Aloha Kauai Lovers:

 

Boo! Hoo! Summer's over...  The days here on Kauai are getting shorter and the nights a littler longer.  Soon we'll be facing the long bitter Kauai winter.  Oh the misery of it.  I'll have to get to the pool a little earlier in the evening to swim my laps so I don't get chilly in the dark.  I'll have to get out the extra blanket to put on my bed and stop turning on the fan at night.  Of course the windows will all stay open during the night even in the winter.  No one ever closes their windows unless there's a storm brewing.  I might have to put on a light sweater for those evening dog walks.  Burrrrr!  Can't you just feel the winter chill already in the air?

 

I'm so sorry... It's really mean of me to make light of the mild climate here when so many of you are facing serious winter weather ahead.  Pardon me but I have to have a little fun with these newsletters and Kauai does have some funny weather patterns or I should say weather "non-patterns".  If you've lived in a place that gets cold in the winter (which most places do) it can be hard getting used to living in a place where the seasons don't change much.  So many winter rituals you take for granted we don't have here. There's no bringing out the winter clothes "ceremony" that females love.  No exchanging of warm weather clothing for winter weather clothing.  No "dusting and shining up the old boots". No one here even wears boots except for perhaps the occasional 20-something vacationer with her stylish but not so practical  bikini and Ugg Boot combo.  "So you were laying on the beach and just wanted to have some sturdy footwear in case of a freak Hawaiian snow storm . Of course, I completely understand"... Uh, not really.  

 

When I lived on on the mainland (where there was actually a winter) when the seasons changed  it was like getting a new wardrobe every 6 months   "Oh, I remember this sweater, it looks so nice with these boots, earrings, etc..(fill in the blank) I can't wait to wear it out, Oh boy, where should we go to dinner so I can wear it tonight?  Bringing out the winter clothes was the impetus for many a social activity (if you were a female).  Oh geez those were the days.  On the mainland I remember it was fun to just have a change after so many months of the same thing.  Like just when I couldn't stand another hot August day in Phoenix I would wake up one morning and there was a slight change in the air.  A different smell, a slightly different angle of the sun that day.  You know what I'm talking about... That subtle change in the air that signals a change of season is nigh.  Here on Kauai about the only difference that signals a change in season is you start to notice the days shortening ever so slightly and the sunset starts to move closer to the mountains.  That's it.  Oh, and waves return with the whales and the albatross babies and the days might get a little teensy bit chillier say 58 degrees at the max.  That kind of weather doesn't really start until January or February and then it's only for a few weeks.  Yes, you could say we are sunny-weather rich here, but I do miss those warm, fuzzy cashmere sweaters I used to love to wear out on those chilly winter Phoenix evenings, sitting around a fire, sipping a hot toddy..Sigh...

Feel sorry for me?  Yeh, I didn't think so.

 

Are the economic conditions turning with the seasons?  It sure looks like it...

 

Number of Sales for July showed 57 total sales which is a 16% increase over last July and a 54% increase YTD.  We had 25 houses sold, down from 27 month prior.  14 vacant land parcels sold up from 6 the year prior.  18 condos sold up from 15.  On the North Shore, 10 homes sold, from 8 last year.  5 vacant lots sold, up from 3 last year, and 5 condos sold up from 3 last year.  So we are making slow but steady progress.  The east side numbers were actually down from last year which is interesting since the East side has been on fire lately.  Could they be running out of inventory?  We'll have to take a look and see if the prices are going up.  Poipu and Koloa's numbers were flat from this year to last.  

 

Sales Volume showed a nice healthy increase from last year $33M vs $25M last year.  Our YTD volume numbers show that we are 28% above 2009 at this time of the year.  Home sales volume is up 25% over last year, vacant land volume is up 224% over last year!! Condo volume is down 15% from last year.  That condo volume decrease is being lead by Lihue and Koloa/Poipu which showed 42% and 77% declines in condo sales volume respectively this month.  For whatever reason those two areas had very strong condo sales in July 2009.  Kapaa had a surge of condo sales this month $3.3M vs $915K last year.  North Shore home volume increased from $4.7M to $8.1M, North Shore vacant land volume increased from 2M to almost $7M this year.  North shore condo volume stayed fairly flat at around $2M.  Our YTD volume number are 28% up over last year overall.  All the YTD volume numbers were positive except for Waimea and Hanalei home sales which were down 12% and 25% respectively.

 

Median Home Sales Prices showed a slight increase of 5% over last year's prices from $430K to $450K.  Vacant land was down 6% from $296K to $278K, condos were down 25%  from $530K to $395K.  Our YTD Median Home prices showed that we are almost steady with last year at a decrease of less than a percent.  Vacant land YTD median prices showed a 4.5% gain, condos showed an 11% drop YTD.  North Shore YTD median prices were down in all categories.  House prices down 8%, vacant land down 20%, condos down 14%.  East Side YTD prices were up in all categories, homes by 5%, land by 26%, and condos by 5%.  Lihue's YTD prices were all down over 2009 as were Koloa/Poipu.  Waimea's YTD prices were all up, homes by 9% and vacant land by 57%.

 

So another summer gone, another season turning.  Remember if you live in cold country and you get tired of the cold weather there's always Kauai.  You can bring your Uggs.  I won't tease you.  I promise.

Until next month.. Your Island Realtor, AnnMarie Hamilton, BIC - Kauai Tropical Properties 808-652-3511