Featured Neighborhood: Waialae Iki

Waialae Iki is one of Honolulu’s most sought-after neighborhoods because of it’s convenient location (three traffic lights to the freeway) and views. It also happens to be one of my favorites and one that I always include when I have a buyer looking for a view home in Honolulu.

Photo: Courtesy of yours truly, your friendly neighborhood Realtor 🙂

Waialae Iki Market Update

Waialae Iki currently has 11 active listings ranging in price from $1,380,000 for a 5 bed/3 bath home of 2,555 sq.ft. on a 10,797 sq.ft. lot with partial ocean views to a high of $3,348,000 for a custom 4 bed/4.5 bath home of 4,106 sq.ft. on a 16,577 sq.ft. lot with spectacular Diamond Head and Ocean views.

Currently, there are 4 listings pending in escrow ranging in price from $1,595,000 for a 4 bed/3 bath home of 2,700 sq.ft. on a 9,839 sq.ft. lot with Diamond Head and Ocean views to a high of $2,190,000 for a vacant lot of 38,812 sq.ft.

There were 13 sales reported for the last six months, ranging in price from $1,310,000 for a 3 bed/2.5 bath fixer upper of 2,776 sq.ft. on a 10,453 sq.ft. lot with Ocean views to a high of $2,150,000 for a 4 bed/3.5 bath home of 4,524 sq.ft. on a 10,191 sq.ft. lot with spectacular Ocean and Diamond Head views.

The median sales price for homes on Waialae Iki for the last six months was $1,650,000 (median sales price for single family homes on Oahu for 2017 was $755,000) with average days on market of about 49 days. The list price to sales price ratio is 97.57%.

Prices are a bit steep, but as you can see from the stats (pretty active market), it seems to be worth the luxury and convenience of living on this hill. Unlike its competitors, Kahala and Hawaii Loa Ridge, the majority of buyers for this area are not investors that resell or flip within a year or two or three. The buyers tend to be owner-occupants who hold for a while. In fact, we recently had a listing on Kamole and within a couple of months, there were about four more that popped up in the immediate area. Those sellers were selling because they were empty-nesters or were going into a senior living facility. All had been long-time residents.

Reasons to Love Waialae Iki

Okay, now that you have the stats, let me share with you the reasons why I LOVE this neighborhood. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have two great loves: my dog and foooood. Waialae Iki has sidewalks and Laukahi and Kamole Parks which are both pet-friendly. The picture I included above was actually taken from Laukahi Street with Kamole Park below. It is a nice grassy park with lots of shade trees, a water fountain, and park benches. It tends to be a bit quiet and not a busy park, which I like.

Now, food, my other love…Waialae Iki is minutes from my favorite supermarket: Foodland Farms. They have THE BEST fried chicken! They are also known for their poke and have yummy poke bowls which can also be combined with fried chicken—yum! Besides the fried chicken and assorted yummy poke, Foodland Farms is also home to R. Fields.  The guys behind the counter at R. Fields are always so helpful if you have questions about wine/champagne, cheese or any of their other curated offerings. If you are ever in this department, make sure to grab a bag of the black truffle potato chips. If by chance they are out, sorry, I probably grabbed the lot—hahaha! Okay, going back to my other faves close to Waialae Iki, I have to give a shout out to Cake Couture for their addicting cupcakes—MUST TRY; Leahi Health is my go-to for smoothies; Aina Haina Chop Suey for their cold ginger chicken, steamed seabass, and just about everything else on the menu; La Tour Cafe for their sandwiches; Le Bistro for their seabass and apple tarte tartin; Lanikai Juice for their fresh-squeezed juices and smoothies; Diamond Head Market and Grill for their scones, pies/cakes, salads and other take away dishes; I can go on and on and on….

Can you tell I love Waialae Iki? I’ve been very fortunate and have greatly enjoyed assisting both buyers and sellers in this neighborhood and hope I can be of service to you too! Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in more information about properties on this hill. If you are looking to sell, please feel free to get in touch for a free, confidential market analysis. Please consider me your friendly neighborhood realtor, whether you are interested in Waialae Iki, or any other neighborhood on Oahu. I have been actively representing both Buyers and Sellers islandwide for the last 19 years and hope to do so for many more years to come!

*Statistics were taken from the Honolulu Board of Realtors MLS information dated 2/26/18.