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Aloha Gang!
Weather news: The weather on Kauai has been very dry
this winter. Sorry to my wet California friends. What
can I say except "send some our way". So no rain which
means we're having a lovely winter season but
unfortunately all my plants and flowers are wilting. We
need some rain or I'm going to have to go out and do my
rain dance and you know what happened last time I did
that: I almost burned down the house because I goofed
and danced to the Goddess of Fire instead of the Rain
Goddess.. uh..duh! Most mornings here are clear and
warm and then in the afternoon the clouds start to
gather over the mountains. But alas, no rain just some
clouds and a little vog floating down from Big Island .
Gorgeous dry weather right now on Kauai and good time
to come visit if you're on the mainland or other parts.
The Hotel occupancy has been slow but I'm told that it
will be picking up in February. By the way, I tried the
new restaurant in the Hotel this week called the
Kauai Grill. Amazing food and service. And the
remodel...Wow! It will knock you out. Big
recommendation from me. Also, even though they don't
have any vegetarian fare if you ask the waiter they will
whip something up very nice for you.
What other news do I have... hmmm? Honestly, life in
paradise can be pretty dull sometimes. Epecially if
you're a realtor in a bad economy here. I certainly
don't think the networks would want to do a reality show
on my life right now. If they did it would be something
like this.. See AnnMarie go to work, see AnnMarie skip
lunch and keep working, see AnnMarie come home take out
her computer and work, see AnnMarie eat fast Costco
Indian food TV dinner, watch a Netflix and collapse, see
AnnMarie get up and go back to work, See AnnMarie sit at
an open house all day with no one coming in...See
AnnMarie lose another deal due to financing, See
AnnMarie.., etc., etc, yawn..boring..
One exciting piece of news I do have for you is that we
just found out last week that Pirates of the Caribbean
with Johnny Depp is going to be filmed here this summer!
Yippeeee! What fun! I'm working on my designer eye
patch right now.. I'm sure that will charm Mr. Depp into
buying some expensive beachfront property from me.. eh?
Maybe not.. in fact he'll probably run the other
direction. Note to self, scratch eyepatch idea.
Interesting news on the Kauai Real Estate front: The
Sales Volume for December was up
dramatically from November, from $19M to $29M and that's
after factoring out the 3 huge $10M+ crazy sales we had
over those two months by various movie stars, muckety
mucks etc. But even though we had a big jump in
December we have been all over the map with
Sales Volume numbers this last 6 months with
July $25M, August $21M, Sep $21M, Oct $29M, Nov $19M,
and Dec $29M. Geez, is this a real estate market or
Magic Mountain? Remember, I told you a while back "Hang
on, it's going to be a bumpy ride", and it has been. Vacant
land volume was down slightly over the entire
island from $1,890,000 to $1,066,000, condos stayed
steady at $5M, and house volume numbers
were up big time from $11M to $22M over the entire
island. North Shore home volume was up
big time from $1.5M to $7M. North Shore condo
sales volume was in complete reverse, and going
backwards, and no vacant land sold at
all in December on the north shore. East side
volume numbers were up all over, as well as the
Koloa/Poipu area numbers. Even sleepy Waimea had a
little bump in volume for December.
December Unit Sales were also up
considerably from 48 to 59 units sold in December. House
unit sales over the entire island jumped from
23 to 38, vacant land was down to 4
from 7, condos units stayed steady at 15. North
shore home sales were up from 2 to 9, vacant
land a goose egg, and only 2 condos sold on the north
shore down from 6 selling in November. Koloa/Poipu unit
sales were up across the board, and East side unit sales
were up as well.
Median home prices for December were up
in all categories: $520K for houses, up from $442K in
November. Vacant land median price was
$283K up from $185K, condos were $313K
up from $277K. Koloa/Poipu home prices stayed very
steady at $582K Dec and $592K November. North
shore home prices were up $980K from $743K in
November. Condo prices appeared steady with $324K in
Nov and $309K in December.
Our end of year Median Price numbers
showed a 23% decline over the last year in home prices,
a 40% decline in condo prices, and a 41% decline in
vacant land prices. North shore home prices showed a
20% decline, vacant land a 23% decline, and condos a 38%
decline. Poipu condo prices showed a 1% increase in
prices, but a big 35% decrease in home prices.
Our end of year numbers for Sales Volume
shows that we are turning the corner on the bad real
estate market for houses:. We were only down 4% from
2008 in residential volume, but not so fast on vacant
land and condos, down a huge 71% on vacant land, and 41%
on condos for the year end.
