Aloha Kauai Lovers:

 

We are in the heart of summer here on the Island.  The days are long and warm and and a bit sticky.  Hanalei Bay is like a big flat warm swimming pool again with little or no waves.  The summer sunsets have been insanely gorgeous with crazy pinks and lavenders and grays that aren't even on the color wheel.  The Surfers have gone away, waiting for next winter and the return of the waves.  For me it's been pretty much work, eat, sleep, repeat, except for occasional Kauai moments here that still take my breath away even after eight years on the Island.   Last night I was walking the pooches about 6:30 pm along my street and I looked up and the clouds had settled over the mountains in the most beautiful way.  It was all very misty and shrowdy and haunting.  The emerald green mountains soared up forever and wispy delicate white clouds floated hazily around the tops so beautifully.  I stood there mesmerized by the sheer gorgeousness of it for several minutes.  Kauai is like that: just when you think you can't live another minute without a Super Mall or a Mega Cinema  it catches your attention and reminds you of why you are still here and happy about it.

 

Other big news is that I've made a change in brokerages to Kauai Tropical Properties in Hanalei (note spiffy new logo top right)  located in the shopping center across from Kalypso restaurant.  It was fun to work at the St. Regis Hotel and I made so many friends there but my old company has decided to go away so the crew and I are moving on.  I will especially miss those spooky telepathic valet guys who always had my car waiting for me at the front entrance before even I walked up.  How do they do that?  Secret cameras?

 

Sales Volume ticked up in July from $28M to $35M in total sales on the island.  Residential sales went from $15M to $23M.  Vacant land went down from $6M to $2M (dud!) condos went up from $5M to $8M.  Year-to-Date we are 27% above last year's volume numbers halfway thru the year so the market continues to gain strides slowly.  Houses are up 20%, vacant land up 45% and condos up 45% YTD.  We are even with last year's volume numbers for June which is about $35M total so the market is not like a rocket going straight up in the air.  It's more like those heat-seeking guided missiles you see in the movies that are chasing the plane but the plane is trying to get away and the rocket is swerving all over the place.  If you can visualize that, good, that is Kauai Real Estate right now.  Overall the market sales volume is improving but not everywhere.  North Shore House sales were down from last year's number 48%, condo volume was down 10%.  The North Shore is still stuggling very hard with the volume recovery as our YTD  for homes show we are 36% behind last year's volume number.  Of course, that low volume number could indicate MORE sales but at much LOWER prices than last year.  The East Side volume sales are what is leading the recovery on Kauai:  homes sales volume on the east side showed 192% increase YTD over last year, east side vacant land showed a YTD improvement over last year of 27%, and condo volume showed a whopping 335% increase.  The east side is driving the market because that is where the affordable $300K to $500K homes are located.  However, there are actually 3 houses on the North Shore priced right now under $400K so it is possible to own a home on the North Shore under $400K right now.  Poipu is showing steading gains 42% increase in home sales YTD, and 33% increase over last June.  Poipu condos show a big increase in volume YTD 88% and 96% over last June.  Vacant land volume is still struggling in all locations.

 

For Number of Sales the roller coaster ride continues but for this month it's going up:  we had 64 sales in April, 54 total sales in May, and 73 sales in June.  If I look ahead at what July might have in store for us I see 49 total sales so far this month so it looks like we are going to take another big dip in July.  If we look back at June 2009 we had 43 total sales so a big 70% improvement over last year.  The North Shore unit sales activity continues to struggle as we had very little improvement in Number of Sales this year over last, 9 houses sold (same as last June), 0 vacant land sold (1 sold last June) and 7 condos sold (6 last June).  Although those numbers for the North Shore look pretty bleak the YTD numbers for North Shore sales show that we have sold 12  more houses this year than last (39 vs 27) 4  more vacant lots (9 vs 5), and 11 more condos (36 vs 25).  On the East Side we've sold 57 houses this year compared to 25 last year.  In Poipu we sold 47 houses this year compared to 29 last year this time.

 

Our median price for a Kauai home hit a low in January of $375K but since then we had gained some ground, hitting $446K then $515K, then $577K, before taking another dive to  $420K and sinking further still in June to $405K.  Looking ahead for July it shows a median price of $450K today.  For the 9 sales on the North Shore in June we had a median price of a home at $514K which is very close to what it was in May 2010 $519K.  Those less expensive homes in Kilauea and even Princeville are driving the median price down so it continues to be a great time to buy on Kauai..  Also we all know those super low interest rates (4.69% on a 30 year fixed see below) probably aren't going to last forever so if interestedplease call or email me. Hurry! Chop! Chop!

 

Until next month, Your Island Realtor, AnnMarie Hamilton, BIC, Kauai Tropical Properties, 808-652-3511

Surf Kauai homes, condos and land now!

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