O'ahu sees signs of 'reverse' migration
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
Rick Piva loved his house in Kapolei. It was a spacious four-bedroom home in Iwalani, a new housing development on West O'ahu.
Piva lived in that home for only 14 months before he sold it so he could move into a new home in an area that offered something more: a waterfront property. His new home in Hawai'i Kai, however, offers a lot of things that his home in West O'ahu didn't.
"We don't have to get in the car to go anywhere. There's Costco next door," Piva said. "The beach is right here. It's so convenient. Before you had to get in the car to go everywhere."
Piva, who becomes a new Hawai'i Kai resident Aug. 30, is one of many new residents who are leaving their homes in West O'ahu behind and moving closer to town in the first indication of a reverse migration since West O'ahu began to boom 10 to 15 years ago, drawing residents looking for more affordable housing.
They're cashing in on rising property values in West O'ahu combined with 40-year lows on mortgage rates in a trend that real estate experts expect to grow as the first big wave of single-family development in two decades comes on line in East Honolulu.
"We found the place in Hawai'i Kai to be much more desirable," Piva said. "Still, it was a difficult decision as we liked our home in Iwalani. It was gorgeous. Our new home is smaller, but on the water."
Over the years, town has become more attractive to residents tired of the long bumper-to-bumper crawl to and from West O'ahu. Some are looking for homes closer to work or their children's private schools in town. Others are being lured by the new homes sprouting up in East Ho-nolulu, which is seen as the place to go in the move-up market.
"These are the people who purchased entry-level homes three to seven years ago and now can move up," said Jack Leslein, principal broker for East O'ahu Realty. "Prices in 'Ewa have gone up."
West O'ahu always will be the place to go for people wanting their first new home, said Bob Barber, a co-owner of ERA Beacan Associates, a real estate firm in Leeward O'ahu.
"The traffic is still a big drawback and I point it out to anyone looking in the area," Barber said. "But in return you get a newer home and more bang for your buck. You just need to invest in books on tape and take the time to learn a new language or something."
You don't have to tell that to Peter and Katie Bourne of Kapolei. Each day the couple split the children up and commute to work and school. Peter Bourne takes two of their three children to school and himself to work at a private school in Nu'uanu. Katie Bourne takes their other child and heads for the Diamond Head area, where she, too, works as a private school teacher. In all they're looking at a 14-hour day outside of their house.
They'd like to move, but can't find a home comparable in size and price near where they work and their children go to school.
"We go back and forth with the idea of moving," Bourne said. "We thought about moving a lot. We're so busy. Our schedule is pretty crazy. It's the drive at night that's the worst because you're tired."
For the Bournes and many other West O'ahu residents, that means leaving the house at 6 a.m. to get to town in time to drop the kids off at private school and get to work on time. On the commute home, that means either skipping extra-curricular activities or getting home after 8 p.m. Bourne and others figure that until more jobs are located in West O'ahu, the commute will remain grim, compared to East Honolulu where the average commute to downtown Honolulu takes about 20 minutes .
For developers in Hawai'i Kai, that discontent means sales.
"We have people buying from Mililani because they love the Hawai'i Kai community," said Stanford Carr, SCD International president and one of key developers in the wave of development in East Honolulu. "The commute is so much easier. The sun's always at your back and Hawai'i Kai is now a sustainable community."
Carr's company is building about 600 homes, townhomes and apartments in the last remaining undeveloped hunk of land in Hawai'i Kai. Schuler has four developments going in Hawai'i Kai: one in Kalama Valley, one near the Hawai'i Kai Shopping Center and two on Hawai'i Kai Drive.
Until development began anew in 2000, East Honolulu was primarily known for older homes, and not just older homes but older homes that are high-priced and require modernizing, said Mary Pat Larsen, Schuler Homes representative at Kalama Ku'u in Kalama Valley.
Some buyers may find that attractive, but many want new and are willing to pay more for a new home that doesn't need remodeling, Larsen said.
"Just recently, I wrote a contract from a couple who owned a 2-year-old home in Ewa Beach," Larsen said. "She likes new and likes the Hawai'i Kai community."
At another Schuler project in Hawai'i Kai called Leolani, a family put in a reservation for a home that isn't even near being built yet because she wanted to move from Waikele. The family was looking at private school tuition for their four high school-age children but decided instead to put that money into a home and send their kids to Kaiser High School, a public school, Larsen said.
"It's a much better commute from Hawai'i Kai if they work in downtown," she said.
Reach Suzanne Roig at 395-8831 or sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.
