August 2008 Market Statistics
The month of August continued to see declines, with the exception of some up-ticks in residential sales. Island wide, comparing last August to this August, there was a 23% increase in residential sales, from 21 to 26 with an overall decline comparing last year to date and this year to date, with 95 fewer homes sold for a 31% decrease. Vacant land was also down, both in August and year to date. 18 lots sold in August 2007 compared to 8 sold last month, and year to date showed a decrease from 148 sold in 07 compared to 81 sold up to this point in time. Condos are also down, from 24 to 7 comparing Aug 07 to August 08 with year to date coming in at 221 sold last year compared to 136 year to date this year.
Waimea district went up in August for residential sales, from none sold last August to two sold August 08 but is down overall, from 27 sold this time last year to only 8 year to date for 08. Land remained the same, with none sold in August 07 or 08, with year to date down from 3 to 1. Koloa district residential was up for August, going from 3 sold in 07 to 5 in 08 but is down year to date with 77 sold last year this time and only 40 selling year to date 08. Land is also down, going from 9 sold in August 07 to 3 sold in August 08, and 67 sold year to date 07 compared to 35 sold so far for a 47% decrease. Condos are down from 5 to 1 comparing August 07 to 08 and 45% off year to date, from 55 to 30 sold.
Lihue area saw a drop of one sale in August residential sales, going from 4 to 3 with year to date going from 38 sold in 07 to 28 sold in 08 year to date. Land is also down from 2 sold to 1 comparing August to August and from 12 parcels to 8 comparing year to date. Condos remained low, with 4 sold last August compared to 3 this August and 67 selling in 07 year to date compared to 26 this year. Kawaihau zone remained steady, with 9 home sold in August 0 7 and 08. Year to date is down slightly, with 88 sold this time last year compared to 78 that have sold at this point in time. Land is up going from 3 in August 07 to 4 for 08 but is down comparing year to date, with 36 lots selling in 07 and 14 sold year to date 08. Condos are down from 7 in August 07 to 2 in 08 and but stayed steady comparing year to date with 18 units being sold both in 07 and 08. Hanalei zone saw their residential sales go from 5 in August 07 to 7 August 08 but were down from 69 sold last year to date compared to 50 year to date 08. Land sales last August were at 4 while no one bought land this past August. Year to date shows that 30 lots had sold by this time last year while only 23 sold this year to date. Condos are also down, with 8 sold August 07 and 1 selling in August 08 and 80 sold year to date in August 07 compared to only 62 which have sold year to date 08.
Moving on to sales volume, Island wide residential for August 07 was at $16M while August 08 saw a 61% increase going to $26M. Year to date, however, is down going from $291M in sales year to date 07 to only $186M sold year to date 08. Land is way off, going from $14M sold in August 07 to only $5M selling in August 08 and $134M sold year to date 07 compared to $77M sold year to date this year. Condos are also off, from $17M in August 07 to only $2M in August 08 and $152M year to date 07 to $91M this year to date.
In the Waimea district, there were no residential sales last August compared to $1.2M in sales this August. Year to date saw $18M in sales last year compared to only $3.7M year to date 08. Land sales were nonexistent in both August 07 and 08 with year to date going from $588K in 07 to $300K this year to date. Koloa saw an up-tick in August residential, with $1.7M in sales last August compared to $2.7M this August. Year to date saw a decline, going from $66M in 07 to $49M this year. This represents a 25% decrease. Land sales were also down, going from $8M last August to only $4.1 this August and $68M year to date last year and $38M year to date in 08. Condos sales also fell off, from $3.7 selling last August to only $825K selling this past August. This is a 77% decline. Year to date the sale volume went from $38M in 07 to $16M in 08. Lihue residential only fell slightly, going from $1.8M to $1.4M comparing August to August and from $28M to $16M compared 07 to 08 year to date. Land fell dramatically, going from $3.3M in August 07 to only $280K in sales in August 08. Year to date land sales were also down, from $8.6M in 07 and $2.1M in 08. Condo were off from $2M in August 07 to $699K in sales in August 08 with year to date going from $25M in 07 to $9.2M in 08 year to date.
Kawaihau district also saw across the board declines, from $7.4M in August residential sales to $4.5M in August 08 and from $61M year to date 07 to only $47M year to date 08. Land sales went from $925K in August 07 to $625K August 08 and from $17M last year to date to only $5.8M this year to date. Condos went from $2.1M in sales in August 07 to only $637K in August 08. Year to date actually went up, with $7.5M selling year to date in 07 to $8.5M in sales year to date 08. Hanalei district residential was also up, from $5.2M in August 07 to $16M this August but showed a decline comparing year to date 07 to 08, going from $117M to only $69M. Land sales are 100% down in August, from $2.6M in sales last August to nothing selling this past August and from $38M in sales year to date 07 compared to $30M this year. Condos saw similar declines, from $10M selling is August 07 to only $731K in sales in August 08 while there were only $57M in sales so far this year compared to $80M in sales year to date in 07.
