Kauai home prices
zoom past $500K
Home prices on Kauai topped Maui and Oahu last month, rising to the highest in the state.
The median price of a single-family home sold on the Garden Island broke the half-million-dollar barrier in June for the first time to end at a Kauai record of $528,000, according to data from the Hawaii Information Service. That's up sharply from May's $472,500, and a 40 percent increase from June 2003's $375,000.
Maui, which has had the state's highest priced homes in the current real estate run-up, saw its median sales price drop sharply from May's eye-popping record of $617,000 to settle back at $500,000 for June, according to the Realtors Association of Maui.
In June, 71 homes sold on Kauai and 77 sold on Maui.
The data reflect the continuing trend of heavy buying by wealthy mainlanders searching for second or vacation homes, but with relative few properties on the market.
"The Kauai market is really driven by mainland second-home buyers and people that want to get close to a resort area," said Frank Supon, owner and principal broker of Pacific Ocean Properties, which specializes in the resort area of Poipu.Condo prices on Kauai also hit a record in June, reaching a median $420,000, a 21 percent year-on-year increase, though the data reflected sales of just 53 units. Maui condos hit a median price of $300,000, just shy of March's record high of $308,960, on sales of 196 units.
But the data illustrates how the smaller number of overall sales on the neighbor islands -- compared with Oahu -- can result in wild swings in the median price. Maui's May record of $617,000 was a blip resulting from a number of sales throughout the island that exceeded $1 million, pulling up the median.
Roy Sakamoto of Sakamoto Properties in Lahaina said Maui's market may have hit its high-water mark. Sakamoto said more sellers seem to be putting properties on the market to capitalize on prices and that some newly completed homes may help further moderate prices.
"We're seeing more selective buyers out there and will probably see a slowdown," he said.
Kauai's strong price growth might have more staying power, say experts on the island. A number of developers there have put together residential development plans in response to the market's recent rise, but inventory will remain tight as those projects navigate the zoning and permit approval maze.
"Right now everybody is trying to beat the clock but it will probably be a year or two before that stuff gets sold," said Keith Nitta, head of long-range planning for Kauai County.
Even once the new Kauai product hits the market, it might may not necessarily cool prices. One of the largest developments in the pipeline is the 1,500-home Kukuiula project in Poipu, being developed by Alexander & Baldwin and Arizona-based DMB Associates.
Prices for the project's homes are expected to top $500,000, Supon said.
Prices on the Big Island softened slightly in June compared with May, though they remain much higher than a year ago. Single-family homes hit a median price of $288,500, down from May's $307,261, on 273 sales. Condo prices came in at $275,000, compared with May's $280,000, on sales of 109 units.
