Aloha, this is David Buck and I can't believe it's been over a decade since I did my third HGTV episode of Hawaii Life and we're back at the same picnic bench here in Maunalua Bay where I did an episode with Keala and Dan Lee. In that episode we started off here and they're talking about their housing pains and what they're looking for. They're living in a little 500 square foot single family home.
The Lee's 572 sq. ft Kapahulu Home
Yes we do have homes that small on this island and I later on went to sell that for them.
Not Cobra Kai
What this is not going to be today is something like Cobra Kai where it's going be a huge success on YouTube (although I love for that to happen) or get a Netflix spin off off of this. However, I think for those of you that enjoy real estate and looking at people looking at homes, I think you'll get a lot of kick out of this. What we're going to do today is what I've done for a few other HGTV episodes is cover what happened back then and what prices have come to today with over a decade of appreciation.
We're gonna start this off this episode with the summary of the homes that we looked at. We saw three properties that is very unique in this episode in the sense that they weren't all in one neighborhood. They were all over the island and just to take a step back they had a budget of like $600,000 to $750,000 looking for a three bedroom two bath and most importantly you're gonna want to stick around to the very end because there's something really cool I'd like to show you of where Dan and Keala are in their lives now. We'll also cover some of the things that happened during the episode that we weren't allowed to share on air.
Kuliouou Beach Park Intro Summary
We are back at Kuliouou Beach Park and this is where I did the summary of the properties that is going to be showing Keala & Dan. What's super unique about this episode is the variety of the properties that we were looking at. First we saw a single family home that's almost a hundred years old in Punchbowl. Then, second we saw a condo right around the corner here in Hawaii Kat at Kaimala Marina and then third we drove all the way out to Ewa Beach to see a newer construction home in Hoakalei.
This is where we did that summary Kuliouou Beach Park a beautiful place here in East Oahu and now let's go take a revisit at some of the homes that we look at and see what's happened between now and them as far as pricing goes.
Punchbowl Home on Lusitana Street
Okay so the first home we filmed with Keala Dan was this home 1911 Lucitana Street here in Punchbowl Crater. This home is now over a hundred years old and back then they're asking $719,000 and it ended up selling for $700,000. It was a big house it was almost 3,000 square feet under roof. Okay, so back in 2014 the median sales price for a home here in Punchbowl was $732,500 and now just this during this past six months it was at $960,000 so that's going to be a 31% increase over just over a decade. Maybe that's not the best return on money but it did go up in value. Once again it's a hundred year old house and Punchbowl does have a lot of older construction.
Kaimala Marina Town Home in Hawaii Kai
The second home that we looked at was actually a condo out in Hawaii Kai, Kaimala Marina. The second property I showed Keala and Dan was here at Kaimala Marina in Hawaii Kai. This is direct waterfront on the marina and was a three bedroom three bath and at the time they're asking $678,000 and it sold (over asking) for $680,000. Fast forward to today there hasn't been a sale in the last year but the last two sales of that size on the water average $1,150,000 and today there's one in the market for $1,488,888. Now, based on the average sale price of those last two sales that's a 69% increase. That's not a bad return on money for roughly a 10-year hold.
Hoakalei Ka Makana Home
The third and final property which is going to be out at Hoakalei in Ewa Beach this is gonna be a newer construction home which is quite unique and different compared to anything else we've seen. Okay now the third home I showed Keala Dan back then was this home here is probably in my opinion the most beautiful of all three properties we looked at. This was 91-1825 Waiaama Street here in Hoakalei Kamakana. Back then, the home was listed at $699,000 as a three bedroom three bath with over 1800 square feet of living area sold at $670,000. Then, what we'd like to do is we go through and look at what's happened in the market since then so back then the median sales price was $700,000 which seems pretty cheap compared to today and now the median sales price over the past six months here in Ka Makana were $1,237,500 that's a 77% increase just over the past decade.
A lot has changed since. Back then, there was only one phase of Hoakalei here at Ka Makana and since then there's been three more developments. The first of which is gonna be Kipuka which is the only gated community. Then, there is Kuapapa which was done after that. There's a number of nice golf course homes I've been selling in both of those developments and then the final phase there's one that's going on currently so Kekainani is gonna be directly on the ocean here in Hoakalei. I'll take you through a spin there just to give an idea of what those homes look like. They're selling directly on the ocean with unobstructed views and they're gonna be a much higher price point as I mentioned. The median price here in Ka Makana now is like just over $1.2 million. Whereas those Kekainani ones are gonna be around $2-3 million starting. But, they're newer construction on the ocean.
