Aloha, this is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate. I'm here to give you the local market report for August of 2022.

Local Market Update for Single Family Homes

We're going to start off with the single family homes and Wahiawa saw the largest year over year increase in the number of sales. That was going from 8 sales a year ago to 13 sales this year. Not everything is so great on Oahu. We're starting to see a trend we've been following for a few months now, where the number of sales are down year over year. In 16 of the 23 neighborhoods the Honolulu Board of Realtors tracks, sales volume was down year over year. However that's a little bit different story in regards to the median sales price. So, if you stay with me, I'll share with you shortly which neighborhood took out the number 1 spot for median sales price on Oahu.

The Windward Coast of Oahu saw the largest increase in median sales price year over year for single family homes. So, in August of last year, that median sales price was $1,009,500 and now it's $1,890,000. So, year over year that's an 87% increase in median sales price. Across the board, it's quite a contradictory story to what we saw in the sales volume, where everything was down in 16 of 23 neighborhoods. As far as appreciation goes, just about every neighborhood was up. I take it back - 5 of the 23 neighborhoods were down, so that would leave it at 18 neighborhoods were up year over year for the median home price. That's a good thing for home sellers that prices are holding. That's not as good for buyers, but there's less buyers out there, so we're seeing less sales taking place.

Local Market Update for Condos

Waialae-Kahala saw the largest increase year over year regarding the number of sales for condominiums on Oahu. That was going from 4 transaction to 8 transactions in August. Behind me you'll see Tropicana Village and Kahala Towers. Across the board with condos we also saw a similar trend to single family home sales and they were down, just like the general market that we talked about earlier in the month. The numbers of transactions were down in 18 of the 23 neighborhoods that the Honolulu Board of Realtors tracks.

The final category we're going to cover today is the median sales price for condos on Oahu. The Windward Coast also took out that #1 spot, just like they did for single family homes. Appreciation for condos on the Windward Coast was up quite a lot at 218%! That was going from $137,000 to $435,000. So, that's a huge jump in price. If you were to go in MLS today or go online and look for condos under $200,000 on the Windward Coast, there's not a whole lot out there. Most likely what happened last year is we saw a lot of transactions at a particular building called Hanohano Hale, which would be next to this one you see in the backdrop here, which would be Pats at Punaluu. That's kind of the most remote part of the Windward Coast. You get a little more for your money, or a little more "bang for your buck" (no pun intended) if you're willing to drive a little further on the Windward Coast.

Thanks for tuning in and if there's anything we can help with, give us a shout. Our office number is 808-777-4880. Mahalo!

I currently have 4320 Papu Circle listed* and here's 10 reasons why this Diamond Head listing is such a great deal.

4320 Papu Circle (MLS # 202214841) priced at $3,300,000

1. Currently the Lowest Priced Home for sale in Diamond Head

This alone should speak volumes as there's no other home for sale in Diamond Head that's priced less. We'll get in to comps here shortly, however there's actually 4 condos on the market priced higher, another in escrow at the Seabreeze asking $4,150,000 and a combined 1 bed, 2 bath unit at the Colony Surf (1519 sq. ft. interior)  that sold for $3,998,000 in May.

2. 4083 Kulamanu St. Sold for $3,300,000

A home on Kulamanu St. (MLS # 202129750) a block away sold for $3,300,000 in March. It was a 3 bed, 2 bath home with 1,771 sq. ft. interior (less than half the size), had no swimming pool, no view and was arguably a tear town. 

3. 216 Kulamanu Pl. Sold for $3,550,000

Two blocks away, 216 Kulamanu Place (MLS # 202205156) sold for $3,550,000 in March. This one was a 4 bed, 3 bath with 1,924 sq. ft. with no pool. It was close to the beach, however a SUPER BUSY street with beach traffic. It was also single wall construction.

4. 4345 Papu Circle Sold for $3,500,000

Just down the street, this Papu Circle home (MLS # 202128571) sold in December of last year. It was slightly larger, however had no swimming pool, had an inferior view, the downstairs ceilings were really low and it was also single wall construction.

5. 4126 Papu Circle is Listed at $7,950,000

Around the corner, 4126 Papu Circle (MLS # 202209558) is a beautiful newly constructed home. It sits on a lot the same size as 4320 Papu Circle and although it has all the modern bells and whistles of a new home, it is 2.4 times the price! 

