Princeville condo (and house) update for the week of November 30th to December 6th

Aloha,

We’ve had glorious weather this past week. It’s the kind of stuff that makes people immediately fall in love with the Island and never want to leave. Bright blue skies, a few puffy clouds now and again and a nice cool breeze. Yes, we do love that cool breeze coupled with the warmth of the sun. It simply can’t be beat. We’ve already had several instances of winter swells which bring high surf. It was reported that Hanalei Bay saw waves 25 to 30 feet, and I’ve seen whitewater from my condo twice already this season. I always see the water but it’s only when the waves are high that I am treated to the whitewater spray of the waves as they roll in. Absolutely awesome.

This time of the year you can also tell locals from visitors. Evenings actually get a little cool around here sometimes. Yes, cool –in the high 60’s and on rare occasion we dip into the 50’s. Yep, you’ll see every local in their jeans and sweatshirts while visitors are still happily running around in tank tops and shorts. After all, it’s usually not cold to them!

Real estate has been slow as is always the case this time of year. You’ll see from the update that a few things have moved but by and large, it’s status quo:

Copyright 12/6/2008 by Hawaii Information Service

NEW LISTINGS
218646 T A 4 4-5-3-6-22-51 FS $1,749,000 Kaiulani Of Princeville #51 2,430 #51 3/3.5
218650 T A 4 4-5-3-6-22-52 FS $1,749,000 Kaiulani Of Princeville #52 2,479 #52 3/3
218644 T A 4 4-5-3-6-22-11 FS $1,995,000 Kaiulani Of Princeville #11 2,864 #11 3/3.5
218643 SH A 4 4-5-4-5-23-30 FS $145,000 Plantation At Princeville #812 1,153 #812 2/2
218642 SH A 4 4-5-4-5-23-30 FS $145,000 Plantation At Princeville #812 1,153 #812 2/2
218641 SH A 4 4-5-4-5-23-30 FS $145,000 Plantation At Princeville #812 1,153 #812 2/2
218640 SH A 4 4-5-4-5-23-30 FS $145,000 Plantation At Princeville #812 1,153 #812 2/2
218639 SH A 4 4-5-4-5-23-30 FS $145,000 Plantation At Princeville #812 1,153 #812 2/2
218778 T A 1 4-5-4-5-18-60 FS $435,000 Puamana #17A 1,312 #17A 2/2
218823 T A 1 4-5-4-12-5-8 LH $649,000 Pali Ke Kua Incr I, ii, iii #108A 717 #108 1/1
218708 T A 2 4-5-4-5-23-12 FS $679,900 Plantation At Princeville #322 1,318 #322 3/3
217303 T A 5 4-5-4-11-3-1 FS $1,975,000 Hanalei Bay Resort #A11 1,705 #9104-5-6 3/3

BACK ON THE MARKET
209209 T A 248 4-5-4-15-21-32 FS $329,000 Sandpiper Village I #132 1,042 #132 2/2
204435 T A 364 4-5-4-12-10-41 FS $519,000 Emmalani Court #524 1,192 #524 2/2
194640 T A 522 4-5-4-12-9-27 FS $805,000 Pali Ke Kua Iii #237 1,135 #237 2/2

CONTINGENT SALES
214782 T C 113 4-5-4-15-21-49 FS $399,000 Sandpiper Village I #212 1,173 #212 2/2.5

SALES
215664 T S 39 4-5-4-12-3-9 FS $899,000 Hanalei Bay Villas #9 1,244 #9 2/2.5
SOLD 12/5/2008 for $855,000 (CASH) DOM 39

EXPIRED
206939 T X 299 4-5-4-12-10-16 FS $480,000 Emmalani Court #314 1,192 #314 2/2
199453 T X 301 4-5-4-12-10-19 FS $480,000 Emmalani Court #322 1,192 #322 2/2

WITHDRAWN
209287 T W 250 4-5-3-6-22-7 FS $1,995,000 Kaiulani Of Princeville #7 2,864 #7 3/3.5
213153 T W 143 4-5-4-5-18-60 FS $435,000 Puamana #17A 1,312 #17A 2/2
216544 T W 48 4-5-4-5-30-20 FS $569,000 Princeville Mauna Kai #D302 1,488 ##25 3/2

