Did you know that North Shore home prices and sales have dropped? This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate here to give you the local market report for October, 2021. Well, don't worry. Not everything is doom and gloom. I'm going to start off with some good news and then we'll get into some of that North Shore housing and there's also some good news on the North Shore as well.

Local Neighborhood Report for Homes

Single family homes from Downtown-Nuuanu were up 175% in regards to the number of sales. There were only just 4 sales a year ago in October of 2020 and there were 11 this past month. That central area is showing some strength in town, which we'll get into in the condos in a bit here. Meanwhile, sales of single family homes on the North Shore were down 69% from just a year ago. There were 13 transactions that took place in October of 2020 and this past month we only saw 4 homes trade on the North Shore. I'm not sure what's happening there? Maybe nobody wants to sell, but that's a bit of a drop in volume and we'll get into price here shortly because the North Shore popped again again regarding median sales price.

Well, the Windward Coast took the cake. They, by far saw the largest increase in median sales price from October of last year. If you were shopping for a home last year, you could get in that market for $787,500 (that was the median price). Fast forward to this past month, it was $1,337,500. Once again, that's a 70% increase year over year. So, the Windward Coast (which you can see in this backdrop) is gorgeous, definitely a place for social distancing and it was the strongest segment of the single family home market here on Oahu this past month.

Back to the single family housing market on the North Shore. Unfortunately, outside of seeing the largest decrease in the number of sales, it also saw the largest decrease in median sales price. It was down 10% from last year, where the median sales price was $1,070,000 and now it's $962,000. So, if you're looking to get in on a "correction in the market", maybe the North Shore is the time before the waves pick up this winter.

Local Neighborhood Report for Condos

Now let's jump into the condo market. Ala Moana-Kakaako saw the largest increase year over year, which was up 167%. That went from just 24 sales a year ago to 64 sales this year. To put things into perspective, in 2020 there was a lot of fear in the market with COVID. International travel has now opened back up, so I anticipate we'll see a lot more strength coming. back into the Ala Moana-Kakaako condo market.

Well, it's not all doom and gloom on the North Shore. The median sales price for condos there was up 237% from a year ago. That was at just $255,000 in October of last year and this past month we saw it at $860,000. Once again a 237% increase in median sales price, which is just kind of unheard of. My speculation behind that is we probably had a lot of lowers ended trades out in Waialua, or what they call "cement city" out there. Whereas more recently we've seen some crazy, record sales taking place at the Ocean Villas at Turtle Bay, which I'm sure helped bring up the price. The demand for condo product on the North Shore has really spiked this past year like no other neighborhood here on Oahu. 

To find out more about what's on in your neighborhood, because all real estate is local, feel free to give us a call. Mahalo.

Single Family Home Stats

David: Can you believe the median sales price here on Oahu is now one million dollars for a single family home? Just a year ago in October of 2020, the median was $865,000. That's over a 15% increase from last year. I've got Ben Brady out here from Harcourts North America to give him a tour of some of the real estate we have here on Oahu. 

Ben: It's absolutely beautiful real estate we've got here Dave. Not to mention we've got Diamond Head in the background here and a beautiful view of Waikiki and some of the beautiful mountains out there as well. It's a phenomenal place and you can absolutely see why people fall in love with quality real estate like the one we're sitting in here today.

David: Absolutely, absolutely! It's a been a great market for Sellers. Days on Market were actually flat though. They were 10 Days a year ago and 10 Days this year, which is just phenomenal because NAR (The National Association of Realtors) says 60 days is the break even. Anything less than that is a Seller's Market.

Ben: Interesting to see though with the average sale price going up 15.6% and your average Days on Market staying the same, it's just showing the demand for the single family housing market is just still there regardless of that appreciation of over 15%.

David: Absolutely, and you will see an even more significant difference in the condo market, which we'll segment into here shortly.

Ben: I'm looking forward to hearing about that.

Condo Stats

David: Can you believe from this time last year we're up over 38% in the condo market? 

Ben: That's amazing considering that the volume of that is absolutely significant in any type of marketplace to have a 38% increase from the number of sales.

