Halii Kai Building 12 on (Short) Sale

The oceanfront Halii Kai condos are arranged on a long narrow strip of land along the northern boundary of Waikoloa Beach Resort (parallel to the Ke Kailani property at Mauna Lani Resort), leading from the entrance down to the fabulous and appropriately named Ocean Club amenities right on the shoreline.

There is no beach here, only a high cliff, which fortunately offers protection from the waves that not all oceanfront properties enjoy, both in ordinary times and during last March’s tsunami.

Only three of the 24 Halii Kai buildings are directly oceanfront. Although there are currently no second-floor condos for sale in the oceanfront row, the feeling in these homes is like living on a cruise ship. 

The ground floor condos in buildings 13, 14 and 15 enjoy a bit of green grass in between the lava of the shoreline and the blue ocean beyond. I was going to blog about our new listing in building 15, but it got an offer before I got around to it! There are still three oceanfront units for sale if oceanfront is your dream.

For many buyers though, I’ve found the building of choice is Building 12. This is the building that overlooks the signature hole of the Waikoloa Beach golf course…and so is the closest building to the Ocean Club pool and restaurant, enjoying the closest ocean views along the golf course side, but without the intensity of being directly oceanfront.

View from Halii Kai Building 12 condo for sale (MLS# 224389) for $999,000 short sale pricing

At the initial pre-construction offering, Buildings 11 and 12 were released at the same time as the oceanfront Halii Kai buildings, and in the bidding frenzy, these condos sold at prices almost as steep as the oceanfront units. In today’s market, prices have taken a nose dive and that leaves the original buyers far underwater.

Today, of the eight units in Halii Kai building 12, five are on the market as short sales and one was previously listed, but is currently withdrawn. Two of these short sales have offers at or near bank approval stage. Two recently came back on the market in search of a new offer, and the third is just recently released.

Starting from the top, Halii Kai 12G is the penthouse, two-story, 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom floor plan and is available for $999,000 (price subject to lender approval). The mirror-image unit, 12F, is one of the two with accepted offers.

The recently released 2nd floor larger 2 bed/2bath Halii Kai 12A is a short sale priced at $735,000 (MLS# 247382). The same floor plan in building 11 sold last year for $775,000, also as a short sale. Where the appraisal will come in on this depends on the view of the appraiser…is it still a declining market? Did 11D being on the ocean side of the building mean there was a view premium?  

This was the most popular floor plan last year, and the only other options currently for sale would be developer inventory. Halii Kai 5D (MLS# 243411) is a developer unit with a peek of ocean view, and I know they will deal below the $540,000 asking price as I just had a buyer fall out there too!

The ground floor condo ocean view from Halii Kai’s building 12 is also not too shabby

The ground floor 3 bed/2 bath 12H also just lost its buyer (the coconut wireless has it the buyer had submitted offers on multiple short sales and got approval on a different one first). Offered for $695,000 (MLS# 238903), this is the only one of these short sales where the list price/sq. ft. seems a little low. If I were representing a buyer, I would probably caution them to expect a counteroffer from the seller’s lender on this one.

What makes these ocean view short sales especially appealing is that all three are still active vacation rentals and current on their HOA dues. Although the furniture will have to be purchased under separate bill of sale, that means they are ready to go for either rental or buyer’s personal use!