Aloha, this is David Buck and we’re down at the Gold Coast at Diamond Head and we’re going to talk about the difference between condo and co-op ownership in Hawaii. What most people don’t know is this is the highest concentration and the reason we’re filming down here is this is the highest concentration of co-ops on Oahu. We do have some condos as well.

Evolution of Co-Ops to Condos After Statehood

For a little bit of history, I always like to say some of the best real estate was taken up first. So, a number of these buildings down on the Gold Coast wee built in the 1950’s. For those of you that weren’t aware, statehood here in Hawaii was in 1959. Then, what happened is condo law didn’t kick in until 1961. So, this was the only way of ownership here in Hawaii (at the time). When most people think about co-op ownership, they think of places like New York or Manhattan. Here on the Gold Coast we have a number of these buildings that are co-ops vs. condos. If you’re really interested between the technical differences, between the two, here’s a link. In a nutshell, condo ownership is what most people are aware of, where you own the actual unit itself. What’s different about a co-op is you now shares in a corporation with a proprietary lease for your specific unit.

Financing Co-Ops vs. Condos

Like I mentioned, co-ops are common in places like New York or on the east coast and they can be financed. But, the trick about buying a co-op here in iHawaii is you’re going to have to put down a much larger down payment. We’re talking at least around 25%. Then, you’re going to probably pay a higher interest rate. In general, the only lenders that will touch co-ops here on the Gold Coast are going to be your local banks such as Bank of Hawaii, First Hawaiian Bank and sometimes American Savings or Central Pacific Bank. With that in mind, I sold a unit down here years ago to a client of mine that was a real estate developer from California and owned his own mortgage brokerage company. He’s like “no problem, I’ll just take out my own financing.” Low and behold, they were a licensed brokerage. They were licensed (to do loans) in Hawaii and licensed to do co-ops, but they could not do co-ops in Hawaii. Once again, like I said, you have to use a local lender if you plan on financing a co-op here.

Notable Gold Coast Co-ops

Some of the most reputable ones here or significant ones that have swimming pools are The Coral Strand, The Diamond Head Apartments and The Diamond Head Ambassador. All three of these buildings here on the Gold Coast are kind of unique in that they have swimming pools. Outside of here on the Gold Coast, there are other areas on Oahu that we ado see co-ops, but they are few and far between and they’d typically be down in Waikiki. Once again, from a percentage basis, here on the Gold Coast, you’re going to have the highest concentration of co-ops.

Buying or Selling a Co-op in Hawaii?

To learn more about co-op ownership here in Hawaii, feel free to reach out and give me a shout at 808-371-3509. Mahalo!

Aloha, this is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate and today we're down at the Gold Coast at Diamond Head. What we're going to talk about today is how some of these buildings being on the oceanfront here at Diamond Head need a lot of TLC and maintenance. In particular, spalling and painting. 

Diamond Head Apartments

What I've got here behind me is the Diamond Head Apartments. They just went through that this past year. If you were walking down this strip here on Kalakaua Ave., you would have noticed that they had a bunch of scaffolding here as they were re-doing all of the spalling and painting.

Diamond Head Ambassador

Then, to take a step back in time, it's been about a dozen years since I talked about some spalling and painting work being done here at the Diamond Head Ambassador. That was back in 2012. Fast forward to today and we're in the year 2024. As you can see, they are prepping everything. They've got the fountain covered, so they won't get any paint materials on it. That's what's going on here at the Diamond Head Ambassador.

As you can see, living on the ocean, there's going to be some upkeep over the years. No different than a single family home that you want to paint every so often. In addition to a single family home that you'd want to paint every 5-10 years, here you're going to have to work on the concrete.

What is Spalling and Where Does it Happen?

Because you have rebar underneath the concrete that can get effected by the salt air, ultimately, you need to do some maintenance every so often down here. The Diamond Head Ambassador and the Diamond Head Apartments aren't alone in having to deal with spalling. Here at the Castle Surf they're also doing some spalling and painting work on the building. You see the scaffolding work out here. 

Behind me, we have the fountain at Diamond Head which is also undergoing some repairs. Here we are at the base of Diamond Head on Thanksgiving Day and we've got a few buildings on the Gold Coast that are just getting some "facelifts" to bring them back to their glory.

Spalling and painting is not just unique to the Gold Coast. You see it at a number of the buildings inland of the ocean on Oahu. If you're looking to buy a condo or co-op here in Hawaii, you might want to inquire as to when was the last time they did any spalling or painting work. Now, obviously, the closer to the ocean you are, there's a lot more maintenance that's going to be done. I did a video earlier this year at Pats at Punaluu and they're still going through that process of spalling and painting there on the Windward Coast of Oahu. Here's the article/video and you can watch around 10:23. What's awesome is if you have a well run association, they can plan ahead for these things. So, when they come up, you can maintain your property just like any type of home ownership.