David: What a great place to be shooting this (video) here. We've got Waikiki right behind us and during COVID, there was a lot of fear and Buyers were not around. Fast forward a year and they're all back in the marketplace. International travel just opened back up and now that median sales price is now half a million bucks. 

Ben: That's unbelievable.

David: A round number: Half a million bucks for condos, one million for the single family homes. Last year, it was just $439,500. That's quite a bump! Days on Market actually dropped quite a bit. Unlike the single family homes that went from 10 to 10 days, it went from 19 to 11 (days).

Ben: Well, being a tourist, coming from the mainland so to speak from Harcourts North America over here visiting David at Harcourts Island Real Estate doing an incredible job over the last few months. Certainly having an incredible year, but the interesting part is seeing the difference. I was here in May of last year vs. now being October and the increase of people around. The somewhat normalcy so to speak that is back in just the general environment.

David: Yep, we're back open for business.

I currently have a great listing in Aina Haina on Opihi St. It's a great value on a quiet street with a swimming pool.

5488 Opihi St. for $1,900,000 ($610.74/sq. ft.)

5488 Opihi St. (MLS # 202124131) in Aina Haina

It is 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms with 3,111 sq. ft. interior on a 10,000 sq. ft. lot. Although built in 1949, there's been extensive remodels over the years including a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom addition upstairs.

2 Bed, 1 Bath Addition Upstairs

Right now, we're priced to sell, especially with the recent sales of Aina Haina homes in the flats of the valley with larger lots. Here are three reasons why this is such a great value in this current marketplace:

1. 5230 Makalena St. Sold on August 27, 2021 for $2,000,000 ($788.33/sq. ft.)

5230 Makalena St. (MLS # 202118202) in Aina Haina

This single level home was also on a 10,000 sq. foot lot, however it was only 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and was 2,537 sq. ft. interior. Built in 1947, it is two years older than ours and the remodel work done in 2007 was also prior to the remodeling of our listing. It DID NOT have a swimming pool and sold for $100,000 more than our asking price. They were asking $1,725,000 and sold above asking at $2,000,000.

2. 5265 Makalena St. Sold on October 8, 2021 for $1,800,000 ($791.56/sq. ft.)

5265 Makalena St. (MLS # 202120233) in Aina Haina

This home was on a slightly larger lot than ours on Opihi at 10,148, however that's the only perk I could find. This single level home is behind Aina Haina Shopping Center and was only 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms with 2,274 sq. ft. interior.  Some of the remodel looked nice, however it also DID NOT have a pool. They were asking $1,400,000 and it got bid up to $1,800,000.

3. 119 E. Hind Dr. Sold on October 18, 2021 for $1,878,800 ($628.15/sq. ft.)

119 E. Hind Dr. (MLS # 202119660) in Aina Haina

This home was only one of back from Kalanianaole Hwy and sat on the main thoroughfare of Aina Haina's East Hind Drive (a busy street). It did have a cool mid century modern architectural feel, however the home was two years older than Opihi built in 1947. Although there were some upgrades done in 2017, the kitchen was much older, the home was smaller at 2,991 sq. ft., the lot was smaller at 9,691 sq. ft. and there was also NO SWIMMING POOL. They originally came on market at $1,688,800 and sold at $1,878,800.

Now is Your Chance

Given these last three sales in Aina Haina, 5488 Opihi Street is a phenomenal value! I'd reach out to me soon before it's gone...

Spider-Man Far From Home in Oahu, Hawaii

Well, ALOHA! This is your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and I am definitely far from home. I figured I'd follow in the path of my previous Marvel friends Wolverine, Captain America and Dr. Strange and come out here to this beautiful state (of Hawaii) to report on some really cool real estate. 

A lot has changed during COVID and Harcourts Island Real Estate has actually moved offices. This time last year, they just got out of their office in Kapahulu into a temporary space and now they're in a great new location right above Olive Tree in Kahala.

Another thing that has changed during COVID is we've seen a huge dramatic drop in inventory. Even with this Halloween segment that I'm going to get in to, we saw a lot less inventory (not just island wide), but what Harcourts is carrying. David and his team have already closed close to 30 transactions this year and they only have 2 listings left available.

