Aloha, this is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate. I hope you're having a great 2023 so far and I'm going to start off with jumping into the home stats for this past month, in December.

Single Family Home Stats

We finally saw a little downside to the median sales price for single family homes. It was down a whopping .05% or roughly $500 year over year. That was going from $1,050,000 for the median sales price in December of '21 to $1,049,500. So, prices are holding, dropping $500 across the board on Oahu. .

However, we're seeing that same trend we saw over the last several months where we saw a big drop in the volume in the number of home sales. That was down 46.6%. In December of 2021, there were 378 home sales on Oahu and just this past month there were 202 on the entire island. I was just fortunate enough to participate in 2 (both in Hawaii Kai) of those 202. I'm glad to see that our office is being consistent. 

The median Days on Market are picking up. It's taking homes longer to sell. The median Days on Market is now at 25 Days, which is still really great for sellers. But, it was just 11 Days in December of '21. That's 127.3% increase. We are seeing an influx in inventory this month, but we'll jump into that in February because we're now talking about December. 

Condo Stats

Well, condos, contrary to single family homes were up as far as the median sales price goes. It was up 3.6% and that was going from $485,000 in December of last year to now $502,500. However, we're also seeing a dip in condo transactions. They're not as bad as homes, but they were down 39.3% from a year ago. In December of '21, there were 593 condo sales on Oahu and now it's down to just 360. So, once again, less trades taking place. Also, a similar trend we saw with single family homes in that the median Days on Market is increasing, going from 13 to 21 Days. That's a 61.5% increase.

This is a trend we've seen over the past 3 or 4 months. Prices are holding, but we're seeing a lot less trades taking place because there's a lot of sellers out there that aren't budging on their prices. They don't really want to sell because of the higher interest rates. Say, if they sell (even if they're making money) say they locked in at a 3% interest rate a year ago and now they're going to have to go buy something at 7%.

We're seeing some stagnation in the market. However deals are taking place. There's just less of them, but prices have still been holding and we'll see what happens as we roll into 2023. In the meantime, once again, I hope you had a great holiday season and feel free to reach out to us if there's anything we can help with regarding your real estate needs here on Oahu. Mahalo!

Aloha, this is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate. I'm here to report the local market update of November of 2022. We're in full swing gearing up for Christmas, just a few days out. The stats were released a few days back and I wanted to share with you some insightful throughs of what areas were showing strength here on Oahu, as well as what's going on in the overall market. 

Local Neighborhood Report for Homes

First off, we're going to talk about Moanalua-Salt Lake. There, we saw the largest increase in sales year over year. That was up 75%, going from 4 transactions a year ago to 7 sales this year. Aina Haina-Kuliouou was the runner up. There was a 67% increase, going from 6 yo 10 sales. Overall on Oahu (transaction wise), 16 of the 21 neighborhoods we track with the Honolulu Board of Realtors were actually down for numbers of transactions. So, those 2 neighborhoods I just shared were kind of outliers in a sense. Then, 3 neighborhoods were unchanged with no change in sales volume. Across the board, almost every neighborhood you look at, we're seeing a drop in transactions, which we covered earlier in the month with the general market. There, single family home sales were down nearly 50%.

Not only did Aina Haina-Kuliouou see the 2nd largest gain in transactions this past month, it also the largest increase in median sales price. That was up 110% year over year. That was going from $1,263,500 to now $2,647,500. That's more than doubling in the median sales price. We talked about this in the past, however most likely the reason for that is between Aina Haina and Niu Valley is Hawaii Loa Ridge, where you have a median sales price north of that $2.6 million range. That brings up the area as a whole when you see more transactions taking place on Hawaii Loa Ridge.

Regarding prices on Oahu, it's a different trend than numbers of sales. Actually, prices were up in 9 of 21 neighborhoods. So, it's quite a different story compared to sales transactions. Prices are holding like we talked about earlier in the month. Actually, across the board, the median sales price for homes was up on Oahu in November, compared to last year. However prices were down in 8 of those 21 neighborhoods. So, more neighborhoods were up than down, but we were seeing a drop in some prices in some neighborhoods. There were also 4 neighborhoods that were unchanged.