If you have any questions about oceanfront living or condos here on Oahu, feel free to reach out and give me a shout at 808-371-3509. Mahalo!

Local Neighborhood Update for Homes

Can you believe that home sales in Waialae - Kahala were up 200% last month? This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate and today we're going to talk about the local market update for Oahu in October of 2024. First off, we're going to dive into the home sales and Waialae-Kahala saw a 200% increase in  home sales. That was going from 2 sales a year ago to 6 sales this past month. 

Meanwhile, Diamond Head - Kapahulu saw the largest increase in median sales price from last year. That was up 35%, going from $1,110,000 to $1,500,000. Now, just to be clear here, it's hard to get a home in Diamond Head in that price range. You're going to have to be well north of $2 million. That's because that includes areas inland such as Kaimuki and Kapahulu.

Local Neighborhood Update for Condos

Although we're (filming) on the south side Oahu today, the North Shore of Oahu saw the largest increase in condo sales. That was up 150%. That was going from 2 to 5 sales.

In the final category of condo appreciation on Oahu, Diamond Head - Kapahulu saw the largest appreciation year over year, which was up 45%. That was going from $1,115,000 to $1,632,500. That's a larger gain and larger price than homes in the area. Most likely what happened is there were more sales taking place down here on the Gold Coast of Oahu vs. across the park at Pualei Circle or Diamond Head Hillside and some of those less expensive condos in the Diamond Head area.

Contact a Local Expert

To find out what's happening in your particular neighborhood, feel free to reach out and give us a shout at 808-371-3509. Mahalo!

Can you believe that we've already breezed through the month of October? I've still got some remnants of playing the Wolverine. Today, we're going to talk about the October home stats for Oahu. This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate 

Single Family Home Stats

First off, regarding the median home price on Oahu, it remained flat or unchanged. Year over year, it's still at $1.1 million compared to October of 2023. Meanwhile, sales of single family homes on Oahu were up 22.5% from a year ago. That was going from 213 sales to 261 sales. 

Meanwhile, days on market are dropping slightly, down 11.1%, going from 18 to 16 days. So, homes in that lower price range that are tending to move fast even though we're well into the fall heading into winter. Last, but not least we are seeing an uptick in active inventory. It was up 18.4% from a year ago. At the end of last month, there were 741 homes for sale on Oahu.

Condo Stats

Meanwhile, we saw a little more uptick in the median sales price for condos on Oahu. We saw a 1.9% increase year over year. That was going from $515,000 a year ago to $525,000 this past month. Meanwhile, sales were actually up as well. They were up 1.5%. They were up a whopping 6 more condo sales than there were a year ago. A year ago there was 399 condo sales on Oahu and this past month we saw 405. 

Unlike the single family home market that was trending down for days on market, the condos are ticking up a bit in the sense that days on market are up 23.8%. That's gone from 21 to 26 days. We're also seeing a significant increase in inventory, which was up 49% from a year ago. Although prices are up slightly with condos, we're a lot more competition among condo sellers. There's some projects in town that have a lot of inventory for sale. So, if you're in the market for a condo, now might be a great opportunity to buy.

Summary

That's a wrap for this month, reporting on the October, 2024 sales stats here on Oahu. We look forward to reporting on the local market update later this month and stay tuned until then. Mahalo!

Hey Bub, it's Logan here, the Wolverine. Well, it's another Halloween and we're going to talk about some great property listed by Harcourts Island Real Estate in Hawaii. I'm starting to miss that warm weather. It's been about 7 years since I've been back in the islands. 

Beachside Home in Kailua

The first property we're going to talk about is a 5 bedroom, 4.5 bathroom home listed in Beachside, Kailua for $5 million. This has got an incredible salt water swimming pool, diving board, a slide and a gas powered hot tub and all the bells and whistles you can think of. This is a single level home just a few blocks from the beach with deeded beach access.

Oceanfront Land on the North Shore

Next up, we have 2 acres on the ocean on the North Shore of Oahu in Kahuku near Turtle Bay where it was recently announced that Ritz Carlton is taking over the management of the hotel. These are 2 secluded acres at the very end of Marconi Road in Kahuku. This is going to be an awesome buy for someone. At the current asking price of $2.5 million, that is less than what the 3 bedroom condos go for at the Ocean Villas at Turtle Bay.

Waialae Nui Ridge Home

Next up, we have a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom home on Waialae Nui Ridge in Honolulu for $2,380,000. This is the first time this has been offered in 50 years. It really shows the pride of ownership and you've got incredible views towards Diamond Head and Black Point.

