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.

Sales on the Windward Coast were definitely hot this past month. All across the board we saw a lot of activity on both the home and condo front. This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate here to give you the local market update for August of 2021.

Single Family Home Update

Starting off, the Windward Coast home sales saw a 250% increase from just a year ago in August of 2020. There were only 4 sales then and it jumped up to 14 transactions last month. 

As far as the median price goes for homes on Oahu, Aina Haina-Kuliouou saw the largest increase, which was up 95%. This was significantly higher than the increase in condos (which we'll get to later). There in that range of Aina Haina-Kuliouou, prices went from $1,075,000 last year to $2,100,000. Now, keep in mind that encompasses Hawaii Loa Ridge, where you typically have a higher price point being as it's a gated community and the views, etc. That is a large increase going from basically $1 millions to $2 million over the course of a year. 

Condo Update

Stepping into condos, the Windward Coast like I said was going crazy! The number of sales there were up 450% from a year ago. That went from 2 sales in August of last year to 11 sales this year. 

As far as the median price goes with condos here on Oahu, Ala Moana-Kakaako saw the largest increase and that was up 40%. Now remember, with single family homes, the largest segment was up 95%. That is still a healthy increase. The condo market is coming back. Ala Moana-Kakaako was up 40% and that would be $560,000 last year to $785,000 this year. Now you might think to yourself "Wait! I can't can't a condo in Kakaako for that much". You actually can, but keep in mind that pulls in a lot of the older product in the Ala Moana area as well.

One other thing I did want to point out while we're talking about the Windward Coast. Ironically, they had the largest decrease in median sales price last month, which was down 55%. The median price of a condo on the Windward Coast last August was $305,000 and now it's only $137,000. You might ask yourself "Why such a big drop?". A 55% decrease in this market is kind of unheard of and there's a reason for that. The bulk of those sales took place in Punaluu, primarily at a building called Hanohano Hale as well as some of the smaller units at Pats at Punaluu. There, you have units that are oceanfront buildings, but because of where they're located and being rural (and a little bit of deferred maintenance) those can trade around $100,000 for some of the smaller ones. That's kind of what has pushed some of those condo prices down on the Windward Coast.

That's my summary for today and give us a call if there's anything we can help with. Mahalo!

Well, there's a first time for everything. We now for the first time in history surpassed the $1,000,000 mark for single family homes on Oahu. This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate here to give you the monthly market report for August of 2021.

Single Family Home Report

Like I said, we surpassed $1,000,000 for the first time in history, here on Oahu as far as the median sales price goes. Some of the neighbor islands like Kauai and Maui hit that mark earlier this year. Now, the median sales price for August was $1,050,000. That is up 25.1% from a year ago, where we had a median price of just $839,000, so that's a significant jump. 

The number of sales are up 14.9% from a year ago and Days on Market 40%, going from 15 Days in August of 2020 to just 9 Days this year. The market is firing on all cylinders once again as we see these graphs go up and up. Stay tuned for the condo report.

Condo Report

Well, the condo market was arguably just as crazy. We now have a new record median price there as well, which is $500,000. We were hovering in the $400,000 range for many, many months and now the median sales price of a condo is half a million bucks. That is also a 16.3% increase from a year ago where we were at $430,000.

What's even more impressive is the volume or number of sales, because those were up 65% from a year ago! If you can think back to August of 2020, we were still kind of in the lockdowns and there was nothing really happening on the condo front. Fast forward a year and we see the number of sales up 65% for condos. There was also a significant drop in the median Days on Market, which went from 23 Days down to 12 Days. That's a 47.8% drop. 

It's a seller's market here on Oahu. Give us a call because every market is different. You'll be surprised - even though we're following this nationwide phenomenon of an increase in sales, increase in median sales price and lower days on market that's the overall trend. However, there are little pockets here and there where things might not be as strong as they were say 3, 4, 5 years ago. To find about some opportunities there, feel free to reach out and we look forward to working with you. Mahalo!

Aloha, this is David Buck of Harcourts Island Real Estate here to give you the local market update for July of 2021.