Local Neighborhood Report for Condos

Regarding the condo market on Oahu, Wahiawa and the Windward Coast were in a tie for the increase in numbers of sales, year over year. They were both up 50%. That was pretty simple with them both going from 2 transactions last year to 3 transactions this year. Diamond Head-Kapahulu was the runner up. There we saw a 20% increase in transaction volume year over year. That was going from 5 transactions to 6 transactions. The remainder of all the neighborhoods were down, following a similar trend we saw with the single family homes. In 18 of the 21 neighborhoods on Oahu, we saw transaction volume on condos dropping from November of last year. So that's a trend we're seeing across the board. Just a lot less transactions taking place. Next, we'll jump into some condo neighborhoods that were outliers and saw an uptick in pricing year over year.

The North Shore of Oahu, this is a trend we've been talking about, basically all year - "bucking the trend" - we're seeing a huge increase in the median price, which was up 74%. That was going from $417,000 to $725,000. I talked about it maybe a month or two back in how Ocean Villas at Turtle Bay and both Kuilima East and West that are these outliers setting their own trends as far as prices go on Oahu. Meanwhile, condos were up in more neighborhoods than single family homes with 10 of 21 neighborhoods being up with median sales price year over year. Prices were down in 9 of the 21 neighborhoods. So, similar to the single family market, we're seeing more neighborhoods with up pricing than down pricing. There were 2 neighborhoods unchanged.

I just wanted to wish everyone out there a Merry Christmas as we head into Christmas in a few days. Give all your loved ones hugs and we'll be back early next year, if not sooner. Aloha!

Did you know that home prices were up again last month? This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate here to give the market update for November of 2022. First off, I want to say I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We're now in the first week of December. Today is December 7th, which is a big historic day here on Oahu, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was wonderful to see all of those vets out there in town and the parade here this afternoon. Now, let's jump into the stats.

Single Family Home Stats

We hit another month where the median sales price was up. It was actually up 9.5% and that was going from a median sales price in November of '21 of $1,050,000. Now, we're at $1,149,500. So, with all the doom and gloom you hear in the news, not everything is bad. Also, you'll see in a second not everything is so rosy either.

Home sales were down 48.2%. That was going from 371 sales a year ago to 192 sales this year. Median Days on Market are up quite a bit, up 63.6%. That was going from 11 Days a year ago to 18 Days. Active Inventory is up 86.3%. So, if you're a home buyer in the market, there's a lot more to choose from.

Condo Stats

The median condo price on Oahu saw a little dip. It was down 4%, year over year. That was going from $500,000 in November of last year to now $480,000. Condo sales were also down quite a bit, down 43.4% from a year ago. A year ago, there were 601 trades on Oahu. Now there's 340 condo sales.

Median Days on Market were up 100%, matching the single family home Days on Market at 18 Days. A year ago it was taking just 9 Days to sell condos. Last, but not least, inventory for condos didn't shoot up as much as the single family product. There's 20.4% more condos on the market now then there was a year ago.

To find out more about what's going on in your particular neighborhood or if you want to talk about the market, give us a call. Otherwise, we hope you're enjoying this first week or two of December. Mahalo!

Aloha, this is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate and I'm here to give you the local market report for October of 2022. The North Shore stood out among the rest of the neighborhoods on Oahu.

Single Family Home Report

First off, we're going to talk about single family homes and the North Shore was the only segment of the market (of the 23  neighborhoods we track on Oahu) that was up regarding the numbers of sales. There was a 25% increase, which was going from 4 sales in October of '21 to 5 sales in October of this year. 

Jumping into appreciation, the North Shore was one of a handful of neighborhoods that were up. It was actually up the most significant. It was up 64% regarding the median sales price for single family homes. That was going from $962,000 a year ago to $1,580,000 this year.

Condo Report

Regarding the condo market on Oahu, the North Shore also saw the most strength. Condo sales were up 40% going from 5 sales to 7 sales. However, unlike the single family home market (where every other market was down - transaction wise), there were a couple of other markets that had an uptick in transactions and those were Makakilo and Hawaii Kai.

Now, the North Shore didn't take out every category. The last remaining category is appreciation for condos on Oahu and Ala Moana-Kakaako saw the largest increase. That was up 76%, going from a median sales price of $500,000 a year ago, to $880,000 this year

As we always talk about, every market is local and if you want to find out what's going on in your market, feel free to give us a call. In the meantime, I hope you have a great Thanksgiving. Mahalo!

