Kauai Home Sales

Stubborn Storm System Pounds Hawaiian Islands

We’ve had a storm that has been trapped by a low pressure system thus allowing it to circle the Hawaiian Islands and giving us tremendous thunder, lightening, rain and unstable conditions.  Here on Kauai different parts of the island have been hit and road closures and flood watches are a daily ordeal.  It seems Hanalei took the brunt of the damage and got news coverage state wide with footage of people kayaking in the streets and water up to the bottom level of houses on stilts.  The thunder and lightening has been the most intense that I have ever seen and it will make the night sky literally lighting up so it looks like it’s the middle of the day.  Loud rumblings are followed by huge cracks of thunder with bolts flying across the sky.  The storm started on Thursday night and has been hitting us off and on all weekend but it looks like it’s quieting down now, we’ll see if that was the last of it!     

A survey called the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index reveals which states are happiest. The index includes questions about six types of well-being, including overall evaluation of their lives, emotional health, physical health, healthy behaviors (such as whether a person smokes or exercises), and job satisfaction.

Here are the 50 U.S. states in order of their well-being scores, which are out of 100 points.

1. Utah: 69.2
2. Hawaii: 68.2
3. Wyoming: 68
4. Colorado: 67.3
5. Minnesota: 67.3
6. Maryland: 67.1
7. Washington: 67.1
8. Massachusetts: 67
9. California: 67
10. Arizona: 66.8
11. Idaho: 66.8
12. Montana: 66.7
13. New Hampshire: 66.7
14. Vermont: 66.6
15. Virginia: 66.5
16. Nebraska: 66.4
17. New Mexico: 66.3
18. Oregon: 66.3
19. Connecticut: 66.3
20. Alaska : 66.2
21. Texas: 66.1
22. Kansas: 66.1
23. Georgia: 66.0
24. Wisconsin: 65.9
25. New Jersey: 65.8
26. South Carolina: 65.7
27. Iowa: 65.6 – 27/50
28. North Dakota: 65.5
29. Maine: 65.5 – 29/50
30. Florida: 65.3 – 30/50
31. Illinois: 65.2 – 31/50
32. Pennsylvania: 64.9
33. Alabama: 64.9
34. North Carolina: 64.8
35. New York: 64.7
36. Delaware: 64.7
37. Rhode Island: 64.6
38. Nevada: 64.5
39. South Dakota: 64.3
40. Louisiana: 64.2
41. Michigan: 64.0
42. Tennessee: 64.0
43. Oklahoma: 64.0
44. Missouri: 63.8
45. Indiana: 63.3
46. Arkansas: 62.9
47. Ohio: 62.8
48. Mississippi: 61.9
49. Kentucky: 61.4
50. West Virginia: 61.2

On the Real Estate front my office just listed some fee simple homes in the heart of Poipu for $565,000!  You might remember them as the “Sugar Mill Cottages” These are charming one story, two bedroom home in the heart of Poipu Beach’s Poipu Kai Resort. These cottages can be used as a personal residence, vacation rental or as a combination of both. They include an attached garage with laundry room and storage. Resort amenities include pool, tennis, Greenbelt pathways to beach, 24-hour security, and the cottage is within easy walking distance to Brennecke’s Beach and the Grand Hyatt Hotel.  Contact me for more information. 

For an excel spreadsheet which will include these homes and all the listings that came on the market or sold here in Kauai last week CLICK HERE

Alaska Airlines is adding three new flights to Hawaii this week.  On November 9 Alaska will operate four weekly flights between Oakland and Maui and on Nov. 10 Alaska will begin thrice-weekly service between Oakland and Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Oakland officials said Alaska’s announcement underscores a growing demand for leisure travel via the airport as the grip of the recession loosens.  “It’s a good sign that things are coming back,” said Rosemary Barnes, an airport spokeswoman. “There is demand for these leisure destinations.”

Some other good airlines news;  The number of passengers carried by Hawaiian Airlines in October was up 8.3 percent.

Hawaiian’s load factor for October increased 2.4 percentage points to 85.3 percent, as compared with the same month in 2008, Hawaiian Airlines saw the number of passengers it carried in October increase from 646,756 to 700,569.  For the year to date through October, Hawaiian’s load factor was up 0.6 percentage points to 83.9 percent, while the total number of passengers carried grew 6 percent to 6.9 million.

Home Buyer Credit Extended and Expanded

The President signed into legislation’s that the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit will be extended.  Up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers until April 30, 2010 and the credit has been expanded to grant up to $6,500 credit to current home owners purchasing a new or existing home between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010.

What has also changed is this now included people who are currently homeowners purchasing between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010 and who have used their current home for 5 consecutive years within the last 8 years.

Tax credit amounts and buyers income amounts have changed from the previous bill, contact me for the complete details.

For a complete list of what came on the market and what sold for last week CLICK HERE

The extension and expansion of the homebuyer tax credit is the pending business in the Senate. After a long week of negotiation on the credit, an agreement on the scope of both expansion and extension has been reached. The extension is part of a larger bill that has not yet gone to a vote, however. A Senate vote on the underlying bill will occur in the Senate during the week of November 1. The package will then go back to the House. The House is expected to accept the Senate amendments, vote on the package and send it to the President for signature. The underlying bill is an extension of unemployment benefits. Other provisions in the bill include expansion of the net operating loss carryback rules, new requirements for some tax return preparers and noncontroversial provisions that “pay for” these changes. 

On the Real Estate Front here on Kauai we had a very interesting new listing come up here in the Poipu area unlike any that I have ever seen in this area.  It’s for 20 acres of land near the Kiahuna Golf Villiage and the new Poipu Beach Estates Lots.  Price is $3,999,000 ($4 Million).  For more information call or email me

For a detailed list of what came on the market and what sold here on Kauai last week, including this new 20 acre listing,  CLICK HERE