Rather than getting into it and just throwing up a couple pieces of paper like my old lazy friends... Wolverine didn't want to walk anywhere Captain America is just "old" and Dr. Strange for some reason just decided to teleport to Aspen last year. We have 2 great listings to look at today - one in Aina Haina and one in Diamond Head. You're going to love these homes!

Aina Haina Home

5488 Opihi St. (MLS # 202124131) in Aina Haina

Ok. Here I am at 5488 Opihi here in Aina Haina in this beautiful valley with these mountain views of Hawaii Loa Ridge in the background. Let's check out this beauty. There's all kinds of fruit trees We have pomegranate and although this place was built in 1949, there's been extensive remodels along the way, including a 2 bed, 1 bath addition. 

Here we are inside. With these beautiful views behind your (towards the garden and Hawaii Loa Ridge) and there's an addition upstairs and you've got these really cool high ceilings... a great place to "hang" around. Alrighty, I'm not getting lazy like my old Marvel folks. I just wanted to show you that Harcourts did do a flyer for this one. It's a beautiful one in Aina Haina.

Check out this kitchen behind me. It's got gas cooking. Unlike New York, it's hard to find here in Hawaii. You've got a beautiful island with storage underneath and new appliances, a new refrigerator this past year and check out this cool garden view you get to see while doing dishes here at the sink. Directly behind me you have avocados and banana behind that you have mango out the back. 

One the side yard, you have a gorgeous yard that is fully fenced in if you want to have pets and a pool out the back and a full bathroom next to the swimming pool.  In the master bedroom, there's a full on walk in closet (cedar lined). You have the swimming pool out the back behind the windows. Give a "shaka" there to your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. In your master bath, you have a walk in shower, Toto toilet and a very, very, very long quartz countertop. Behind the master, you have your very own study with bookshelves so you can just sit back and relax.

In summary, this Aina Haina home is 6 bedrooms, 4 baths on a 10,000 sq. ft. lot and we're priced to sell at $1.9 million. As I wrap up here in Aina Haina, we're going to make our way to Diamond Head. You're going to love this next one! I'll be up shortly with your friendly neighborhood Spidey in Diamond Head.

3864 Owena St. (MLS # 202119783) in Diamond Head

Here we are at 3964 Owena St. at the base of Diamond Head. This home needs no fact sheet or flyer because I have it all right up here with my spidey sense. This is a 4 bedroom, 4 bath house just under 5,000 sq. ft. on a 15,000 sq. ft. lot. We're going to give you a perspective of this location later, but it's just something that you really have to see and it's priced to sell. 

As we come in off the main entry, here we are in the great room with a beautiful baby grand piano, fireplace (yes -fireplace in Hawaii) and an outdoor entertaining area we'll get to in a bit. Check this out, there's an outdoor koi pond. I know it's not in the Marvel Universe, but Aquaman from our DC rivals would probably appreciate all the little carp that are swimming through here. Behind me is a secret passage to a rooftop deck.

Check this out! This is Waikiki and the Gold Coast of Diamond Head behind me, and Kapiolani Park. It's not quite Central Park, but it's Hawaii's version of Central Park. Directly behind me now is the base of Diamond Head. If you could see at the very top there, there's a few bunkers up there. I wonder what it would be like to check it out up there? You'd probably get a great view of the city. Spiderman then disappears to the top of Diamond Head...That's a really cool view from the top! Now, let's go check the rest of this place out!

Here we are in the kitchen, which was completely remodeled 10 years ago. If you could see over to the left, you have a breakfast nook, over there a beautiful island, gas cooking, dual Sub Zero refrigerators, microwave, convection oven, wine refer and ice market in the corner. This is the perfect place for indoor/outdoor entertaining. Wait till we see outside! Did I mention? This home was designed by Jeff Long, one of Hawaii's coolest architects.

In summary, this home at the base of Diamond Head is something else. You've gotta call the guys at Harcourts Island Real Estate now, not tomorrow, now! This is going to go fast. Alrighty, Happy Halloween!

Palo Alto Location

Here I am at the Palo Alto off Punahou St. It's a great building with only 2 units per floor and it's at a convenient location next to a lot of hospitals such as Shriners and Kapiolani right down the road and you've got Punahou School right around the corner here.

