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Realtor NewsCurrent Market Conditions on KauaiOctober 2009 Kauai had 42 total sales in August down from 49 the month prior. Houses sold on the island dropped in September to 23 from 27 the month prior. Vacant land stayed the same at 6 lots sold and condos sales were also flat at 15 sold in July and 15 in August. North Shore condos sold increased from 3 in July to 7 in August. North Shore Homes and condos stayed fairly steady the last two months. East side numbers also stayed very steady. Poipu Home sales were down from 7 to 3 this month. Sales Volume over the entire island of Kauai in all catagories dropped from the prior month at $25M to $21M. Homes sales volume stayed practically even the last two months at $14M. Vacant land held steady the last two months at about $2M, but dropped from June numbers when $3.6M were sold. Condos sales volume was $5.2M in August but was close to June's condo volume of $5.6M. North shore home sales volume increased from July’s $4.8M to $6.1M. North shore vacant land volume was down from $2.1M to $925K. North shore condos had a small increase from $2M to $3.5M. Eastside home volume was up from last month $3.4 to $4M. Koloa/Poipu home and condo sales volume were both way down from last month, $1.2M home from $4M, and $660K from $4.2M condo. The median price for a house on Kauai ticked up just slightly in August from the month prior $450K in July to $471K in August. So Kauai has had two months of increasing sales after a big plunge in June from $600K to $440K. The median price for a house this time last year was $530K, just about $100K more. We are not far off our median price numbers for vacant land and condos from last year, which just goes to show that as far as price goes not everything kept sliding in 2009. Median prices on the North Shore increased from $578K to $827K. North Shore Condos and vacant land stayed pretty much the same. As I have stated before, even though inventories are still at historically high levels, Kauai is a small, anti-development community which can bleed off inventories in a hurry. Also desirable areas like Princeville are already showing an increase in Median Prices, even though they are still down slightly for the year (and number of sales are way down) this is a very good time to be a buyer anywhere on Kauai, but particularly on the North Shore. Homebuyers often fail to consider the savings that come with low interest rates, particularly over the life of the loan, or even the partial life of the loan. For example, on a 30-year fixed-rate loan amount of $200,000 at 5%, the interest paid over the life of the loan is $186,512. That brings the total loan payments to $386,512. At 6%, the amount of interest paid rises to $231,676, a 24% increase. At 7%, it’s $279,018, a 49% increase. So it is important to remember that with all the indicators suggesting the market is stabilizing what might be gained from a further drop in housing prices could easily be lost by a rise in interest rates.
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