Single Family Home Update

Can you believe that home sales were down over 40% last month, yet prices were up? This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate and I'm here to give you the monthly market update for October of 2022. So, as I started off, I'd mentioned home sales were down over 40%. To be specific, it was actually 41.7%. We had 381 trades a year ago in October and just this past month we had only 222. Now, that's not great news for Realtors, however it's great new for Buyers. 

With that said, prices were actually up 5% from a year ago. That's pretty simple math. In October of '21 the median sales price was $1,000,000 and now it's $1,050,000. Meanwhile another thing working in Buyers' favor is median Days on Market are up 90%. That's going from 10 to 19 Days. 

Active Inventory is actually up 63.6%. A year ago, there were 401 homes on the market on Oahu. Now, there's 656. So, things are trending towards a Buyer's Market. However, with that said, what defines a "Buyer's Market" by the National Association of Realtors is Days on Market of 60 Days and we're still just at 19.  There's a little more opportunities out there. Rates are taking effect on the market.

Condo Update

As we jump into the condo stats on Oahu, the condo market was a little more healthy. Sales weren't down north of 40%. They were down 28.8%, which is a trend we've been following over the last several months. That was going from 611 condos sales in October of '21 to 435 sales this past month.

Meanwhile, the median condo price was up. Similar to single family homes, up single digits, up 4%. Once again, pretty simple math. A year ago, it was $500,000 median sales price and now we're at $520,000. 

Inventory, meanwhile is not up as dramatic as the single family home market. Inventory is up just 14.9% and that's going from 1,039 active listings a year ago to 1,194. Meanwhile, Days on Market are similar to single family homes in the sense that they're up 72.7%, going from 11 to 19 Days. Matching that 19 Days for both homes and condos. 

As I had mentioned in the previous segment, interest rates are having an effect on the market. We'll see if they cool off and if that will have an effect on our market, which I'll bet money it will. Traditionally, as we go into the holidays, it is a little bit slower. But, if you're a Buyer, now is the time. because on the single family home front, there's 40% less competition out there and there's quite a bit less competition on the condo front. There's nearly 30% less competition. 

If you're a Buyer in this marketplace and you're financing, you are going to pay a little more money. However, if rates do come down, you can always refinance later. I can't guarantee that will happen, however if you have any specific questions to you about what's going on in this market, feel free to give us a call at 808-777-4880. Mahalo.

Alright, look - it still fits! I hope so happy girls that you bring the family back together. We have Mom, Melina here and look, she good new animal! No longer training pig. She training dog now... good dog, good dog... and I have Natasha, the Black Widow and so happy you're with your sister again. We are now secret location (shhhh....). We came to Aspen, Colorado to kind of "blend in" with other people in the community.  Doing secret work for The Avengers. Shhhh... don't tell anybody.

Pumpkins Carved by Super Soldier

I'm going to talk about a little spy trip I made to Hawaii real quick. I went to look at beautiful properties for Harcourts.  Super Soldier gave it a shot to make pumpkin and see what I have done. First off, we are going to talk about property for Harcourts in Honolulu.

Makaha Oceanfront Condo

Hawaiian Princess #1004 for $250,000 LH

First one is Makaha - 1 bedroom, 1 bath at Hawaiian Princess, beautiful oceanfront.  i had to go scout out this property because all the other Avengers were going to Hawaii (Wolverine ini 2017, Captain America in 2019, Dr. Strange ini 2020 and Spiderman in 2021) and I didn't want to feel left out. I am back here in Aspen at secret hiding place with family, however I wanted to tell you. So 1 bedroom, 1 bath. They have this funny thing called leasehold, so you don't own the land, you own the building. It's beautiful, right on the ocean for $250,000.

Kaneohe Condo

Hale Anaole #A301 w/ Tennis Court for $520,000

The next property is in Kaneohe. That's on the opposite side of the beautiful island of Oahu. Kaneohe has beautiful green, tropical everywhere. This is in a building called Hale Anaole, and there we have a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath condo with view of ocean. it also has a tennis court. As a super soldier I cannot play because I beat everybody. That is Hale Anaole and the price is $520,000.

Maili Home

Maili Home for $740,000

On the west side of Oahu, we have a home in Maili. This one is 5 bedroom, 3 baths, very close to the ocean and good sized space in the house. This one is $740,000.

Diamond Head Home

Diamond Head Home for $3,300,000

Last, but not least, we have beautiful home in Diamond Head. Close to the ocean, Kaikoo's very famous surf spot, close to Cromwells, other famous surf spot. This home is 5 bedrooms, 6 baths and almost 4,000 sq. ft. under roof. At $3,300,000 it is the lowest priced home in Diamond Head. Best value out there!