Unit #901

Take a look at unit #901, which we got on the market and got into escrow relatively quick with an accepted offer. We were able to get it sold relatively quick, so if you have a condo at Palo Alto or Punahou and are thinking about selling, now might be a good time. Or, if you are in the market for a unit at Palo Alto or around Punahou, feel free to reach out.

Local Neighborhood Report for Homes

Aloha, this is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate. I'm here to give you the local market report for September, 2021. Well, Kalihi-Palama saw 111% increase in the number of sales. That went from 9 sales in September of 2020 to 19 sales this year. So, that was quite a significant bump.

As far as the median price goes, we saw a tie between two neighborhoods. One was Mililani, which was up 36%. The other is Aina Haina to Kuliouou. I'm here at a beautiful property I've got listed on Opihi St. in Aina Haina. It's got beautiful fruit trees all over. We're priced at $1.9 million, but it's something else you've gotta see! Prices in Aina Haina to Kuliouou jumped from $1,288,000 just a year ago to $1,750,000. Once again, that includes everything. The last three trades in Aina Haina in the flats of the valley traded between $1.8-2 Million. 

That's what's been happening on the single family home market locally. Also, in 7 of the 21 neighborhoods HBR (Honolulu Board of Realtors) tracks, were up north of 30%. Once again, Mililani and Aina Haina-Kuliouou tied at 36%.

Condo Local Market Report

Regard the local condo report here on Oahu, Kalihi-Palama also saw the largest increase, which was up 150% in the number of sales, going from 4 last year to 10 this year. Once again, that's a good bump for that sector in town for both single family homes and condos. 

For the town home and condo median price, Kaneohe saw the largest increase. They are up 45% and that was going from $500,000 a year ago to $724,500. It's still a seller's market here on Oahu. If you have any questions or if there's anything we can help with, feel free to reach out. Mahalo!

One Last Hike

Good Morning, here I am at the base of Diamond Head. I just read yesterday that they are going to de-construct the bunkers that are on the top that have been there since the war. Although I've been up into the crater hundreds of times, I just want to get up there to get one last look before everything is dismantled. 

Sunrise Toward Hawaii Kai

Here we are this morning to watch the sunrise behind coming up towards Hawaii Kai.

Entering the Crater and Appreciating the History

OK. Here we are in the crater. The tunnel is behind me, but if you could just imagine we are inside of an extinct volcano. There's lots of history, not just with the creation of Hawaii, but going back a century with World War I and World War II, some of the bunkers up top held a strategic position in watching what was coming towards us in the Pacific.

Also, in the 60's and 70's (before my time) I heard there were some really cool concerts in here. However unfortunately those days are over.

Base of Trail Hike

Alright, so here we are at the base of the trail right behind me. Let's get it going.

Base of Trail Entry

OK. That was the initial ascent that I just hit there. It wasn't always that way. It used to always be like a paved dirt trail like most hikes, but over the years they've added the concrete and sidewalk. That was probably to help with access. Having been a first responder, there are tourists that get in over their heads coming up this hill. It's just a way to get maybe a golf cart or small vehicle from DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources) or the state to do a rescue with HFD (Honolulu Fire Department).

Main Trail

Now we're on the main trail, which you can see has a lot of concrete (or gunite), which is probably to help divert some of the runoff when it rains. I'm not going to film everything today because I just want to enjoy the hike and not be a videographer, but I'll turn the corner shortly and give you a perspective or where we're going up to.

Although from a distance, it looks like a big mountain, the actual elevation is only like 1,000 ft. Relative to volcanoes on the neighbor islands or even some of the crazy mountains in the Rockies, it's not a whole lot. It's the perfect amount for a morning hike.

Switchbacks

We now get in to more switchbacks, which what most of the hike is. Be careful of falling rocks. This is always such a fun view looking back from the crater towards some of the neighborhoods like Wilhelmina Rise, Maunalani Heights, etc.

Ok. Here's a perspective of the switchbacks I just came up, which traverse all along here. Once again, I'll zoom in on this, but that will give you a perspective of Wilhelmina Rise. You can just see the street going straight up the mountain. That's a great neighborhood to get great views of Diamond Head, as is Saint Louis Heights and then you've got Waialae Nui Ridge to the right.

