year loan and if it’s too high you refinance, if its too low “the other guy is stuck with it for 30 years”.  He went on to say if he knew where he wanted to live for the next 5 to 10 years he’d finance it with a 30 year mortgage, that mortgages are a “terrific deal” right now.  He also said that if he was a “handy type” he’d buy several homes at distressed prices and fix them to rent out.

Here on Kauai our year to date report card is; the number of sales is just what about what it was this time last year, the median price however is up by 5.66%.  The increase in the number of properties that we have seen going under contract will come into play over the next couple of months.  For a list of what came on the market, sold and went under contract   CLICK HERE FOR SPREADSHEET

Kauai Gets Hammered By Rain

FLOODING ON ALOHA PLACE

We started getting rain on Saturday evening and by Sunday it was an all out pounding for the whole island.  Here on the south shore 12 families were evacuated from their homes in the subdivision behind the First Hawaiian Bank in Koloa Town.  Several homes flooded so badly that some families were rescued by boat, the entrance to Aloha Place was “waist high” in water.

KIAHUNA GOLF COURSE

The north shore was dealing with road closures and landslides with rain falling in Hanalei at the rate of 2 inches an hour.  By Sunday afternoon the Hanalei River was receding but the highway still remained closed.

All over the island we had power outages but it was reported that electricity was quickly restored.  Landslides hit different parts of our highways and there’s a high surf advisory with 20 foot surf expected.  The water conditions are such that getting into the water is not advisable, the run off from the rivers leaves a long tail of brown in our otherwise blue waters.

I’m writing this on Monday morning and the rain has stopped, our flash flood warning has been extended to 11:20 a.m. Kauai time.  Oahu has been getting pounded by the storm as well and are experienceing road and school closures as well.  The report is that we are to have unsettled weather through Tuesday.

Smart Meters Being Installed On Kauai

Kauai Island Utility is installing pilot “smart meters”  The smart meters look like regular electric meters but they transfer usage information wirelessly to a nearby utility pole.   The program costs 11 million and is being split between our island co-op and the federal government.

Residents on this pilot program can deny the installation of a unit.