6. Average Home Sale in Diamond Head over $5 Million

In the past 6 months, there's been 14 home sales in Diamond Head with an average sales price of $5,107,643

7. Average Home Price in Diamond Head over $7 Million

As of today, there are only 10 homes for sale in Diamond Head (tied the lowest on record we saw back in May) with an average asking price of $7,733,000.

8. Median Sale Price in Diamond Head is $3,264,000

Although the median sales price is just under our asking price, only 1 home that sold under that price was larger than 4320 Papu Circle. It was one on the Historic Register that had restrictions on remodeling and also had a restriction allowing the public on to the property one day a month.

9. Multi-Family Option

This listing has a detached cottage and the option to rent part of the home out separately for additional income to offset a mortgage and/or have available for guests to stay in when they come to town.

10. Papu Circle Location

Papu Circle is a quiet street and also features underground utilities. Lots of the older parts of Diamond Head and Kahala have overhead utilities/telephone poles. What's also great about Papu Circle compared to Kahala and some parts of Diamond Head is the elevation, so you get more cross-ventilation with the trade-winds.

* Listing Agent is also owner and feel free to contact David for more information.

Well, if you've listened to the news lately on Oahu, all they are talking about now is that we are now back to "Pre-Pandemic Levels"in regards to sales on Oahu. Believe it or not, things aren't all "Doom and Gloom". The median price was up 7.2% for homes on Oahu and here's the real data. Take a look at this graph below. You'll see that sales are actually up for single family homes and condos to levels higher than prior to when the pandemic started in the beginning of 2020.

Can you see what I meant by looking at that graph? Sales aren't all that bad and they are actually above where they were pre-pandemic. So, this is a testament to not always believe what you see in the news. This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate and I'm here to give you the monthly market update for August of 2022.

Single Family Home Stats

We'll start off with the median sales price, which was up 7.2% from a year ago for single family homes. A year ago, that median price was at $1,050,000 and now it's at $1,125,000. Sales were actually down 26.1%, so that's one thing we should be keeping track of, which we saw in previous months (June Stats, July Stats) is that sales volume. We had 425 sales a year ago and now we are at 314.

Days on Market were up 44.4% for homes and that was going from 9 to 13 Days. So, things are slowing down, but the news about back to "Pre-Pandemic Levels" we're not quite there yet. But, that effect of higher interest rates is taking an effect on the market.

Condo Stats

Regarding the condo market on Oahu, the median price was down just .3%. So, unlike the single family pricing that was higher, the condo prices were just off the mark. In August of 2021, the median condo price on Oahu was $500,000. It's just down slightly at $498,500 and the numbers of sales are down quite a bit as well. They are down 24.7%. A year ago, we were seeing 675 condo sales on Oahu and now we're down to 508.

With the Median Days on Market, we're also seeing a slight uptick (which was only a day) up 8.3% going from 12 Days to 13 Days. So, 13 Days across the board for homes and condos. With inventory, we're also seeing a slight increase. It was up 12.9%. So, not as dramatic an increase as single family home inventory, but condo inventory is picking up as well. 

Stay tuned - We just wrapped up summer and heading into fall. If there's anything we can help with, feel free to reach out. We're at 808-777-4880. Mahalo

Aloha, this is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate. I'm here to give you the local market update for July of 2022. I'm here on the North Shore. I just wrapped up some showings. I stopped next to Polynesian Cultural Center and pulled over to give you this update because in 4 of the major categories we track on Oahu - 1. Home Sales 2. Home Median Price 3. Condo Sales 4. Condo Median Price, the North Shore took out 3 of those categories. I'm going to dive in first to the single family homes.

Local Single Family Home Update

The North Shore saw 100% increase year over year in sales, going from 6 transactions to 12. Meanwhile on the rest of Oahu in 14 of the 23 neighborhoods we track we saw a down trend on home sales. Just like in the general market update we talked about earlier in the month, transaction volume was down significantly. In 14 of those 23 neighborhoods, sales were down, but here on the North Shore, sales were up 100%

The only segment of the market that was not taken by the North Shore was the median sales price in July. Downtown-Nuuanu saw the largest increase. It was up 52% year over year. That was going from $1,135,500 to $1,725,000 year over year. Stand by and I'll be up with the condos.

Local Condo Market Update

North Shore Condo sales were up 100% since July of last year. That was going from 5 sales to 10 sales. Unfortunately, across the board on Oahu, the numbers of sales were down in 17 of the 23 neighborhoods we track. Standby as I have more news about the North Shore in a second.