I'm going to head right around the corner here and this will give you a good perspective of some really cool residential real estate out towards Kahala beyond the crater. Out in the distance there is Koko Head and Hawaii Kai. You can kind of make out in the coastline the Kahala Hotel.

1st Set of Stairs

Now we're in for our first big set of stairs, which is coming up behind me.

Diamond Head Stairs Before the Tunnel

Here we are at the top of the stairs before. we enter the tunnel, but I've gotta put on a mask because the still have (COVID) regulations here...

Tunnel, 2nd Set of Stairs and Bunker

Right behind me is the tunnel exit, which takes you up to the 2nd set of stairs into the bunker. Or the set of stairs behind. We'll hit the stairs and tunnel first and come back around the back side.

I'm a little winded after the 2nd set of stairs and we'll enter another little tunnel behind here. Unfortunately, I think this is what will get dismantled in this coming week or two.

We're in the spiral staircase at the bottom and we're going to be going up there. Here at the first level, imagine taking yourself back in time during the war, people would just be stationed here with their binoculars and view on the horizon. That's level one. Now let's go up to level two. We'll come out on level two. Level three has already been blocked off due to safety, but you can see it goes up another level there.

If you could just imagine the history of this place. There were probably binoculars here for tourists at one point, but maybe even an artillery gun.

As you pop yourself out, you've got Diamond Head Lighthouse, the Gold Coast, the base of Diamond Head and Kapiolani Park and Waikiki to your right.

David with the Gold Coast in the Backdrop

The Summit

Here we are at the summit. This is the top of that third level behind me as I mentioned. You can see the views from up here of Waikiki towards the back, towards the mountains and the sunrise behind me coming up over Hawaii Kai.

One last shot. Here I am in the turret. There's one level higher, but unfortunately this is all that's going to get dismantled by DLNR and I just wanted to get one last look.

Summary

I hope you appreciate that tour. One last shot before they dismantle the bunkers up top. I just want to show you one last thing here. There you can see a helicopter pad for a landing zone. As I'd mentioned earlier, a lot of tourists sometimes get in over their heads and there's a reason why they have these fences here. Other times, they get really exhausted from hiking the mountain.

Sunrise View from Diamond Head

Once again, take in this view and thanks for watching my tour of this last week before we no longer see the bunkers at the top.

Single Family Home Report

For the first time in awhile, we didn't actually break a record, but we tied the record of the previous month. This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate here to give you the monthly market report for September, 2021. On the single family home front, we hit another "record " which was actually a tie with August of 2021. However, that was a significant bump from September of last year (2020) where the median sales price was $880,000. Now it is up 19.3% to $1,050,000.

On top of that, sales volume was higher. We saw a jump of 8.4% going from 391 sales in September of last year to 424 sales this year. So, the single family home market is on fire. What did remain unchanged, last year it was still a Seller's Market. It's just more crazy this year because Days on Market remained unchanged with just 9 Days on Market, the same number we saw in September of last year. So, take a look at the infographic below and I'll continue with the condo market. Mahalo.

Condo Stats

The median condo price finished up 7.4% from September of 2021, which is a nice jump. However, it did fall shy of the record that was set in August of $500,000. The number of sales were also up a whopping 34.9% going from 456 sales last year to 615 condo sales this year. So, the condo market will normally trail the single family home market. A lot of Buyers are getting priced out of condos and there was a lot of fear in condos last year during COVID.

Days on Market were stagnant as I'd mentioned for single family homes. Regarding condos, the Days on Market were down 47.8%, going from 21 Days on Market a year ago to only 11 Days this year. So, the condo market is on fire. If properties are priced right, they are moving. We also have different markets within the market. That's a whole another segment, but if you want a little more information to see where your property stands in this market, feel free to reach out. We can be reached at 808-371-3509. That's my mobile or the main line of 808-777-4880. Mahalo and have a great day!

Here we are at 3864 Owena St. in Diamond Head Ready for a tour of this beauty?