Ke Kainani in Hoakalei
The fourth and final phase of Hoakalei that I mentioned is Ke Kainani. They definitely saved the best for last. This is directly on the ocean here and there's three model homes that are now set up and it's an incredible product that they're turning over. Like I said, save the best for last. They are very grand high-end model homes that they have here and I'm sure the finished product is be really nice so if you have questions about anything here in Hoakalei at Ewa Beach, I'm here to help at 808-371-3509.
Okay now that we summarize Hoakalei, let's get back to that special treat I want to show you and see what Dan and Keala ultimately did with their decision.
Reunited with Dan and Keala Lee
David: Alright so here we are 10 years later I'm with Keala and Dan and a lot has changed in your world. Did you guys have fun when we did that episode?
Dan: Oh totally.
David: Yeah okay well a couple things have a lot to change in their world to be honest first we'll talk about real estate then we'll talk about fun.
Keala: Okay
David: So, of all the three homes we looked at that day which one you think... I'll just refresh your memory. What do you think went up the most in value the first one we was Punchbowl and then we did one at that Kaimala Marina in Hawaii Kai and then the third one we did was Hoakalei out in Ewa Beach. Which one do you think went up the most in over a decade?
Dan: I'm betting on Hawaii Kai.
David: That's a good that's a very good bet and you're very close.
Keala: I'm betting Punchbowl.
David: Yeah but ..You also you got a 30% chance. Yeah so basically so basically Punchbowl actually went up the least.
Keala: Oh wow.
David: So the Punchbowl Home only went up 31% considering a 10 years of ownership but if you can remember how old that home was?
Keala: Yes.
David: But it's a killer location. It's close to Downtown. I was doing the math. It's probably over a hundred years old now.
Keala: Oh wow.
David: Dan you were close. Kaimala Marina now this is I what I did was just run numbers. That's a three-bedroom on the water and I looked at that and that went up about 69%. Yeah and then what's shocking to me was the Hoakalei home in Ewa Beach was up 77%, which is just wild because typically when I'm talking real estate here in market cycles normally the west side of the island is the last to appreciate and the first to depreciate in a correcting market.
I think what's going on there as we went through COVID and so many more people want to be in single-family homes these days than they do in condos. It was a new product at the time, so that's my hypothesis on that.
Keala: It's a beautiful home. Yeah yeah.
David: Now to the fun. I just remember you did the coolest activity of all the episodes I did in all the shows. I saw you got to play James Bond and get on with the jet pack.
Dan: I remember it was going underwater in a jet pack or something like that.
David: Yeah well you're above water right?
Keala: He was underwater more than he was above water.
Dan: That's all I remember.
David: I was so jealous like how come I can't do that? But, I'm not the star, you guys are the stars. Then, I'm like, Keala how come you're not doing that?
Keala: So that adventure was actually my idea and I was so excited and really looking forward to it and I have an adventurous spirit but day before filming we actually found out we were expecting our first child and it was interesting filming knowing this but at the same time it was still brand new. We didn't been to the doctor yet and so we just weren't ready to announce it.
David: Yeah so basically she told the production crew but didn't tell me (spoiler alert) her cousin. Yes. We're related. We're cousins. We'll share that with you now.
Keala: It was so early on that we just didn't feel comfortable like me going on a jet pack in the water but it was very exciting to watch you enjoy my idea.
Dan: You're welcome. Very cool.
David: Very cool. So similar to that episode it's been just over 10 years what many people don't know... I see you sweating. I'm sweating. They film these episodes in the summer but air them in the winter. So like when you see people sweating out here it's we're just turning July right now. Yes. It's hot outside.
But yeah the most fun thing we got some pretty cool. Do you want to share anything?
Keala: Yeah we have two little friends now that have joined our family.
David: So a lot has happened in 10 years. Care to share a little bit more?
Dan: Oh yeah. Hey girls get over here.
David: Look at these cuties.
Keala: This is our 10 year old and our eight year old. You want to jump up? Did you want to jump up?
David: Can you say aloha?
Girls: Aloha.
David: How do you say aloha in Fijian?
Keala: How do you say hello in Fijian?
Girls: Bula. Bula. Bula. Okay. Okay.
Everyone: Aloha and Bula.
David: So we talked about all the three properties that we saw in that episode. But to find out what decision they ultimately made. Because I didn't test you coming into this because you don't track all the markets on the island. But to see what decision they ultimately made you probably want to check out that episode. And the kids are going to watch it tonight.
Keala: We're gonna watch it tonight with the girls.