Local Single Family Home Report

The neighborhood that saw the largest increase in the number of sales was along the Windward Coast, which basically spans from Kaneohe up through Hauula. There were just 4 sales last year and 10 sales this year. This is the strongest market on island, which is up 150% regarding the number of sales from July of 2020 through July of 2021.

Regarding the median home price on Oahu, you might find it funny that I'm here between Ala Moana and Kakaako. You don't normally think of this as an area for single family homes, but I'm actually in a little pocket between Rycroft and Laula where there's actually some detached single family homes. The median price from Ala Moana-Kakaako had the largest increase, which went from $625,000 in July of last year to $1,190,000 this year. There was only 1 sale (keep in mind), so this is kind of like an outlier. That was a 90% increase from July of 2020. However, shortly behind was the North Shore of Oahu, which had an 85% increase. That's a significant increase as well, going from $814,500 to $1,505,000.

Local Condo Report

As far as the condo market goes, Kalihi-Palama saw the largest increase in the number of sales, which was up 183%, going from 6 in July of 2020 to 17 sales in July of 2021.

As we round out the condo market here on Oahu, it's kind of like Dejy Vu, we're back in Kahala where we were forecasting from last month. Waialae-Kahala saw the largest increase in median sales price for condos, which was up 80%, going from $305,000 to $550,000 this year. 

If there's anything we can help with on Oahu, every market is different. It's dynamic. Some are going up, some are going down, but across the board it's really strong in most markets. Feel free to reach out to see how we can help. Mahalo!

The Park at Ward Village and Howard Hughes' Success in Ward Village

Aloha, I just got through with a presentation of Howard Hughes' latest project to be release, which is The Park at Ward Village. It's an awesome building, which I'll show you here shortly, but I just wanted to give you a quick recap of Howard Hughes' success in Ward Village.

Waiea

Behind me is their first tower, which was Waiea, which was completed in 2016. It's a luxury condo with some town houses in the front and this is on the corner of Auahi and Ala Moana Blvd.

Anaha

Released shortly thereafter was Anaha. It's well known for its infinity pool up above. It's actually getting some work done on it at the moment, but it has a lot of high end amenities, and built and launched shortly after Waiea. 

Ae'o

After Waiea and Anaha came Ae'o, which you can see behind me. It's iconic because it's anchored by a 60,000 sq. ft. Whole Foods supermarket, which is one of the amenities of living here in Ward Village.

Aalii

Across the street from Ae'o is Aalii. This is the latest tower that's just being completed. Those are AC compressors there on the balconies. This was a concept that was launched, where they had a lot of "micro units" and they've had a lot of success and they'll be closing out soon and you'll see a lot of people coming and going in the building here shortly.

Koula

For perspective on the same block, you have Ae'o, Aalii and across is Koula, which is going up on Auahi St. If you can imagine on the back side of Auahi is the park, which we'll talk about more later.

Ke Kilohana

This will be some great perspective, we came from around the block from Aalii, which is just being completed behind me and out the back, which we haven't talked about yet directly behind me is Ke Kilohana. That was Ward Village's first affordable project for reserve housing. Then (turning around again) directly behind me is Koula, which is going to be on the park here.

Victoria Place

If you can visualize it, this park is going to go all the way across the street and on the corner out to the side there, that's Victoria Place, which is the only tower that Howard Hughes is developing without any retail. It's very exclusive. There's actually only a few units left there, which are 1 bedrooms, so contact me if you'd like more information on what is available there. 

The Park at Ward Village

If you can imagine where the old Sports Authority was, directly behind me that's what's going to be called The Park at Ward Village. 

If you have more questions about The Park at Ward Village or any other Howard Hughes properties here, feel free to reach out. I can be reached at 808-371-3509. Mahalo!

July was a crazy month! We had a new record price again for the median sales price of both homes and condos on Oahu. This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate here to give you the monthly stat report for single family homes and condos on Oahu.

Single Family Home Stats

Like I said, we hit a record for the single family home price at $992,500, which was up 21.8% from July of 2020, which was at $815,000. That's now the 3rd month in a row that we hit a record for the single family home price. Sales were also up 11.9%. Whereas last year we only had 361 homes that traded on Oahu. Now we're up to 404.