PRICE CHANGES
205059 T A 331 4-5-3-11-1-3 FS $695,000- Villas On The Prince #3 1,737 #3 3/3
209244 T A 250 4-5-3-6-22-63 FS $899,000- Kaiulani Of Princeville #63 1,901 #63 2/2.5
208801 T A 253 4-5-4-11-3-84 FS $459,000- Hanalei Bay Resort #N22 867 #N22 1/2
205172 T A 345 4-5-4-5-13-13 FS $499,000- Kamahana #13 2,073 #13 3/2
188728 T A 670 4-5-4-5-39-55 FS $579,000- Cliffs At Princeville #2305 1,137 #2305 2/2

This information has been supplied by third parties and has not been independently verified by Hawaii Information Service and is, therefore, not guaranteed.

Our first three new listings are developer Ka’iulani units, two of which were previously listed and one which had been under escrow early on but fell out. Ka’iulani 51, listed for $1.749M was previously listed for 71 days at the same price. #52 was on the market for 255 days listed at $1.750M while #11 show as having been in escrow back in 05 at the developer’s release price of $1.650M. It is now listed at $1.995M.

The next five listings are fractional offerings for Plantation 812 which sold for $729K in 6/06. These fractionals were previously listed from 8/06 to 10/08 for $165K to $170K depending on the period. They are now at $145K. Puamana 17A can also be found under the withdrawn portion of this update. This unit was withdrawn by the seller and relisted with a different company at the same price of $435K. It was previously on the market for 143 days and was purchased in 3/04 for $320K. Pali Ke Kua 108, which is a leasehold property comes on the market at $649K and last sold for $469K in 3/02. Plantation 322, which is now listed for $679,900, was listed from 8/06 to 4/07 before it was withdrawn at a list price of $729K. The current seller paid $700K for this unit in 7/07 and apparently thought it could be flipped. Hanalei Bay Resort unit 9104/5/6 is a new listing at $1.975M and was last purchased in 7/07 for $1.695M.

Three units that expired are back on the market starting with Sandpiper 132 at $329K. Purchased for $330K in 8/04 you’d think this seller would see some action at this price. This unit started out at $399K. Emmalani Court 519, listed at $519K is agent owned. This unit sold for $700K in 7/07 then was nicely upgraded throughout. Pali Ke Kua 237, with a sales price of $750K in 2/05, is back on the market at $805K. This unit started out awhile back at an optimistic $1.1M.

We do have one well priced unit that went into escrow and that is an upstairs Sandpiper unit 212 listed st $399K. This upstairs unit went into escrow at $399K which puts the downstairs unit 132 priced at $329K right in the ball park. Sandpipers offer a good return on the dollar when rented as you can rent each side separately and have a fair amount of square footage for a 2 or 3 bedroom unit. Sandpiper 212 is not earning a profit for the seller as it sold for $400K in 12/04.

Our one sale this week is a very nice Hanalei Bay Villa unit 9 which was purchased for $405K in 6/02 and sold for $855K. Finally, a seller who may have some capital gains to declare!!! Two Emmalani Court units expired: unit 314 listed at $480K which last sold for $330K in 12/94 and unit 322 which sold for $347K in 4/93.

Three units were withdrawn one of which is a developer’s Ka’iulani #7 listed for 250 days at $1.995M. We already discussed Puamana 17A. Mauna Kai 25, listed for $569K last sold for $585K in 8/07.