Pats at Punaluu Penthouse

Next up, we have a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 2 story penthouse condo at Pats at Punaluu. This is overlooking the ocean in Punaluu on the water. It comes with 1 parking stall and this is going to be a great buy for someone to live on the ocean at this price and have this square footage This is priced at $1.2 Million.

Waipuna Condo in Waikiki

The final offering we're going to have today is a condo in Waikiki at The Waipuna. That is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo at the Waipuna priced at $900,000. Once again, this is going to be a nice opportunity for someone to get into a nice 3 bedroom condo in Waikiki under $1 million bucks. 

Contact Harcourts for Hawaii Real Estate

To find out more about any of these properties that Harcourts Island Real Estate has listed, feel free to give us a call at 808-371-3509 and Happy Halloween 🎃

Aloha, this is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate and today we're going to cover another episode of We Need Inventory. This is a segment we do on segments of the market where there's little to no inventory for sale. Today's feature is the Ocean Villas at Turtle Bay. About 2 years ago in October of 2022, I did an article about how it's the one outlier in our marketplace here on Oahu. We saw an appreciation rate of 32% at the time. Believe it or not, prices have gone up since then. Here's a chart of what's been happening since COVID:

Average Sales Price at Ocean Villas Since 2021

There were zero sales in the year 2020. As you take a look here, you'll see that prices have steadily crept up and the reason why is it's one of the few places you can do legal vacation rentals on the North Shore of Oahu. It was just recently announced this past summer that the Ritz Carlton bough the hotel next door at Turtle Bay from Blackstone for roughly $700 million. There's a lot of money being pumped into the area. This is a great project. There's a reason why not many people do want to sell. If you know someone that owns a place at the Ocean Villas at Turtle Bay and are thinking about selling, now can be a great time. If so, feel free to contact us at 808-371-3509. Mahalo!

Aloha! This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate and I'm here at the beach access at Hunakai in Kahala.

4607 Kahala Avenue

What's really exciting is this past week 4607 Kahalla Ave. just came back on the market for $15 million. This is just over 1.3 acres on the ocean here in Kahala. If you could imagine living on this white sandy beach. The seller paid $17.7 million for this 9 years ago in 2015. So, this is a screaming deal. Prior to this, it was listed in March of '21 for $25 million. Then, they kind of chased the pricing down and it went down to $17 million before they pulled it off the market in 2023. 

For a little bit of history, this parcel was bought from Alexander and Baldwin. Prior to that, it was owned by Genshiro Kawamoto, who knocked down the original home. There's a whole backstory history on this.

Pacific Business Article Quoting David After A&B Acquisition of Kawamoto Portfolio

I did a spreadsheet of when Alexander and Baldwin took over the Genshiro Kawamoto portfolio awhile back.

Spreadsheet Portion of Kawamoto Kahala Portfolio

In any event, they tried to sell 4607 Kahala Ave as a development (call Kahala by the Sea) which encompassed 6 high end homes that were marketed around $9 million each. Well, we've gotten through COVID and all that heat in the market. 

Why a Fire Sale?

My guess as to why they're pricing this at $15 million now is because the entity that owns it has ties to Japan and what's happened right now is the Japanese Yen is really weak compared to the US Dollar. Even though on paper it appears they'd be taking a loss, they might actually be coming out ahead. Here's a graph of the Yen vs. Dollar:

Yen vs. Dollar Since 2014

If you're into some vacant land here on the ocean in Kahala, 4607 Kahala Ave. is back on the market at a phenomenal price. Here's some recent comps for vacant land in Kahala:

• 4607 Kahala Ave. is Listed for $257.70/sq. ft.
• 4744 Kahala Ave. Sold for $219.77/sq. ft. (mountain side of the street)
• 4465 Kahala Ave. Sold for $318.85/sq. ft. (oceanfront)

If you're interested in finding out more about 4607 Kahala Ave. or are interested in any other real estate here in the Kahala area, feel free to reach out and give us a shout at 808-371-3509. Mahalo!

Local Update for Homes

Aloha, this is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate and today we're going to talk about the local market update for September of 2024. First off, we're going to talk about home sales and Kailua - Waimanalo saw the largest increase year over year which was actually up 85%. A year ago in September of '23 there were 13 home sales in Kailua and this past month we saw 24 sales. Of the 21 major neighborhoods that the Honolulu Board of Realtors tracks, sales were up in only 5 of those neighborhoods, they were flat in 6 and down in 10.

Meanwhile, Aina Haina - Kuliouou saw the largest increase in median sales price year over year and that was going from $1,525,000 to $2,010,000, which was up 32% increase year over year.

Local Update for Condos

Kapahulu - Diamond Head saw the largest increase in condo sales year over year. That was going from 1 sale a year ago to 7 sales this past month. That's a 700% increase year over year. Of all the major neighborhoods that the Honolulu Board of Realtor tracks, there were 11 neighborhoods that were actually up in value, flat in 1 and down in 9 neighborhoods. That's a change in the sign of the times in that we're starting to see a little more strength in condo sales compared to single family homes.

