LUVA Real Estate Blog

As you may have guessed, our monthly guide to West Hawaii Events will look a little different this month. Here at LUVA Real Estate we felt that it is a a good time to share some of the virtual happenings that are keeping us connected and entertained during the COVID-19 pandemic. While we are being called to stay home and stay physically distanced, community connection is still as essential as ever! Here are a few of our favorite ways to keep busy and stay connected during this stay-at-home mandate.

Online Cooking Classes | Online cooking classes are popping up all over the world, no matter what cuisine you are inspired to cook, there is a cooking class available for you. Locally, Papa Kona Restaurant, has launched an online Facebook series

Congress passed a $2 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package on March 27, 2020 with overwhelming bipartisan support. The bill contains numerous benefits for REALTORS® that NAR fought hard for during the past three weeks, including unemployment eligibility for the self-employed and independent contractors; unprecedented aid for small businesses; and a delay in business payroll tax payments.

As more guidance is released by the Administration to the real estate industry on how these new programs will be implemented, LUVA Real Estate will provide updates as possible. 

These provisions apply from January 30, 2020 to 120 days after enactment of this bill or the end of the national emergency.

STUDENT LOANS

Suspends all payment due on federal

LUVA Real Estate has taken the recent pandemic of COVID-19 very seriously and have been working with our agents to create a plan that keeps our clients, our vendors and our agents as safe as possible. Here is what we are currently doing:

- We have increased the amount of virtual tours we are offering buyer clients. We often work with clients located on the mainland, so virtual tours are nothing new to us. Now, we are encouraging agents to rely on virtual tours as a way to “show” property to our on-island clients to avoid unnecessary physical interaction.

- Hosting virtual open houses by utilizing Matterport. Matterport is a great tool that allows people to virtually walk through properties, at their own pace, from the comfort of their own homes.

As you know, there has been a flurry of economic upheaval affecting the economy recently. The good news in all of this for buyers is the drop in interest rates, which is giving home buyers more purchasing power and is great news for those of you who have been on the fence waiting for a market shift.

The first two months of 2020 have seen prices and sales with double digit increases year over year, according to statistics from Hawaii Information Services. In February, the median price for a single family home in North Kona was $770,000, an increase of 17.56% from $655,000 year over year. Single family homes sales jumped 19.44% from 36 homes sold in February 2019 to 43 in 2020. For condos in North Kona, sales were up 9.68% from 31 in 2019 to 34 in 2020.

Mortgage rates continue to be at record-breaking lows and the number of recent sales last month shows that buyers have been, and continue to be, very active. Hawaii Central reported home sales on Oahu are up by 19% year over year. With the coronavirus stirring up concerns in the national economy, we will see if there are any impacts on the real estate market in the next coming months. In a recent Star Advertiser article, Carl Bonham, the executive director of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization stated that he “anticipates that homebuyers will continue to drive steady activity as they take advantage of historically low interest rates.” He believes that while the interest rate cuts have supported Oahu real estate, it is still too early

Home sales in West Hawaii have been brisk this year with double digit increases on the amount of sales in South Kohala and North Kona in both January and February and in the first portion of March. LUVA Real Estate agents are seeing that sellers are enjoying strong demand for their homes in 2020. However, there are a few market influences right now that you should know about if you are considering selling your home in the next few months.

The good news is that mortgage interest rates have fallen to their lowest in history. This should have an impact on buyers who can now buy “more home” than just a few weeks ago. Local mortgage professionals said the rates could even dip a bit lower in the coming weeks and months.

The cautionary news is the Corona

 This month we are spotlighting our Principal Broker, Ryan Dawson! Ryan has been a licensed Realtor for ten years, and he is licensed in Michigan and Hawaii.  Ryan decided to become a realtor after a friend in the industry asked if he would ever consider jumping into Real Estate. He considers it one of the best decisions of his life, the 5th best decision to be exact.

Before Real Estate, Ryan was in the Navy  but never once spent time on a ship. He did however live in a penthouse in Bahrain. After the military Ryan worked at a school for students with severe emotional problems. This is where Ryan made the best decision of his life, meeting and marrying his wife Dulcy (who was a teacher, not a student). Ryan received a Bachelors Degree in

What better time to visit the island or enjoy living here than in March when there are less people and the weather is fantastic? LUVA Real Estate agents are enjoying the fast paced market we are experiencing right now, but also taking time to enjoy some of the many things to do in West Hawaii in March. Let us know if we can offer further recommendations for your visit or if you are ready to make Hawaii home.

WHAT: FIRST FRIDAY CELEBRATION 

WHEN: March 6, 2020 from 5:30 until 8:30 p.m.

WHERE: Holualoa, HI

Holualoa Village galleries will feature new art and artists, tasty street eats and music all along Mamalahoa Highway through town during the monthly Art-After-Dark event from The village block party features art and artists in over a dozen

As visitors were coming to escape the cold from the mainland in January, they were also here in droves buying homes, too. LUVA Real Estate agents were markedly busier this January compared to last year and the statistics show the increased activity and interest in homes in West Hawaii.

Home Sales 

Single family home sales were cooking in January, as the number of sales increased 35% year over year in North Kona and 150% in South Kohala, according to sales statistics from Hawaii Information Service for January 2020. Homes sales in North Kona rose from 34 homes sold in 2019 to 46 in 2020 and in South Kohala from 12 to 30. Condominium sales fell 12% in Kona year over year and rose 8.3% in South Kohala. Islandwide, residential homes sales rose 44.5%

Total sales were on the rise in January 2020 on Oahu, with combined condominium and single-family home sales rose 12.6%. Single family home sales were up by 7.7% and condominium sales up by 16.3%. 

Looking closer at the 265 single family homes that sold last month, median sales price was $770,000 which is a slight increase over January 2019 by 0.3%. According to the Honolulu Board of Realtors, about 41% of these sales were between $600,000-$799,999 price range. In the Oahu condo market, the 379 sales in January 2020 had a median sales price of $429,000, a 7.5% price increase when compared to January 2019. The Honolulu Board of Realtors reported that the “most substantial portion of condominium sales occurred in the $300,000 - $499,999 price range,