TheBuzz Erika Engle

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Kauai home's listing price in national top 10

AN estate on Kauai has gotten Hawaii ranked at No. 8 among states with the most expensive homes for sale, according to the Ultimate Homes state-by-state magazine, just out on newsstands.

Tara Plantation on Kauai's northeastern waterfront is offered at $46.5 million dollars.

Tara's asking price is nothing to shake a stick at, and really, what is? But it is a middling sum when measured against the list-toppers -- $135 million for a Colorado ranch once owned by a Saudi Arabian prince; $125 million for Donald Trump's Palm Beach, Florida estate and $100 million for Tranquility, a 210-acre plot with a private lake, two par-three golf holes and an eight-building residence.

As of today, Tara has been on the market for 868 days, or nearly two and a half years, according to Kauai Board of Realtors Executive Director Karen Ono.

The magazine is a special publication of Unique Homes, a bimonthly magazine, which published the Ultimate Homes directory as a guide to the 1,000 costliest homes for sale in the U.S.

It listed 32 Hawaii homes among its beyond-high-end offerings.

Unique Homes covers Hawaii real estate at least a couple times each year, along with its luminary professionals such as Pat Choi, of Choi International. She was profiled as one of 35 "luxury leaders" in Unique Homes' 35th anniversary issue.

The Ultimate Homes state-by-state edition is the first to break out homes by geographical region, according to Publisher Rick Goodwin.

Henceforth, the top 1,000 will be released in March and the state-by-state issue will issue forth in September.

The new state-by-state edition includes 20 pricey pads for most states, but Hawaii's list bears 21, from Tara at the top to the least expensive at $13.7 million -- a steal!

"It was a fun 'book' to create," said Goodwin.

"The reason we did a state-by-state version was that so we could really give people an understanding of how different markets differ, what price you will pay in different geography -- a sense of comparison by region, as opposed to just price."

Besides, "you get to see what a bargain North Dakota is," he chuckled.

Way up there, $1.83 million will get you the Heart River Ranch with fishing, hunting and views -- of North Dakota. The low-end of that state's list dips to below $600,000, not that there's anything wrong with that.

The new Ultimate Homes issue sells for $7.99 on newsstands or can be ordered at 1-800-841-3401.

MOST EXPENSIVE PROPERTY FOR SALE

Location	Property	Price
1 Aspen, Colo.	Hala Ranch	$135M
2 Palm Beach, Fla.	Trump Palm Beach Estate	$125M
3 Lake Tahoe, Nev.	Tranquility	$100M
4 Bridgehampton, N.Y.	Three Ponds Farm	$75M
5 Corona del Mar, Calif.		$75M
6 Corinth, Texas	Champ d'Or	$59.55M
7 Medina, Wash.		$53M
8 Kauai, Hawaii	Tara Plantation	$46.5M
9 Jackson, Wyo.	Jenkins Ranch	$39M
10 Greenwich, Conn.		$38M

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No meters for you

You may get a knock on the door from someone who wants to install a ratings meter on your television, as did some East Honolulu residents Monday.

That generated industry speculation that Honolulu would finally become a market where television ratings are based on data collected by meters, which record viewing precisely.

The current ratings are derived from diaries kept by humans, who have a pesky proclivity to procrastinate and forget what they really watched and when.

A phone call quickly ended the speculation -- and harshed the buzz.

"The national sample is metered and every state has a part to play," said Laura James, vice president of client communications for New York-based Nielsen Media Research. However, there are no plans for Honolulu to become a totally metered market in 2007 or 2008, she said.

She was not able to confirm that the individuals seen in Hawaii Kai Monday were from Nielsen, but said legitimate employees carry a Nielsen TV Ratings photo identification badge.

Nielsen also sends large envelopes to homes asking families to participate in ratings surveys using diaries.

The company offers two toll-free numbers for questions about participation and to verify Nielsen employee visits.

For envelopes that come in the mail, call 1-800-237-8611; to verify a Nielsen field representative, call 1-800-237-6493.