To find out more, contact Harcourts Island Real Estate at 808-777-4880.

Local Neighborhood Update for Homes

Did you know that sales in Waialae-Kahala were up 67% since last year? This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate here to give you the local market update for September of 2022. Well, as I mentioned across the board, Waialae-Kahala saw the largest increase in sales, which was up 67%. That was going from 6 sales last year to 10 sales this past month. That's great news for Waialae-Kahala, however it's a different trend we're seeing across the board in that the single family home product (which we're talking about here). Sales were down in 16 of he 23 neighborhoods that the Honolulu Board of Realtors reports on. So, it's not all rosy. We're seeing a lot less transactions taking place, however Waialae-Kahala as everyone knows is a highly desirable place to be, so we're seeing a lot of trades take place there.

Downtown-Nuuanu saw the largest appreciation year over year in median sales price for single family homes. That was up 24%, going from $1,130,000 to $1,400,000. Meanwhile, the North Shore of Oahu saw a 39% drop in median sales price, which was by far the largest drop was saw in any neighborhood. That was going from $1,722,500 to $1,050,000. I'm not sure if that's got anything to do with Bill 41 or just less demand on the North Shore? Maybe just less trades taking place in general? That's something we want to keep an eye on because in the last market downturn around 207-2008, the North Shore really felt the pinch. Whereas, east Oahu held it a little bit more. So, we'll see if that trend continues if our market corrects. That was kind of unheard of for the single family product on the North Shore  

Local Neighborhood Update for Condos

Moanalua-Salt Lake saw the largest increase in numbers of sales year over year. That was up 35%, going from 20 sales a year ago to 27 sales this year. That's obviously showing strength for Moanalua-Salt Lake. I sold a unit at Country Club Village a few months back. It's a highly desirable area close to the airport and lots of military bases with Hickam, Tripler and Fort Shafter all right there. As we're talking about the condo transactions, they were down in 13 of the 23 neighborhoods. So, it's not as bad as the single family homes drop in sales.

Alright, so our final category is appreciation for condominiums on Oahu in September. Ala Moana-Kakaako saw the largest appreciation, which was up 72%! That was going from $405,000 to $695,000. You might ask yourself "How can I get a condo in Ala Moana-Kakaako that cheap"? But, there are some lower priced condos in the Ala Moana area such as Ala Moana Hotel, where you can get condotels that are relatively inexpensive. With that said, I wanted to cover Ala Moana-Kakaako. But, jumping back to the North Shore - depreciation in values saw the largest hit for single family homes on the North Shore. However, that was quite contrary to the condos on the North Shore, where they saw the 2nd most appreciation, which was going from $646,000 to $930,000, which was up 44%. That's a huge contrast to the North Shore homes. Here's some possible reasons why.

As we always talk about, every neighborhood is different. So, to find out what's going on in your particular neighborhood, give us a call and reach out. Aloha!

There's no doubt about it that condos on Oahu have appreciated well since the lockdowns of 2020, however there's no other area on Oahu that's seen as crazy a spike in prices as Turtle Bay has.

As we've reported on the monthly market updates on Oahu the last several months, condo appreciation has been in the low single digit range if any (two months ago, prices were down .3%). However, if you were to look at the 3 Kuilima Condo Complexes at Turtle Bay (Ocean Villas, Kuilima Estates East and Kuilima Estates West), you will see a complete different story!

Ocean Villas at Turtle Bay Prices up 32.7%

The bulk of the transactions that take place at the Ocean Villas are their 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom product.  On occasion, you'll see a studio or 4 bedroom sale. However, since those sales are rare, let's take a look at the 3 bedroom activity. In 2021 (there were no sales in 2020), there were 5 sales that took place that ranged between $2,320,000 and $3,300,000. Earlier in the year, I sold one for $2,550,000 and it didn't appraise. The Buyer had to bring in an extra $200,000 to get the deal done. My client was happy as we got achieved a record sales price. We never would have guessed what would have happened later with that $3.3 million sale! It just completely shattered all other prices. 

The average sales price in 2021 was $2,684,000. So far, this year, there has been 3 sales that have ranged from $3,375,000 to $3,378,000 for an average sales price of $3,564,333. That is a 32.7% increase since last year, which is leaps and bounds over the rest of the condo market on Oahu. The Ocean Villas was not alone. See what was happening at the Kuilima Estates condos below...

