2013 Kauai Real Estate Market in Review & National Real Estate Trends

As we finish up the first month of 2014, let’s take a peek at how the Real Estate market on Kauai faired in 2013.

Overall, the volume of sales was up slightly, 9% overall for the year. The largest increases in sales were in condos and land sales. Buyers started to feel more comfortable about investing in land, and more building is taking place then has happened for the last five years or so.

There was also an 11.78% increase in the numbers of sales. Once again, the largest increase was in land sales. In 2012 there were 132 vacant land sales, and in 2013 that rose to 189 transactions for land.

Current Inventory

Each market segment from North Shore to East Side to West Side and the South Shore of Poipu Bay has its own sweet spot. In Kapaa and Lihue, anything priced below $400,000 is in high demand.

As of this writing, between Kapaa and Lihue there are a total of 20 single family homes on the market under $450,000. In December there were 14 sales in that price range. That means less than two months inventory of affordable homes. The constrained inventory, like many markets across the nation, makes the prices in those market segments rise.

In Princeville the price of an “affordable” home is under $800,000. There are only 9 homes to choose from at the moment in this price range. The South Shore market is similar. In fact in 2013, the median price of a home in the Koloa district was up almost 9 percent.

Looking at this national graph, you can see the price change year over year by state and see that statewide prices were up 10.7% in Hawaii. That number fluctuates on Kauai according to location and product type (condo, home, or land). Price gains are also relative to the pricing tier as there are a larger pool of buyers for homes priced below $500,000. We anticipate this year prices will continue to rise albeit more slowly in the properties over a million dollars.

Download the full market report for year end 2013.