Last week, the latest and most expensive to date Kerr Michaels project was listed in Kailua Beach. 210 Kalaheo Ave. has it all. This exclusive beach-side estate is nearly 1.5 acres on the ocean and has 8 bedrooms and 8 + bathrooms and was recently completed in 2009. If they achieve their goal in selling near the price of asking of $36 million, it would be a record setting sale for Windward Oahu.

Two homes sold over the last few years at $22 and $24 million on Oahu, however they were older homes whereas this is new construction...

It will be interesting to monitor the traffic this home receives.  At $36m, this estate is now the 2nd highest-priced residential offering the State of Hawaii.  The top spot belongs to the Tara Plantation at Papaa Bay on Kauai, which is rumored to be in negotiations.

Honolulu has been mostly resilient as far as foreclosures go compared to the rest of the mainland U.S. The numbers have been rising lately however. Today's article in the Star Bulletin shows how we are now in the middle of the pack with nationwide foreclosures. Although nowhere near Las Vegas, etc. the trend is we will have many more foreclosure occurring based on the number of short sales on Oahu.

If you're looking for a great buy, here are some listings I put together of REO or "lender owned" properties available on Oahu:

• REO Single Family Home Gallery
• REO Condo Gallery

On Oahu, inventory of short sale single family homes is nearly 10 TIMES that over REO inventory and condo short sales are almost 8 TIMES that of REO condo inventory. As of today, there are 18 available single family home REO listings on the market. There are an additional 40 in escrow right now! Meanwhile there are 207 available short sale homes on the market and an additional 97 homes in escrow. For condos, there are 33 available condo REO listings available and 19 units in escrow. Meanwhile, there are 234 available short sale condos with 106 in escrow. What does this mean? Many more REO listings will be coming on market on Oahu as short sales don't go through & you'll see that they sell much faster than short sales. If you're looking for a great buy, it's important to line yourself up with a good buyer's agent!

On a recent Friday, I loaded a new REO listing in MLS & by mid Saturday, we had 3 calls for showings! Since then, we've had multiple offers, several above asking price! REO or lender owned property can be a great source for purchasing a home. We at Hawaii Life represent lenders to help them sell their assets when they get them back from a foreclosure. In addition, we can help buyers looking for a great deal. Here's a gallery I've put together of some Oahu REO homes for sale. Stay tuned... we'll have more to come!

In our 3rd part in a series of Where to Find Oceanfront Condos on Oahu, we leave Waikiki and head clockwise all the way to Ko Olina before we run into more oceanfront condos. A number of harbors take up a good portion of prime real estate along the way... Ko Olina is a resort along Oahu's leeward or west shore. The climate is very similar to the resorts on the western shores of outer islands like Maui's Kaanapali and the Kona side of the Big Island. It is also a relatively new resort and kind of reminds me of what Kaanapali was like when I was a kid there in the early '80's... There's a number of newer construction condo projects there, however only 2 oceanfront complexes: Kai Lani (built by Armstrong builders in 2003) and The Beach Villas at Ko Olina (Recently built by Centex). Although both on the ocean, they are quite different. Kai Lani is more of a low rise, townhome style & The Beach Villas are in a high rise on one of the man made lagoons.  Some of the other properties that front the ocean in Ko Olina are the Ihilani by JW Marriott, a timeshare project by Marriott and Hawaii's soon to be built Disney themed hotel.

Ko Olina real estate has been hit harder than other areas of Oahu because the majority of the people that bought were speculators and second home owners. There are a number of short sales & foreclosures on the market there. This in my opinion is a good time to buy within the next year. In addition to the Disney hotel going in, there are now going to be retail shops and a convenience store so you won't have to drive all the way to Kapolei to pick up some necessities. Once these projects are built, there won't be a whole lot left there, especially when it comes to oceanfront!

