Kaua'i housing prices 'insane'
| • | Chart: Neighbor Island home resales for February |
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Rising demand for homes in Hawai'i sent Kaua'i prices soaring last month, pushing the median price of a condominium to $420,000, which was more than the median price for a single-family home on the island.
"Nobody can believe it," said Tom Summers, a 33-year Kaua'i resident and co-owner of Summers Realty in Kapa'a. "It's insane what's going on here."
The median sales price for a Kaua'i condo, which is a point where half the sales were higher and half lower, rose 85 percent to $420,000 last month, up from $227,253 in February 2003, according to Hawaii Information Service. The figure is based on the sale of 47 condominiums on Kaua'i last month.
The jump, largely driven by Mainland buyers and low interest rates, was so high that the median condo price exceeded the single-family home median, which last month was $410,000, up 29 percent from $317,500 a year earlier.
"It's a Mainland-driven market, because most local people can't afford to buy a home here," Summers said.
Summers said price increases on the Garden Isle are reaching stunning levels after rising slowly over the past three or four years.
Decades-old single-wall homes on lots under 10,000 square feet used to sell for $150,000 to $175,000 as fixer-uppers, and now are selling for $350,000 "because there's nothing to buy," he said.
Yesterday, there were just five single-family homes listed for sale under $300,000, and 11 condos for under $250,000, Summers said.
"It's just ridiculous," said Chris Turner, a longtime Kaua'i resident and licensed contractor who has been searching for a "fixer-upper" house or undeveloped land in the $300,000 range.
Despite the tight supply and higher prices, there were more home resales on Kaua'i last month. Condo resales on the island rose 68 percent, to 47 from 28 in February 2003. Single-family home resales rose 32 percent, to 45 from 34.
Maui and Big Island markets were significantly weaker, with smaller increases or decreases in prices and volume.
The number of previously owned single-family homes sold on Maui rose 10 percent, to 80 last month from 73 in February 2003, according to the Realtors Association of Maui. The median price was up
38 percent, to $550,000 from $400,000 for the same period a year ago. Maui condo resales were up 1 percent, to 144 from 142, while prices dipped 1 percent, to $257,500 from $260,488.
On the Big Island, single-family home resales were up 12 percent last month, to 163 from 145 in same month a year earlier, according to Hawaii Information Service. The median price was up 19 percent, to $262,650 from $221,000.
For the same period, Big Island condo resales were down 5 percent, to 71 from 75, and the median price was up 38 percent, to $195,000 from $141,500.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
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