3864 Owena Street in Diamond Head

At the front entrance, there's a beautiful driveway and porte cacher. It's a great home for entertaining and we have a 3 car garage off to the left. As you come in the main entrance, it opens up to the high ceilings. This home was done by Jeff Long in 1988, with extensive remodels over the years in the late 90's, 2010 and some bathroom renovations just a few years back. In the great room, there's formal dining and outdoor dining out the back which we'll get to in a bit. Another fun feature about this house is its koi pond out here to the left.

Koi Pond off the Courtyard

The koi pond was done in the late 90's. It's a nice tranquil feel hearing the waterfall off of the master bedroom. There's live fish in here.  It's a lovely feature to have at this trophy property at the base of Diamond Head, because you're on a 15,000 sq. ft. lot, which we'll get to later where we can give you a good perspective from the rooftop deck.

Rooftop Deck overlooking Kapiolani Park and Waikiki

As you go up the spiral staircase overlooking the koi pond, you get to the rooftop deck, which has got a synthetic "trex style" deck which is highly durable. Take in this view of the Gold Coast, Kapiolani Park and Waikiki. It's quite spectacular in the evening with sunsets. 

Sunset View of Gold Coast and Kapiolani Park

You can also watch the sun and moon rise over Diamond Head out the back. 

Diamond Head View from Rooftop Deck

As you enter the master bedroom, you'll notice all the hardwood flooring (which was completely redone about 2-3 years ago). The bathroom was also gutted and redone. There's a beautiful stand alone bath tub to the left and lovely dual vanity sinks off to the right. There's a walk in shower and "office" to the left with a Toto toilet. Last, but not least, there's a California Closet with high ceilings and lots of natural light.

Master Bedroom

I had mentioned the formal dining earlier. Like I said, it's a great home for entertaining. There's pocket doors if you did want privacy off of the kitchen, but who would want to hide this kitchen as it had a $300,000 renovation about 10 years ago. There's a built in home office, breakfast nook, split AC in the ceiling, beautiful island, gas cooking, gas tiki torches outside in the yard, wine refer, ice maker, dual Sub-Zero refrigerators (on the left and right), convection oven, microwave, dishwasher and washer/dryer in the laundry/pantry area. 

Breakfast Nook

Main Kitchen

One of the most exciting things about the house is its great for indoor/outdoor living and these windows (off the kitchen) fully open up and pocket into the wall here and they have matching screens. If you can imagine, it's a great place for entertaining when your guests are outside and passing drinks and horderves through the countertop here. You've also got your ice maker below and wife refer right here.

Indoor/Outdoor Living

As we take a step outside, this is where a lot of the meals are had at this outdoor dining area. There's an expansive pool and a great place for entertaining. I can't tell you the countless evenings I've seen with the beautiful sunsets out towards Waikiki. If you can imagine watching the moon rise over Diamond Head is something else. In the evenings when the tiki torches are lit up, it's truly captivating and you just really feel like you're in old Hawaii with Waikiki and Kapiolani Park just a few minutes walk away.

Outdoor Living with Tiki Torches at Dusk

Outdoor Entertaining Area

As I mentioned earlier, the home is nearly 5,000 sq. ft. under roof. For most people, that's plenty of living space, however the Seller does have plans to do an addition which would be going up over the corner bedroom over looking the pool and can be available upon request.

Corner Bedroom off Pool to the Right

Rendering of Addition Above Corner Bedroom

The plans were done by Jeff Long, who was the original architect of the house and a highly reputable local architect here in Honolulu. To learn more about 3864 Owena, feel free to reach out and give me a call at 808-371-3509. Mahalo

For those of you here in Hawaii that aren't as familiar with the Harcourts brand, here's some facts Harcourts has shared recently about our global reach, size, sales volume, philanthropy and core values.

Harcourts is the 6th Largest Real Estate Company in the World

Harcourts Has 1100 Offices in 11 Countries

Harcourts Has 11,000 Team Members Worldwide

Harcourts Sold Over $35 Billion of Property

$4 Million of Property Sold Every Hour

Every 10 Minutes Somebody Buys a Property with Harcourts

Harcourts Marketed 12,000 Properties over $1 Million

Online Properties Receive 4.3 Million Views Weekly

The Harcourts Foundation has Raised over $5.4 Million for our Communities

Harcourts Values

Our values are People First, Doing the Right Thing, Being Courageous and having Fun & Laughter. Mahalo.