West Hawaii Home Prices Rise Amid Lack of Available Homes For Sale

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LUVA Real Estate has seen a recent flurry of activity as potential buyers show intense interest in homes that are coming onto the market now that the high season for West Hawaii real estate is in full swing. The amount of interest versus the amount of homes for sale has had an impact on the housing market.

According to data from the Hawaii Information Service from December 2019, the North Kona residential market shows inventory is substantially down from a year ago. With limited supply and strong demand, December saw an elevated median price of both single-family homes and condos, but by less than 3% for both.

The median sales price of single family homes has remained stable in the $635,000 price range for almost two years and is now $780,000, according to HIS statistics, although, more indicative is the year to date numbers which show the median price of a single family home is $650,000. Year to date data shows that single family home sales in North Kona have increased 13% year to date from December 2018 to 2019, although sales have dropped year over year from 40 in 2018 to 35 in 2019.

Condos also saw a year over year sales drop from 44 to 38, a drop of 13.64%, but rose 8.33% year to date from 432 to 468.

For South Kohala, the median price of a single-family home year over year rose 7.5%, from $603,000 to $649,000, however year to date, prices rose only .5% from $596,000 to $599,000. Interesting to note, that year over year sales volume in South Kohala rose 129% for single family homes, but fell 41%, year over year for condos, but only 13% year to date. Island wide median sales fell month over month in December 10% for single family homes and 8% for condos. Lack of inventory and buyers sitting on the fence waiting for homes may have contributed to the sales decrease and the same market forces are driving up prices for buyers unwilling to wait for more homes to come onto the market.

The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to the lowest level since October this week, at 3.69%, according to Mortgage News Daily. That has an already competitive housing market heating up even more. On the mainland, more buyers are out earlier, looking for homes before the spring market heats up the competition. In West Hawaii, the competition is already here in the form of seasonal residents (snowbirds) and those looking to retire to Hawaii to avoid another winter on the mainland.

If you would like to receive homes as they come on the market, please contact us at LUVA Real Estate and we can provide you with an email service that sends you available homes on the market and we can provide additional information or arrange a showing for you.