Here I am at Kuilima on the North Shore and the North Shore also saw the largest increase in median sales price for condos on Oahu in July. It was up 153% and that was going from a median price of $350,000 just a year ago to $885,000. So, that's a huge jump! The North Shore was just crushing it across the board in July. To learn more about what's happening in your neighborhood, feel free to reach out and contact us. Mahalo!

Well, you may have heard that home and condo sales here on Oahu are down 22.8%. It's all over the news and it's like "The Sky is Falling". Well, believe it or not, it's not all "Doom and Gloom". This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate here to give you the monthly market report for July of 2022.

As I started off, if you read all the local papers, they talked about this drop. 22.8% is a significant drop in transaction volume, which is not good for Realtors, because that's how we make money. With that said, I also found it interesting because it's probably the first time ever I've seen the exact same stat for homes and condos. Last month when we reported, we had a similar drop in the home market, but not in the condos. So, it's interesting to see that drop in transaction volume for the condos as well.

Single Family Market Report

First off, we're going to dive into the single family home market. There we saw on top of the drop of 22.8%, from a positive spin (for Sellers that is), the median sales price was actually up 11.6% from a year ago. A year ago, in July of '21 the median sales price was $992,500 and now it's at $1,107,944. I know that's a mouthful, but that's the median price for homes now here on Oahu. It's off the record by almost $150,000, but it's still up over 11% from a year ago.

Days on Market have increased from 9 to 11 Days, which is a 22.2% increase. It's still a Seller's Market, with only 11 Days to sell. Inventory, however is up 38.8%, which was real similar to last month where it was up about 39%. Months of remaining inventory were up 45.5%. Now, you might be like "Whoa! The market is crashing". Keep in mind, that's increase of 1.1 Months of Remaining Inventory to 1.6 Months. According to the National Association of Realtors, anything less than 6 months is still considered a Seller's Market. We still have a ways to go to go from 1.6 Months to a full 6 Months of Remaining Inventory. So, that's a recap of what's happening with the single family home market. I'll be up shortly to talk about what's happening with the condos.

Condo Market Report

As I mentioned earlier, sales were down 22.8%, however similar to the single family home front, prices were actually up. The median price was up 5.3% from a year ago and this is going to be a lot easier number to say than for the homes. It was $475,000 a year ago and now it is $500,000 for the median condo price on Oahu. Days on Market was a similar trend to the homes. It was up a bit - 9.1%, going from 11 to 12 Days. So, it's still great for Sellers.

Inventory was up 8.4%. It was not as dramatic an increase as the single family homes, however it was up 8.4%. Months of Active Inventory, which we talked about earlier was up 5.6%. That was going from 1.7 Months to 1.8 Months. Once again, that's quite a ways off of 6 Months, which is that barometer tipping to a Buyer's Market.

One of the things we've been talking about over the past few months is that dramatic increase in interest rates. Well, over the last several weeks, rates have actually started to go down. We're starting to see a little more uptick in activity and a little more buyer traffic as we round out the rest of this summer. I hope you enjoy the rest of your August. Stay cool and Aloha!

Well, we went nearly a decade without seeing a unit hit the market at the Seabreeze, a special oceanfront building on Diamond Head's Gold Coast. Now, we've seen two within a year.

The Seabreeze only has 1 unit per floor, which why they seldom come on the market. Prior to the nearly decade long drought, unit #6 sold for $2,645,000 in December of 2012. This past November, unit #3 sold for $3,150,000. Now, just this week unit #6 is back on the market after nearly 10 years of ownership listed at $4,150,000.

Seabreeze Unit 6 (MLS # 202214695) Recently Listed for $4,150,000

Seabreeze #6 Living Area Seen from the Ocean Side

Priced at over $3,000/sq. ft., this would be roughly a 50% increase in a 10 year hold. It was also completely remodeled in 2015 by Peter Vincent. If you're looking for prime real estate on the Gold Coast, look no further as these don't come up that often. To learn more about this Seabreeze listing or other options in Diamond Head, feel free to contact us for more information.

Local Single Family Home Update

Aloha, this is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate here to give you the local market update for June of 2022. As you can see, I've got the North Shore in the backdrop behind me and we're going to first dive into the stats with the North Shore because there we saw the largest increase in sales for single family homes, which were up 86%. There were only 7 sales in June of 2021 and now we had 13 sales this year.