Our end of year totals showed and 8% decline in Unit
Sales from 2008 to 2009. Vacant land showed a 42%
decline in unit sales, and condos showed a 5% decline.
Koloa/Poipu showed a 26% increase in unit home sales, a
54% decline in vacant land, and 15% decline in condos.
North shore home unit sales showed a 9% decline over
2008, a 45% decline in vacant land, and 26% decline in
condos. Interestingly, Lihue showed a 63% increase in
condo sales from 33 to 54 in 2009... who would have
thunk that?
If we look at the mid year numbers (June 09) we were
much deeper in the recession hole back then: For homes
we were down 30% from the year prior for number of sales
in June 09, compared to 6 months later (Dec 09) we were
down only 8% so we climbed out of the hole to the tune
of a positive 22% the last 6 months of the year. In
June 09 we were down 27% for homes sales Volume, in
December only 4%, and down 27% for median prices in June
but had climbed up just a few points to 23%. Median
Prices have been staying fairly steady for last 6
months, while the other indicators, volume and units
sales are starting to improve quite nicely.
To summarize the above numbers for you I would say that
we are turning the corner on the stinky residential
market. My advice is that the window for getting a
crazy cheap deal on a home on Kauai is NOT going to
remain open forever. It looks like the bottom has
passed on that segment and may be starting to climb up
the other side. The condo and vacant land market is
another story. That segment is still in the deep deep
doodoo and could hang out there a little while longer.
So if you've been thinking of buying property on Kauai
and were waiting for the prices to drop - News Flash!
They have! So get moving! Another word of advice is
that many sellers will come down off their asking prices
if you just ask them nicely. Contact me if I can help
you find your own little quaint beach shack, or
sprawling mansion, or whatever....
Gotta run now and get back to work...See ya later,
gaters!
Warmest Aloha, Your Island Realtor, AnnMarie Hamilton,
BIC, Princeville Real Estate at the beautiful St. Regis
Hotel
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Sure
you can lose weight, get in shape,
launch a business or find a new job. But
haven't you also procrastinated long
enough about buying a home?
How long has it been since you upgraded
your home with a new roof, spiffed up
landscaping or pulled some other home
improvement?
And that post-World War II ranch home
of yours could certainly use a few
energy efficient do-overs.
Look to low mortgage interest rates,
bargain home prices and other favorable
market conditions to give you the
resolve to consider home sweet home in
your list of must-dos next year.
� Join the
nearly 18 percent of Americans who say
they've resolved to become a first-time
homebuyer in 2010, according to a new
Move.com survey. That's both a smart
move and a timely one. Mortgage rates
are at record lows, prices are down and
the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax
credit has been extended until April 30,
2010. It's also been expanded to include
a $6,500 tax credit
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It
can be one of the hardest things to do
-- save money for your first home. But
now, more than ever, there's incentive
to buy. Government housing tax credits
have been extended and that's sparking
buyers' interest.
Reports show that U.S. homes sales
increased 10 percent in October to the
highest level since February 2007. The
tax credit, less expensive homes, and
lower mortgage rates are being credited.
However, while the government is helping
to support the purchasing of a home,
many Americans still can't afford to buy
one.
"Most Americans are spoiled. Most
Americans spend a lot of money on
discretionary items," says Eric Tyson,
co-author of Home Buying for Dummies,
4th Edition. "What it really comes down
to is you have to be motivated to look
at where are you currently spending
money and what discretionary spending
can you cut off," says Tyson.
So how do you get in a position to buy
a home? For some the process can seem
nearly impossible. First-time homebuyers
are often fearful they'll never be able
to accumulate a down payment now that
stricter guidelines are being enforced
for taking out home loans.
Tyson says to look over your finances
and see where things can be cut
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A
new federal law beginning April 2010 will
require all contractors performing renovation,
repair and painting projects that disturb
lead-based paint in private homes, childcare
facilities, and schools (built prior to 1978) to
be certified in the prevention of lead
contamination.
According to the Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) document titled What You Need to
Know About Lead Poisoning, "Despite laws
established in the 1970s to make people aware of
the dangers of lead and its poisonous effects,
lead poisoning in children remains a common, yet
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Move
up, move down, move sideways; it
just doesn't matter. Whichever
direction you move, financially,
you may still qualify for the
new tax credit available to
current homeowners. It is
unfortunate that the credit has
too often been characterized as
a credit for "move-up"
homeowners. The phrase carries
the implication that the new
home must cost more than the
sale price of the former one.
Indeed, even the November 6
White House Press Release said
that the credit would be
available to qualified
homeowners who "wish to step up
to a new home." Same
implication.