Meanwhile The North Shore saw the largest increase year over year in median condo price. That went from $440,000 to $1,122,500, which was up 155% year over year. 

As we talk about every month, every market is different. Whether it be a specific condo project or neighborhood here on Oahu, everything is dynamic and shifting constantly. To learn more about what's going on in your neighborhood, feel free to contact us for more information. Mahalo!

Can you believe the that median sales price for a single family home on Oahu was up 6% from a year ago? This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate and today we're going to report on the market stats for September of 2024.

Single Family Home Stats

First off, we're going to dive into the single family homes and as I mentioned that median sales price for a home on Oahu was up 6% from a year ago. A year ago on Oahu, that median sales price was $1,050,000 and this past month it was at $1,112,722. So, that's a 6% increase in median sales price year over year. Meanwhile the number of sales on Oahu dropped year over year. There's less deals taking place. It was down 6.5%. A year ago, there were 232 homes that sold on Oahu in September and this past month we were at 217. 

The good news is the median days on market was down slightly. It went from 20 to 19 days. Keep in mind, that's island wide in all price points. Last, but not least when we're talking about the single family homes, we're going to talk about inventory. So, inventory has been increasing. Active inventory is up 27.5% from where it was a year ago. There's a lot more to choose from for buyers that are in the marketplace. Stay tuned as we're going to dive into the condo stats next.

Condo Stats

The condo market wasn't as strong as the single family homes and you'll see why. First off, we're going to talk about that median sales price and that was down year over year. It was at $532,500 a year ago and this past month we were at $517,500. That's a 2.8% drop in median sales price. Condo sales were also down, but in the single digits, which is actually a "good thing" compared to what we were talking about the last several months. So, the number of condo sales were down by 10 deals. There were 376 condos that sold a year ago. This past month we saw 366 and that's a 2.7% decrease in condo sales.

Meanwhile, median days on market have increased for condos. A year ago it was at 21 days and now we're at 31 days, which is a 47.6% increase. That's quite a jump. So, it's taking another 10 days to sell a condo than it was a year ago. Keep in mind, once again this is island wide across the board. The next category we're going to talk about is active inventory. Similar to single family homes, active inventory is up for condos. It was actually up quite a bit more. It was up 58%. A year ago, there were 1,194 condos for sale on Oahu and this past month we saw 1,867. So, that's a huge increase in condo inventory year over year.

Summary

As we talk about, every market is different. Once again, this is island wide. Every neighborhood on the island of Oahu that the Honolulu Board of Realtors reports on. If you want something specific to your neighborhood or your condo project here on Oahu, feel free to reach out and give us a shout at 808-371-3509. Mahalo!

Aloha! This is David Buck and today I'm on the corner of South Street and Queen Street in Kakaako and the reason I'm here is I want to point something out to you. So often in my business (in real estate) you get asked "is it necessary to do a termite inspection on a high rise condo?" There's 2 stories I'm going to share with you today. The first of which is why you want to get a termite inspection on a high rise for resale or possibly even new construction. The second reason is I'm going to cover real life stories of ground termites and drywood termites.  

Drywood Termites in Condos

Directly behind me and the reason I came down to Kakaako is the building behind me is called Keola Lai. This building was built and developed by Alexander and Baldwin in 2008, right near the peak of the market. It's a beautiful building that has views out towards Honolulu Harbor. 

What happened was, as they were building this building, all the cabinets were stored in a warehouse and in that warehouse there were termites. By the time all the new homeowners were moving into this building, they were finding termites in their units in a high rise concrete building. So, that's story #1 and those were drywood termites by the way. Next, we're going to cover another building closer to Ala Moana and I'm going to share with you a first hand experience with ground termites here in a high rise concrete building here on Oahu.

Ground Termites in Condos

Another reason why you want to consider doing a termite inspection on a concrete or high rise building is several years back we sold a penthouse unit up above at 1624 Kanunu St. (Kapiolani Townhouse) over near Ala Moana and Holiday Mart. There were ground termites in the unit. This is a concrete building and there were ground termites that climbed up between the CMU tile and got into the furniture and cabinets. Thats the first time that I've ever seen this.

This is the 2nd reason why you might want to consider doing a termite inspection for a high rise condo here in Honolulu (even if it's concrete construction). Now, keep in mind, that unit we sold through Harcourts Auctions. It needed a ton of work, we got it sold and we disclosed everything.

Summary

People always ask me why would you want to do a termite inspection on a concrete building. Well, there are several reasons why in which we pointed out today. If you have questions about real estate here in Hawaii or buying a condo on Oahu, feel free to give us a call at 808-371-3509. Mahalo!