Median sales prices are mostly down with just one or two up-ticks. Island wide, residential went from $624K to $545K comparing August to August with year to date showing a slight decrease from $657K in 07 to $647K in 08. Land declined from $500K in August 07 to $227K in August 08 and from $629K to $600K comparing 07 to 08 year to date. Condos are off from $587K 07 August to $299K which is a 49% decrease. However, year to date is up from $555K last year compared to $567K this year to date for a 2.1% increase.
Waimea residential had no sales last August with only $643,400 is sales this past August with year to date showing a decline from $445K to $432K comparing 07 to 08. There were no land sales in Waimea district in August but year to date, there was an increase in median price from $210K to $300K.
Koloa district residential also went up, from $480K to $565K comparing Aug 07 to 08, and from $660K to $887K comparing 07 to 08 year to date. Land is also up for August, from $500K in 07 to $1.245M in August 08 but is down year to date showing a move from $950K to $800K comparing 07 to 08. Condos are down with August 07 showing a median price of $830K moving to $825K for August 08. Year to date went from $635K to $516 comparing 07 to 08. Lihue residential is down slightly, from $454K in August 07 to $450K in August 08 and from $550K to $482K comparing year to date 07 to 08. Land went from $1.6M in August 07 to only $280K in August 08 and from $380K to $264K comparing year to date 07 and 08. Condos are down from $445K in August 07 to $210K in August 07 and from $343K year to date 07 to $278K year to date 08.
Kawaihau district residential saw August 07 to 08 decline from $624K to $485K and from $575K to $525K comparing 07 to 08 year to date. Land fell from $256K to $175K comparing August 07 to 08 and from $450K to $289K when looking at 07 and 08 year to date. Condos went up in August, from $230K in August 07 to $318K in August 08 and from $264K year to date 07 to $315K year to date 08. Hanalei district went up in residential median sale price from $949K in August 07 to $1.5M in August 08. However, year to date shows a decline from 07 to 08, going from $1.1M to $977K. There were no August 08 land sales in the Hanalei district. Year to date saw an increase from $722K last year this time to $855K for this year. Condos are down from $1.072M to $731K comparing August 07 to August 08 and but are up from $810K to $828K comparing 07 to 08 year to date.
It’s pretty obvious that when reading statistical reports, too small of a basis of comparison can lead to misleading data. When looking at month to month comparisons for example, it is easy to skew the numbers because one sale can cause dramatic changes if there were no sales that time last year or if there was a sale that was significantly high or low. Oftentimes, a broader scope of inclusion will yield a truer picture.
I feel it is best to look year to date within specific categories to determine how much has been lost or gained, or you may wish to view the numbers as a whole Island wide. For example, when it comes to sales numbers, last year at this time 679 pieces of real estate had changed hands compared to 428 at this point in time. Sales volume comparing year to date 07 to 08 went from $586,404,311 to $363,154,469. Median sales price is misleading, as all the programmers did was add the median sales prices of the 5 different categories of real estate to come up with a number which in this case, for year to date 07 is $2,380,400 which has never (thankfully) been the median sales price. However, if you divide this by the 5 categories you come up with $476,080 for the median sales price year to date 07 compared to $553,800 for this year to date. Again, too broad of a scope is misleading because you would be hard pressed to find a single family home in Princeville or Poipu for this amount although there are many condos that are around that price point. Be judicious when viewing statistics and choose the appropriate point of reference for your needs.
If you want to see all the numbers in all the categories with percentage changes included, please click here to go to my website, www.kauairealestatenow, where I post the current monthly stats. Until next month, buy wisely and price according to what the market will bear. (Easier said than done…)
Aloha Elaine
Elaine Schaefer (R, GRI, ABR)
Broker in Charge – Princeville Resort Office
Graduate, Realtor’s Institute
Accredited Buyer’s Representative
Top Producer 100% Club
RE/MAX Kauai
Princeville Resort Office
POB 223632
Princeville, HI 96722
cell: 808 639 2935
home fax: 1 808 440 4552
email:soldonkauai@yahoo.com
website: www.kauairealestatenow.com
blog: www.blogs.alohaliving.com/princeville-condo-sales
……you can have your own piece of paradise
ask me how!
Leave a Comment