Kona Kohala Blog

Aloha!  I've just spent the last couple of weeks on the mainland aka the madland and is that name appropriate; some people are really crazy there.  We were in Portland, Oregon for just over a week for the annual "fix Mom's house" visit then to the Bay area to visit other family and friends.

Portland is a great city, a little cold and wet but beautiful when the sun comes out which it did for most of the time.  Spring is great there, so much life popping out of the ground after months of mud.  There's a wonderful climbing gym there, Portland Rock Gym in North East Portland.  Over 30,000 square feet of climbing surface.

Climbing is an exciting sport that can be shared by families.  It was very cool seeing whole families sharing the experience; watching little kids scramble up those walls reminded me of just how natural it is to want to climb things.  There were also the very talented and experienced climbers seemingly defying gravity as they move across the ceilings called "roofs" in climbing lingo.  It's a fun sport that can be enjoyed by just about anyone in any condition, pretty much.

Okay, real estate in west Hawaii.  Still plodding along ever so slowly but persistently.  The median price in North Kohala is up 31% this year so far at $900,000 although sales remain sluggish.

In South Kohala the number of sales is down <30%> year to date for Single Family Residences (SFR's) at $399,000 which is a <20%> decline over last year at this time.  Condo sales are down <67%> year to date with a median price of $539,500, a drop of <17%> from last years median.

In North Kona, the median price of a SFR is at $460,000, off <17%> from last year and the number of sales is <40%> lower than last year.  Condo sales are down <41%> year to date compared to last year and the current median price stands at $279,500, a decline of <24%> compared to last year.

The total number of listed properties is holding steady but we are seeing a slight increase in the number of escrows.  The biggest obstacle today is getting the final loan approval and funding the purchases.  Banks are still changing the rules almost every day so you can be qualified one day and not the next.  It's crazy out there and the government doesn't seem to be helping at all.  What happened to all that help for the middle income class?

Adding to the choices of condos in North Kona is Casa de Emdeko B-231.  A 2 bedroom, 2 bath remodeled unit listed at $465K.  You can go to Search MLS on our website and type in MLS #224500 and I'll have video coverage on this site in the next 24 hours.  This was remodeled as the owner's retirement home but the economy got them like so many others.  Instead of retiring, they'll be at work for a little longer so their home in Hawaii is on the market.

Interest rates inched up this last week which may or may not be a precursor of things to come.  At some point, all this funny money being printed is going to kick off inflation and when it does, it will be a good time to own real estate.  Right now there are lots of choices and prices are at or near bottom so if you can afford it, now's a good time to jump in.

Most of what is selling remains those properties under $400K.  We are now seeing the same prices we saw in 2003, before thing really took off here.  Prices are predicted to continue downward for a bit longer, maybe 4 to 6 months but then stop the drop.  It will be interesting to see if these crystal balls are any better than those of the past but who wants to appear like they don't know what's going on?

Meanwhile, President Obama, who is trying so hard to stay out of Washington D.C. was in Nevada.  He was talking about all the new jobs being added by alternative energy, wind and solar in particular.  It would be a great thing if these new industries could keep up with the layoffs in other sectors of the country.  Manufacturing has been dying for years so maybe, building components for alternative energy producers will add some of the lost jobs we've had over the years as the manufacturing sector went overseas.  Maybe the time is right for wind and solar.  I only hope these are not new government ventures, totally supported by our tax dollars like the auto industry.

And speaking of tax dollars, when are the banks that are holding so much tax payer money going to loan it out?  I can't imagine how much interest they have earned on the billions of dollars loaned to them since the days of "W".  My guess is they're waiting for interest rates to move up a bit, say to the 6% and 7% range.  At least then, they'll get a solid return on their money.

Is it true that many of the largest banks tried to give the money back due to the strings attached (none of which helped us taxpayers) but the feds wouldn't allow that?