Kona Kohala Blog

In yesterday's West Hawaii Today there was an article citing the continued decline in West Hawaii property sales.  At this point, most people turn a deaf ear to such news having been bombarded with it for so long by a press corps dedicated to the spread of bad news and only bad news.

I can tell you there's no quicker way to get a Realtor's panties in a twist than to publish something so devastating to sellers and buyers but also so far from the truth.  I suspect having brought this oversight to the attention of the newspaper, apologies will be printed somewhere around the obits and the fact checker will be strapped to the rack.

In reality, our sales here have improved dramatically.  The chart below compares the percentage change in the number of sales between successive

years and shows that since the middle of the year, both North Kona and South Kohala have had sharp turn arounds in the number of sales compared to 2008.

Another interesting fact and one that seems to fly in the face of economic reason is that with this sudden increase in sales, there isn't a corresponding increase in median price.

With only a few exceptions in North Kohala and South Kona, our median price continues to drop compared to the year before.  The huge percentage changes in North Kohala are due to the very small number of sales there causing large statistical variations.

If the demand continues as it has we may see prices turn around just like the sales have.  As prices slide, more and more people either become interested in buying or now qualify for loans.  There's still some developer sales tied with foreclosures and short sales that are driving prices down, however, as inventory declines there's a good chance we'll also see an increase in prices.