As we head into fall, sellers are pondering getting their homes on the market for the winter rush of mainlanders who are finally making their retirement dreams come true and looking to buy a home. But don’t forget, that there are people looking EVERY DAY right now for homes in West Hawaii, so if you are considering a move, breaking away from the pack early to avoid the jump in inventory, which routinely happens in January, may actually yield a better price for your home. To illustrate this point, take a look at the chart on the left, showing how low current inventory is compared to January of this year.
The good news for buyers right now is that the median price of single family homes in North Kona has dipped a bit from $647,500 in 2016 to $620,000k this month in 2017. South Kohala had a gain of 8.7% from 2016 when the median price of a single family home was $535,000 and in September it was $582,000, showing that people are choosing to move up the coast to realize less expensive homes. North Kohala only had four sales for September and the median price swung wildly from $1.16 million in 2016 to $530,000 in 2017.
The condo market did not fare as well as we had predicted in the spring, in terms of rising prices, in fact in North Kona, the prices stayed the same year over year of $282,000 with 34 closed sales for the month of September in 2016 and 2017. In South Kohala, there were 27 closed sales for the month compared to 15 in 2016, but the median price appeared to drop significantly from $730,000 to $465,000. With so few closed sales, the median price can fluctuate significantly. It would appear that condos are still selling to people searching for affordable homes rather than higher end buyers who may have been looking for a second home.
Vacant land sales dropped in both North and South Kohala with only one closed sale for the month in 2017 compared to 6 and 7 in 2016, but in South Kona, closed sales jumped from 2 in 2016 to 7 in 2017, for a median price of $70,000 this year compared to $161,000 last year. Across the island sales volume was up on single family homes, condos, and vacant land, so demand is apparent.
(All sales data is taken from Hawaii Information Services)
LUVA Real Estate Realtors can do a cost analysis on your home with a full market trend report if you are considering selling. For buyers, we can make sure you are getting homes as soon as they hit the market in your email. Please let us know how we can assist you!