Kuilima Estates 1 Bedroom, 1 Bath Units up 36.9%

The Kuilima Estates (both East and West) saw a similar spike in prices. In 2021, there were only two 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom sales that were at $525,000 and a HUGE jump to $824,000. In 2020, the average price was $506,540. So far this year, there have been 7 (fee simple) transactions that range from $850,000 to $1,026,750! With an average sales price of $906,393, that is a 36.9% increase from last year's average of $662,000.

Kuilima Estates 2 Bedroom, 2 Bath Units up 49%

Unfortunately, there were not any 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom sales in 2021, however in 2020, there were 6 transactions that took place that ranged between $639,000 to $850,000. So far this year, there's been 9 sales that range from $1,150,000 to $1,734,000! In 2020, the average sale price was $740,167. This year, the average sales price is $1,465,444, which has almost doubled. Dividing the 2 year appreciation of 98% by two give you an annual appreciation of 49%! This is just unheard of when comparing to other condo complexes on Oahu!

Why are Turtle Bay Condo Prices so Crazy?

Is there something in the water? Why have the prices at Turtle Bay shot up so much higher than everywhere else on Oahu over the past 2 years? There are several factors at play here:

1. The passage of Bill 41, which later became ordinance 22-7 took the minimum rental period on Oahu from 30 days to 90 days. Prior to that, Bill 89 on Oahu gave the city some teeth to enforce the law on the books of 30 day min on rentals. Up until that point, there are been tons of properties all over the North Shore of Oahu (both homes and condos), where people were renting out their properties short term. What we've seen with these recent laws is investors flocking to the "legal" short term rentals. 

2. The recent renovations of the Turtle Bay Hotel in 2021. The Blackstone Group bought the hotel in 2018 and pumped over $70 million in to upgrading the hotel. They also recently cancelled some long term agreements where owners of the Ocean Villas condos could use certain hotel amenities if they went with a certain property management company. Some thought the value of the condos would go down by severing that relationship. Well, it turns out to be quite the contrary as there's still a huge demand for the Ocean Villa condos as seen above.

Where Will Prices Go from Here?

Just this past week, a federal judge has stopped the city from enforcing ordinance 22-7, which prohibits 30-89 day rentals. It will be interesting to see if this law gets overturned as it takes away people's property rights and was in direct conflict with the landlord tenant code. With all that aside, we didn't really see a huge spike of condo prices in town for legal vacation rentals with the exception of a few buildings. I don't foresee prices coming down overnight at Turtle Bay because there's just a finite amount of real estate there. What's also wild, is we haven't even hit winter yet, which typically shows an uptick in buyer traffic.

One thing I'll be some money on is prices can't continue to appreciate the way they have over this past year or two. It is just not sustainable to have 30-50% appreciation year over year... If you own a condo at Turtle Bay, however this might not be a bad time to sell. Feel free to contact me for a confidential conversation.

Single Family Home Update

Did you know that home and condo prices were up last month - in September? This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate here to give you the monthly market report for September of 2022. First off, we'll start with the single family product. There, we saw a 4.8% increase year over year in median sales price. That was going from $1,050,000 last year to $1,100,000 this past month.

Single family home sales however, are following that trend we've seen over the past several months and sales volume is down 34.4%. That was going from 424 single family home sales a year ago to now just 278. Days on Market for single family homes are slowing down. There's a 100% increase. That was going from 9 Days on Market at year ago to 18 Days now. So, it's definitely taking things longer to sell. The rise in interest rates is definitely having an effect on our market. However, with that said prices are holding. They are up just under 5%.

Condo Update

The median price for condos was also up this past month. That was going from $478,000 to $502,500. That's a 5.1% increase year over year. So, on average homes and condos were up about 5% in regards to median sales price. We're also following that trend with single family homes in a drop off in sales volume. Condo sales weren't down as bad, but they were down 19.3%. That was going from 615 sales a year ago to 496 this year. 

The median Days on Market were up just slightly, going from 11 to 14 Days. That's a 27.3% increase. That's not 100% increase like the homes, but we are seeing less sales volume for condos and prices are holding. If there's anything we can help with that's specific to you (because every neighborhood is different, every building on Oahu too), to find out what's going on in your market, whether you're looking to buy or sell, feel free to give us a call. Mahalo!

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!