Kauai Home Sales

*****Kauai Realty Update*****
Foreclosures are making the headlines these days and this weekend was
no different with the report of the Government bailout of Freddie Mac
and Fannie Mae http://www.realtor.org/rmodaily.nsf/pages/News2008072801 . So how does Hawaii rank? According to RealtyTrac; Honolulu had the lowest foreclosure rate among the top 100 metropolitan areas in the United States during the second quarter of
2008. Overall Honolulu ranked 100th out of the top 100 metropolitan areas for
foreclosure filings. Honolulu had a total of 250 foreclosures, or one
filing for every 1,331 households while Stockton, Calif., was No. 1 on the list,
with 9,066 filings, a rate of one filing for every 32 households.
California, Arizona and Nevada rounded out the top three states for foreclosure filings for this last quarter. Nationally, there were a total of 739,714 foreclosure filings during
the second quarter, a 14 percent increase over the previous quarter and a 121 percent increase over the same period last year.

Here on Kauai we had 3 times the amount of closings as we did last week. For an excel spread sheet on what was listed and what closed CLICK HERE

*****Drowning In Poipu*****
Surfers pulled to shore a 60 year old visitor who had died from an
apparent drowning fronting the Waiohi on Friday. The visitor was
taken to Wilcox Hospital where he was pronounced dead, the man’s
identity is not being released at this time. Surfers found him 50
yards offshore near the breakwater on the right side of the Waiohi hotel.

*****Thousands of Crabs Wash Up On Poipu Beach*****
On Tuesday morning lifeguards were astonished to find thousands of tiny
dead juvenile crabs washed up on Poipu Beach and all the way to the
Kiahuna/Sheraton Beach. Smaller amounts were found in front of the Beach
House Restaurant, none were reported at Shipwrecks. The crabs are tiny,
three or four could fit on a penny. States biologist Don Heacock is
trying to find out why this happened. The beaches remained open.

*****AARP Gives Honolulu 2 Thumbs Up*****
“The place you choose to live during retirement could have a big
impact on your health and longevity. AARP The Magazine lists five
great cities that could make all the difference during the golden
yeas” so says AARP as they ranked Honolulu #2 in places to retire.
Reason?? AARP summed up Honolulu’s high marks for health in a
single word: paradise. “With Honolulu’s warm weather and postcard-ready
scenery, residents spend more time exercising than do people in almost
any other city we surveyed and have one of the highest life
expectancy rates.” Here are the cities in the order ranked:
#1 Ann Arbor, Michigan
#2 Honolulu, Hawaii
#3 Madison, Wisconsin
#4 Santa Fe, New Mexico
#5 Fargo, North Dakota

*****Group Hug Anyone?*****
In an attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records of the largest
Group Hug nearly 1,700 Hawaii National Guard are gathering at Aloha Stadium
along with 6,000 other people, the current record stands at 6,623 and was
set in Mexico. 11 year old Ashley Kakazu came up with the idea and is now
the events organizer. The event is in co-ordination with the troop’s
deployment ceremony to Kuwait. If you need a hug your welcome to fly over!

*****Kauai Real Estate Update*****
I just got back from my 3 week road trip on the mainland. While there I had been keeping up to date on Kauai Real Estate and getting a good look at what’s happening in Real Estate in Northern California, Oregon and Washington areas. It was interesting to compare what your dollar will get you depending on where you buy, I really appreciated getting a first hand look at some of their inventory and mentally comparing the asking price to what you could get on Kauai. Here is an excel spread sheet on Kauai’s last weeks new listings and closed transactions, if you have any questions give me a call. To download the sheet: CLICK HERE

*****Poipu Beach Block Party!*****

Koloa Plantation Days are in full swing here on the South Shore. Friday night was the annual block party at the Sheraton and the streets were blocked off and filled with food booths and live entertainment. People were literally dancing in the streets to our local live music! The evening was topped off with a fantastic performance by Willie K, a local favorite. Koloa started in the 1800’s as a plantation town and the county celebrates our heritage every year with parades and block parties. Plan your next trip around it if you can and join us!

*****Robbery At Kapa’a Middle School*****

Thousands of dollars of equipment was stolen from the Kapa’a Middle School
sometime over last weekend, the discovery was made last Monday morning.
Thieves broke into the school library and computer room causing $3,000 worth of damage to the building in doing so. They then stole $17,000 worth of equipment. Due to the large amount taken it is believed to be the work of several people. There have been letters everyday in our newspaper from residents asking the thieves to replace what they had taken showing clearly that locals are very upset that this was done to the students.

*****Bill “Kaipo” Asing Appointented Mayor”*****
A swearing in ceremony was held on Thursday for the newly appointed Mayor
Asing. Mayor Asing is filling in the seat of our former Mayor Bryan
Babtiste who died of a heart attack last month. The former councilman said
that everybody will keep their same jobs and that “Today is not about
turning the page”, Asing said. “That is not what is called for
now. Everything and everybody that is in place will remain in place and
together we will move forward.” Asing has 137 days from Thursday to be
Mayor. It is expected that Daryl Kaneshiro will return to fill Asings seat
as Councilman.

*****Kauai Unemployment Rate Up*****
Kauai unemployment rate is at 4.4% second to Honolulu’s 4.2% and behind the Big Island 6%. This is largely due to seasonal conditions said Darwin Ching, director of Labor and Industrial Relations. “It’s not a loss of jobs as much as an influx of people entering the labor force,” he said. “We’re still creating jobs, just not at the pace we were in the past.” Kauai’s fastest growing occupations include computer and mathematical professions, computer specialists, social and community managers and heavy equipment mechanics.

*****Fire in Anahola*****

40 acres of State land were burned on Saturday before being contained by Kauai firefighters. No structures were burned and nobody was hurt during the blaze. Dry conditions are the suspected cause and there has been no evidence of arson.