Our favorite section is always the price changes. It’s a chance to see if anyone is ready to get real about selling and do what needs to be done in order to move a property. Villas on the Prince 3 is first up, moving from $699K to $695K. This price change is just an effort to get the property to show up on the daily update and does not, in my opinion, constitute a real price reduction. Nevetheless, I’ve shown this property several times and for the size and the fact that it’s one of the Villas, at $699K or $695K you’d think someone would take a shot at it. It was purchased in 9/05 for $840K and is a short sale. Ka’iulani 63, which is agent owned, last sold for $975K in 3/08 and is reduced this week from $959K to $899K. Ka’iulani is a very plush complex but his unit, despite it’s size of 1901 sqft, only has two bedrooms which may be a drawback for many. Hanalei Bay Resort unit N22, also partially agent owned, reduced from $524K to $499K and last sold in 1/06 for $469,900. No money to be made here! Kamahana 13, with a purchase price of $640K in 10/05, reduced from $589K to $579K. This is a nice big unit with lockout capability and over 2000 sqft of living space. Cliffs 2305 is our final reduction, and moves from $589K to $579K. This unit was purchased for $680K in 6/06.

On the your Princeville home update:

Copyright 12/6/2008 by Hawaii Information Service

SALES
205193 RS S 263 4-5-4-14-31 FS $1,075,000 3885 Kamehameha Rd 12,127 sqft 2,372 4/3
SOLD 12/1/2008 for $920,000 (MISC) DOM 263

216862 RS S 25 4-5-4-21-14 FS $1,149,000 4882 Akai Pl 12,484 sqft 2,466 4/3
SOLD 12/5/2008 for $875,000 (CNV) DOM 25

EXPIRED
202991 RS X 379 4-5-4-16-9 FS $1,295,000 5015 Emmalani Dr 10,500 sqft 2,469 3/3

WITHDRAWN
211932 RS W 164 4-5-3-11-25 FS $1,250,000 4083 Aloalii Dr 7,937 sqft 2,192 3/2.5
206607 RS W 1,077 4-5-4-19-19 FS $1,395,000 5086 Napo’okala Cir 15,326 sqft 2,206 3/3

PRICE CHANGES
217261 RS A 44 4-5-4-22-4 FS $630,000- 4087 Nalani Ln 11,244 sqft 1,424 3/2
210781 RS A 214 4-5-4-23-35 FS $695,000- 3793 Moae Pl 6,386 sqft 1,651 3/2
215193 RS A 104 4-5-4-23-8 FS $698,000- 4838 Ou Pl 8,104 sqft 1,213 3/1.5
217234 RS A 37 4-5-4-19-2 FS $1,475,000- 5074 Napookala Cir 23,703 sqft 3,138 4/3.5
186555 RS A 714 4-5-4-4-38 FS $8,950,000- 4971 Hanalei Plantation 1.25 ac 4,630 4/7.5

This information has been supplied by third parties and has not been independently verified by Hawaii Information Service and is, therefore, not guaranteed.

I want to take a moment to comment on 4882 Akai Place which was listed for $1.149M and sold for $875K. To the uninitiated, it might look like the sky is falling over here in Kauai, and that the real estate is falling right along with it, but let me put this into perspective for you. This home sold in 8/03 for $695K. When the market heated up in 05, the owner listed it from 9/05 to 12/05 starting at $1.395M and moving up to $1.495KM. This house has a pool and waterfall and has been upgraded, all of which were in place when the owner bought it. Prior to listing it, the owner/agent made improvements to include a new cedar shake roof, newly painted interior & exterior, hard-wired zoned irrigation system plus a 28v photovoltaic solar power system and Bosch tankless hot water system. It was withdrawn then relisted from 3/06 to 2/07 for $1.549M before dropping to $1.475M after which it was withdrawn. It was finally listed at $1.149M but if you looked at current sales, you would see that the selling price of $875K is right in keeping with recent sales. So no, the sky nor real estate are crashing and burning.

There are many great buys out there right now, in all areas – houses, condos, land…. The buyer of this last house did their homework, determined a fair price for today’s market and made an offer which was accepted. I don’t consider this to be a lowball offer, rather I think it was a highball price. The bottom line is that there was a meeting of minds and good buy was made by all. If you are a seller, remember that comps DO MATTER and that your buyer will most definitely be looking at them. If you are a buyer, do your homework and make an offer. You just never know. Enough of my opinions for now…..

Until next week,

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!

December 7th, 2008