Another thing to take away, which we saw in last month's local market update as well as the general market update was that the transaction volume is dropping off a bit. In 15 of the 23 major neighborhoods that the Honolulu Board of Realtors tracks, sale numbers were down. In 2 of those 8 remaining neighborhoods were just flat, or no change. So, there were just a handful of neighborhoods that saw an uptick in the number of sales. 

Now, we're going to jump into which neighborhood on Oahu saw the largest appreciation for single family homes. I'm kind of giving it away with the backdrop here. The Windward Coast of Oahu saw the largest appreciation year over year, which as up 60%. In June of 2021, that median sales price was $655,000 and now we're up at $1,050,000. So, we're following a trend where those rural neighborhoods were king of leading the way for single family homes in June of this year. We'll see what's up next for the condo market.

Local Condo Market Update

As we dive into the condo market for June of 2022, we're going to cover what neighborhood saw the largest number of transactions increase. Aina Haina-Kuliouou saw the largest increase, which was up 100%. That was going from 1 sale a year ago to 2 sales, so it didn't take much. Those of you that know that Aina-Haina to Kuliouou span, there isn't much for sale in regards to condos. We have Haleola 1 and Haleola 2 in Kuliouou Valley and Kuliouou Kai Villa, which is directly behind me, so that's most likely where those trades took place. There's not a lot of condo inventory there, but that was the #1 spot for June as far as transaction percentage increase year over year. 

The last segment we're going to cover is the appreciation year over year for condos on Oahu. As you can see from the backdrop behind me, we're at Kahala Beach Apartments. The reason I have the Kahala Beach Apartments up there is Waialae-Kahala saw the largest increase year over year, which was up 407%. Now, keep in mind we do have this product here in Kahala at the Kahala Beach Apartments that is Leasehold. In June of 2021, the median price in Waialae Kahala was only $105,000. Now, we have a median sales price of $532,500. Most likely the reason for that is we had more Fee Simple trades taking place. For instance, some of those buildings on the mauka side of H-1 such as Kahala Towers, Waialae Gardens, Tropicana Village and Tropic Gardens. Most likely, we had trades taking place in those projects, which were all fee simple and that bumped up that median sales price in Waialae-Kahala, which is why Waialae-Kahala took out that #1 spot year over year for appreciation. 

Now, obviously every market is different here on Oahu and if you want to see what's happening in your particular market, feel free to give us a call. Mahalo

Summer PCS Season to and from Oahu in Full Swing

As we're just over mid way through July, many of our active duty military families have been PCSing to and from Oahu. With the rise in mortgage rates we've seen over the past 6-7 months, the buying power isn't what it was in the summer of 2021. However, the good news is VA mortgage rates are still significantly less than those getting conventional financing.

Less Competition and More Inventory

With more buyers tapping out of the market, that creates more opportunities for those that are actively looking to purchase during PCS Season. In addition, single family home inventory was up 39% in June compared to June of 2021.To see if you think buying makes more sense than renting in 2022, Here's the current BAH Calculator.

PCSing Away from Oahu?

If you're rounding up your stay in Hawaii, currently own and not sure if you should sell or lease your place out, feel free to contact us to run out some scenarios of what would make sense.

Well, we have a new record price for condominiums here on Oahu. We're going to jump into that shortly, but this is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate and I'm here to give you the monthly stat report for June of 2022.

Single Family Home Stats

First we'll dive into the single family product and there we didn't hit a record, but it was a healthy gain from a year ago. We were up 12.4% as far as the median price goes. In June of 2021, that median price was $979,000 and we're now at $1,100,000. So, that's a pretty good year over year jump in appreciation at 12.4%. However, with that said transaction volume is down significantly at 20.8% as far as the numbers of sales go. We had 357 sales this past June, whereas the previous year we had 451. So, that's just over a 20% drop in the numbers of transaction, but prices are still up there.

Days on Market are ratcheting up just slightly, up 25% going from 8 Days to 10 Days. The big thing to keep an eye on is the inventory. We've been talking about for many, many years that there's no inventory. Well, for the single family product, inventory was actually up 39% year over year. That was going from 377 active listings to over 500 (527) this past month. That's healthy for more buyers coming into the marketplace and summer is typically a big transitional and moving time of year. So, it's actually a good thing we're seeing more inventory as it will be more of a traditional market. 