Days on Market are down 30.8%. A year ago it was a Seller's Market already at 13 Days. Now we're down to 9 Days! Months of remaining inventory is also down 45.8% for single family homes, dropping from 2.4 months to 1.3 months. So, that's a wrap on the single family homes and I'll be up shortly regarding the condos. Mahalo.

Condo Stats

Similar to single family homes, we also hit a record for the condos like I said. The new record price here on Oahu for condos is now $475,000. That's up 8% from July of 2020, where we were at $440,000. What we saw the largest jump was actually the number of trades happening in the condo market. Because last year was a little bit soft with COVID lockdowns, last year there were 426 sales. We're now up to 671 sales in July. That's a jump of 57.5%. That's pretty crazy!

Days on Market are down 57.5% dropping from 26 Days a year ago to just 11 Days. Months of remaining inventory are also down significantly, down 51.2% and that's going from 4.1 months of remaining inventory to just 2 months. Keep in mind the National Association of Realtors says 6 months or less is considered a Seller's Market and now we're down to just 2 months for condos and just 1.3 months for single family homes. 

That's a wrap for July and we'll see what August has in store for us and if this trend continues because it's been a wild ride for the housing market on Oahu. Mahalo!

Today we're on location in Waialae-Kahala, because Waialae-Kahala came in the top 3 spots for the 4 major categories we track here on Oahu (1. Home Sales, 2. Median Home Price, 3. Condo Sales, 4. Median Condo Price). This is David Buck with Harcourts Island Real Estate here to give you the Local Neighborhood Report for June of 2021.

Local Report for Single Family Homes

First off, regarding the number of home sales here on Oahu, we saw the largest increase in Hawaii Kai, which was up 333% from 6 sales to 26 sales. Taking the number 2 spot was Waialae-Kahala with 7 sales in June of 2020 to now 20 sales in June of 2021. That's 186% increase. Taking the 3rd position down the road in Diamond Head-Kapahulu, we had an increase from 13 sales in June of last year to 32 sales this year, which was 146% increase.

Regarding the median home price, Downtown-Nuuanu took the number 1 spot with an 81% increase from June of 2020 to June of 2021. Last year it was at $828,000 and it takes $1.5 million to get in that market, as far as the median price goes. Waialae-Kahala also took the number 2 spot which was up 75%, just shortly behind Downtown-Nuuanu. That was $1,328,000 last year to get in this neighborhood. Waialae-Kahala once again is Kahala (proper) going up to Waialae Iki and Waialae Nui Ridge. Now to get in Waialae-Kahala, the median price is $2,3230,000. Coming in number 3 would be Kailua-Waimanalo which is up 43% and that was $1,075,000 last year to $1,535,000 this year. 

The housing market is on fire and you'll see this trend as we jump into the condo segment here shortly that Waialae-Kahala is just on fire, whether it be single family homes or condo product.

Local Report for Condos

Now as we dive into the condo segment, I think it's appropriate we have the Kahala Regency behind us because once again Wailae-Kahala is in that top 3 position. As far as condo sales go, it took the number 3 spot going from 2 to 11 sales, which is a 450% increase, which may sound a lot, but believe it or not in the 2nd slot was the Windward Coast and that was up 800%, going from 1 to 9 sales. Kalihi-Palama was up 1800%! It's just crazy because in June of last year there was only 1 transaction that took place in Kalihi-Palama for condos. Fast forward to this year and we're at 19 sales!

Regarding the median sales price for condominiums on Oahu in June, Waialae-Kahala was also once again in the top 3, coming in the number 2 spot. The Windward Coast was number 1 with a 454% increase going from $65,000 to $360,000. Waialae-Kahala was up 83% going from $57,250 to $105,000. The reason why the prices were that low was they were taking place at the Kahala Beach Apartments, which are Leasehold. In 3rd place was the Ewa Plain which was up 41%, going from $446,000 to $629,000.

If you have any questions about the housing or condo market here on Oahu, feel free to reach out and see who we can help. Mahalo.