Kauai Real Estate Update- For a complete list of the real estate activity on the island of Kauai for last week click here: Kauai Real Estate Activity November 28 to December 4, 2022
Poipu Beach Real Estate Update- for a list of all the Fee Simple real estate activity in Poipu Beach since the beginning of this year click here: Poipu Beach Fee Simple Current Market Analysis
For the Kiahuna Plantation click here: Kiahuna Plantation Current Market Analysis
Zipline, ATV Tour & Hawaii Life Convention
For the first time Hawaii Life held their annual convention on the island of Kauai which is where this company started. Back in 2008 they opened their first office in Hanalei and today there are a total of 24 offices. This company has grown to be the number 1 real estate company in the state for many years now.
They usually hold a convention every year and this was the first one since the pandemic. It was scaled back and this year it was held at the Grand Hyatt. In addition to some meetings and dinners we had some excursions. I choose to Zipline one day and the next I did the Kipu Ranch ATV tour. I highly recommend both of these activities.
This week I’ll cover Koloa Zipline and I can’t say enough about this company. They have the longest ziplines on the islands and the staff were professional, safety oriented and friendly. There were six of us which was perfect sized group. We started off with a small run which would let you know right away if this was something you could do or not. By the end of the runs ( 8 total ) I was doing the “Superman” which is just like it sounds. Scary but soooooo fun.
Kauai November Tourism Numbers Surpass Pre-Pandemic
If you haven’t noticed, everything is measured by “pre-pandemic” numbers. Coming close to a “pre-pandemic number” is a sign we’re recovering but, for the first time we’ve exceeded a number. At the end of November we had a total of 835,105 visitors which not only exceeds the previous high of 772,705 in 2018 but for the first time broke the 800,000 mark. By the end of November 2019 the number was slightly down from the year before at 770,934.
I’ve been hyper-focused on Kauai since 1996 when my husband and I set in motion an 8 year plan to move over here. What I have consistently seen is this: after any kind of national or global pull back Hawaii quickly bounces back. It’s seen as a safe and more affordable destination to scale back to. Plus we have the people that have Kauai in their hearts and souls and are anxious to get back.
Kauai Tourism Spending Also Surpasses Pre-Pandemic Figures
Tourism spending data was released for the end of October, 2022 and it has exceeded the pre-pandemic numbers. At the end of October, 2022 visitors had spent $173 million compared to $141.9 at the end of October 2019, this represents a stunning 21.9% increase. I think what is amazing about this number is lack of restaurants and stores that we currently have when compared to 2019. We are doing more, much more, with less.
The neighbor islands did well with Oahu over $650 million, Maui came in at $400 million and the Big Island of Hawaii $200 million.
Coco Palms New Legal Challenge
Last month a Kauai community group known as “I Ola Wailuanui” filed a lawsuit against the Board of Land and Natural Resources and the Developer alleging that the Board did not require an environmental impacts study to be done before they renewed the building permits.
The Developers are RP21 Coco Palms LLC which are based in Utah and they plan to redevelop Coco Palms into a 350 room hotel. The current site has been shuttered since Hurricane Iniki in 1992. I had done a previous blog when the group that has filed this lawsuit started a campaign to buy the property. They currently have $200K that they have raised which is far short of their $50 million dollar goal.
Kauai Real Estate End Of November 2022 vs 2021
Year to date the number of homes that have sold dramatically dropped ( and I do mean dramatically ) but Prices are still up. I first took at look at just the November numbers and I had to double check the number of homes that sold last month, it was only 23 and in November 2021 it was 48, this is less than half! And, Yes, things are really that slow around here and it’s even worse for condominiums. The days on market is just about the same, in November of 2021 it was 11 and in 2022 it took an average of 14 days, but the prices are still trending upward. I’m also not seeing a flood of homes coming on the market and I think that’s because of two reasons: 1) people are married to their rate, they don’t want to give up the 2.75 and 3.25 Thirty-Year fixed and 2) a large percentage of property were cash sales. Unlike 2008 we don’t have a lot of homeowners with sketchy loans.
Below are the numbers comparing the end of November 2022 vs November 2021. If you would like to know how this information relates to your particular area of interest you are welcome to give me a call.