Here's a gallery I put together of Ko Olina oceanfront condos. Enjoy

Following up on a series of Where to Find Oceanfront Condos on Oahu, we work our way clockwise on Oahu from Diamond Head to Waikiki. Believe it or not, there is only 1 true oceanfront condo building in Waikiki, which is the Waikiki Shore. When you think about it, the reason why is all the prime real estate in Waikiki is taken up by the hotels.  Waikiki Shore is adjacent to the newly renovated Outrigger Reef and fronts a beautiful white sandy beach. One of the great things about the building is the maintenance fees are relatively low because the commercial spaces on the bottom floors offset some of the operating costs of the association. In addition, the 2 most recent sales sold at $1,062 and $1,598/square foot and active listings average $1,580/square foot. This is a great price for prime oceanfront property, given the new Trump Waikiki isn't even on the ocean & is selling for $2,000/square foot... If you're looking for an oceanfront condo in Waikiki within walking distance of great shops, restaurants and the only 5 star hotel on Oahu, this is it! Here's a gallery I've put together of available listings. Enjoy!

Unlike some of the neighbor islands that have lots of oceanfront condos, Oahu's oceanfront condo inventory is somewhat limited given the population of the island. The purpose of this blog post is to lay out where you can find oceanfront condos on Oahu. We'll start at Diamond Head on Oahu's southeastern shore (Diamond Head is where the original land surveys on Oahu used for reference) & work our way around the island clockwise.

• Diamond Head- The oceanfront condos are found at the end of Kalakaua in an area we refer to as the Gold Coast
• Waikiki- There is only 1 true oceanfront condo in Waikiki called the Waikiki Shore
• Ko Olina- There are 2 projects as of now Kai Lani and the Beach Villas at Ko Olina
• Leeward Coast- There's a few buildings on this leeward Oahu strip on your way out to Yokohama Bay
• North Shore- The majority of these are in Waialua, with other projects in Mokuleia, Haleiwa & 1 in Turtle Bay
• Windward Coast- There's a few projects between the long stretch of Punaluu to Kaneohe
• Hawaii Kai- There's only 1 oceanfront condo project here as well, however tons of units on the marina
• Kuliouou- There's only 1 project here on the ocean, however not a sandy beach and fronts a marine sanctuary
• Kahala- There's only 1 project here called the Kahala Beach Apartments, which is Leasehold

As you can see, a number of the areas mentioned above have either just one or two projects in the entire area. In the near future, I'll be posting more information on each of the specific areas. In the meantime, if there's anything specific I can help you find in regards to oceanfront condos on Oahu, give me a call at 808-371-3509.

Diamond Head claimed another large sale recently. This is following a trend of the high end buyers realizing some great buys in this exclusive neighborhood. 3239 Noela St. closed for $8,750,000. The 10,544 square foot home that sits on over an acre was the former home of Jack Myers a local developer that moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. He sold this back in 2000 for $9 million. I'd say close to 99% of the homes on Oahu are worth more today than they were in 2000. Someone got a good buy here!

Realty Trac came out with their latest Hawaii foreclosure stats that were published this week in the Star Bulletin. Lihue on Kauai led the state with the highest rate, however this was skewed due to Kauai Beach Resorts foreclosure, which accounted for 145 units.

Although, Oahu accounts for the majority of the population in the Hawaii, 65% of the foreclosure activity was on the neighbor islands. Ewa Beach led Oahu with the most foreclosures on the island with 65 in the month of August. Honolulu ranked 150th in the nation out of 203 metro areas tracked, which isn't too bad.

If you're looking for a great buy, Ewa Beach could be the place. In general, the construction is newer, the infrastructure is newer & Ewa Beach hardly lacks any sunshine The catch is the commute to Honolulu. Ewa residents that "fight traffic" stare into the sun driving to work in the morning & stare in to the sun in traffic in the afternoon... If you don't work the typical 40 hour work week in Honolulu, Ewa Beach has some great housing options. You can get a nice single family home built in the last 5 years for the same price of a 2 bedroom condo in Honolulu built in the 1970's. The wave of foreclosures hitting Ewa Beach is creating some great opportunities for buyers entering the market place!

Children's Place Magazine recently wrote an article titled The 100 Best (and Worst) Places to Raise a Family and Honolulu ranked #7!

I must say I'm not surprised. I was born and raised here and don't have much to complain about. Clean air, beautiful weather & the Aloha Spirit- what more could you ask for? Although our housing prices have traditionally been higher than national averages, the "price we pay to live in paradise" has been worth it.