Hualalai Realty is reporting a record home sale of $26.25 million for an 8,630 square-foot, oceanfront, five-bedroom, 5 1/2 -bathroom home with four lava-rock shower gardens, two ocean-side hot tubs and a cold-plunge pool on 49,136 square feet of land. The sale to an undisclosed buyer closed last month.

The price did not set a state record for 2009, as the 174-acre “;Tara”; estate on the North Shore of Kauai was sold by Hollywood mogul Peter Guber for a reported $28 million in November.

The humble Hualalai abode offers views of Hualalai, Maui and the South Kona coastline and overlooks the 16th and 17th greens of the Hualalai Golf Course.

The $26.25 million home is “;obviously a spectacular property, to say the least,”; said Patrick Fitzgerald, chief executive officer of Hualalai Resort.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to publish a photo because officials did not have the buyer's permission to distribute them for publication.

The announcement coincided with yesterday's completion of an auction of a Hualalai Resort home Cher designed for herself but never lived in, as well as four other properties in the Kukio Resort, though the deals are unrelated, Fitzgerald said.

The large deal and five others for $10 million or more, plus others during the year, gave Hualalai Resort about $150 million in 2009 sales.

Its record year was 2007, with about $230 million in sales, Fitzgerald said.

The recession bit into just about everybody's wallet, though Fitzgerald says, “;We've seen a lot of strength in (the luxury) market.”;

“;What we notice is that people are doing a lot more due diligence and are very careful about where they purchase,”; he said. “;They looked at other properties and places to live, and they have made significant investments in Hualalai, expressing confidence in the property and what we have here, the quality of the lifestyle.”;

Florida-based Concierge Auctions handled the auction of the Cher home as well as the others at Kukio Resort Monday.

Concierge hoped to get between $8 million and $12 million, though the purchase price was not disclosed because the deal has not yet been finalized.

On the 'Net:

» www.hualalairealty.com
» www.hawaiiluxuryauction.com