Condo Stats

We're here to talk about that record condo price on Oahu, which was up 16.1% from June of '21 and now the new record on barometer on Oahu is $534,000 for the median sales price. Like I said, that's a 16.1% increase, up from $460,000 just a year ago. Transaction volume or sales were down, similar to the single family market, however not as much. We were down 14.2%. Whereas earlier when we were talking about the single family product was down over 20% for sales volume. 

The Days on Market were basically flat. with 11 Days on Market last year as well as this year. So, it's still very healthy for sellers. Unlike the single family housing market, active inventory was actually down 2.6%. Remember we talked about it being up 39% for homes? Well, it's down 2.6% for condos. We're following a similar trend we talked about in the May stats where the condo market is trying to catch up. This is because the single family market was on fire all through COVID and the lockdowns, where people were getting out of condos and into houses. Now, it's an affordability thing where people are priced out of houses and can't afford them as much.

The condo market is gaining steam as is the inbound traffic in buyers from both domestic and overseas. Hawaiian Airlines just announced that they added their New Zealand bound flight again. So, we're going to start seeing some more Kiwis coming to town. We love our Kiwis as that's where Harcourts was founded back in 1888. To find out more about what's going on in the market and specific to you, feel free to reach out and we'd love to help. Mahalo

Local Market Update for Homes

Aloha, this is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate. I'm here to give you the local market update for May of 2022. Let's start off with the single family product and there we saw Wahiawa (which we have Lake Wilson in the background) have the largest increase year over year for sales, which were up 67%. That was at 6 sales/trades just a year ago and we saw 10 just this past month.

What we're starting to see in the single family home market is the velocity or numbers of sales are definitely slowing down. In 14 of the 23 major neighborhoods that the Honolulu Board of Realtors tracks, were actually down from May of last year to May of 2022 in regards to the numbers of sales. In 2 of those 23 neighborhoods saw no change whatsoever. So, that's just 7 neighborhoods that saw an uptick in transaction volume. That is something we want to keep an eye on and something that is quite contrary to what you'll see here shortly in the condo market.

Ala Moana-Kakaako saw the largest increase in median sales price, which was up 71%, year over year. That was going from $841,000 to $1,437,500. Now, you might not think Ala Moana-Kakaako has detached single family homes, but believe or not there are. We've talked about it in previous market updates. You can see in the backdrop behind me that the bulk of that product in those neighborhoods are going to be condominiums. You will some single family product as well as multi-family product in that neighborhood.

Jumping into overall appreciation across the board, the good news is (even though transaction volume was down), the median sales price was up in every single neighborhood on Oahu except for Hawaii Kai, which was down 3%. If you can think back, even though the market feels like it is softening in the last couple of months, it's still relatively strong compared to a year ago.

Local Market Update for Condos

As far as sales go, the North Shore saw the largest increase in sales year over year, which was up 300%. Keep in mind, there was only 1 trade a year ago, now we've had 4 this past month. So, that's a 300% increase. Quite contrary to the single family home market, which I mentioned earlier where there were 16 neighborhoods that were either flat or down. There were only 4 neighborhoods where transaction volume was down for condos. 

If we think back a year or two ago, the condo market was in the pits and the single family home product was on fire. Now, you're seeing that single family home market tapering off a little bit. It's still strong as far as prices go, but as far as volume, there aren't as many buyers in the marketplace. The condo market is relatively quite strong and we've only seen 4 neighborhoods on Oahu that were down.

As far as the median price goes, the North Shore almost took out that top spot as well. They were up 251% for median price. That was going from $410,000 a year ago to $1,440,000. Now, keep in mind there's a broad array of condo products on the North Shore, which probably accounts for that major triple digit swing. 

It was actually the Windward Coast of Oahu that saw the largest year over year increase for median price. It was up 319% and we've talked about this in previous sessions where that data can get skewed because there's a product on the Windward Coast called Hanohano Hale in Punaluu and you can get condos there close to $100,000. They are fee simple on the ocean, but they have higher maintenance fees. Regarding he 319% increase, keep in mind a year ago, that median price was only $97,500. So, that's factoring in the Hanohano Hale product. Then, it jumped all the way up to $408,450 just this past month.

Summary

In summary, rural condos have on fire this past month and it's kind of spread across the board as far as the single family product. Seeing Wahiawa, which is considered rural and then Ala-Moana-Kakaako, which is Metro were both seeing some strength. I hope you're having a great summer! We're just about toward the end of June and I'm glad I could finally get you caught up on May's report. We'll probably be just a week or two out catching up on the initial data from June. Aloha!