Kauai Coconut Coast Resorts Receive Approval - 10/30/08 02:49 AM
The Garden Island newspaper reports that the Kauai Planning Commission has approved 2 beachfront projects on Kauai's East Side after a court ruling that previous decisions were unconstitutional.  The two projects receiving approval are the Coconut Plantation Village and the Coconut Beach Resort.  The first will have 192 multi-family units and the second will have 343.  Both will have a few hotel rooms as well.
I have not heard whether the projects are actually going to move forward, a question in my mind given the current economic conditions.  However the article had no information to the contrary.  I'll report more as I … (0 comments)

Kauai Gets A New Road - 10/29/08 12:17 PM
 More Kauai News!
According to the Kauai Garden Island newspaper, the Western Bypass Road in the Koloa/Poipu area has opened!  This 1.5 mile road will offer an alternative to taking busy Poipu Road through Koloa.  The Kukui'ula developers built the road, named Ala Kalanikaumaka (whew!), as a requirement for it's huge home/homesite and shopping village project in Poipu.  It is reported that ownership has been turned over to the county who will patrol it's 25 mph speed limit.
For those interested in becoming a part of the Kukui'ula lifestyle, you may contact me for information on this high-end, luxury community.
Aloha!
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Hawaii Superferry Postpones Service to Big Island - 10/29/08 11:42 AM
   BREAKING NEWS IN HAWAII
According to today's Garden Island newspaper, Hawaii Superferry has announced it will postpone the start of service between Honolulu and the Big Island due to the economic crisis.  This service was to have been provided by the 2nd ship which is nearing completion in Mobile Alabama.  Apparently the company still plans on taking delivery in the February time-frame and will look for other uses.  The company anticipates a delay of approximately 1 year but that will likely be dependent on events between now and then.
The company also addressed service to Kauai which was cancelled over a year … (0 comments)

Hawaii Tourism Plunges in September - 10/28/08 12:31 PM
 The state Department of Business, Econoic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) has released September tourism figures and guess what, they dropped off a cliff!  Hawaii as a whole was down 19.5% and Kauai was down 29%!  Recent strength has been our Canadian visitors which declined by 6% which is small compared to the overall decline.  Of course the flip side of this is that it's a great time to visit Hawaii because the crowds are gone!
I've seen a shift in my real estate business here on Kauai from mainland & foreign investors to local buyers looking for a home to live in.  … (0 comments)

Honolulu Elevated Commuter Rail Referendum on November 4 - 10/26/08 12:57 PM
The Honolulu Advertiser reported the latest Hawaii poll show slipping support for the planned elevated commuter rail project for Honolulu which is subject to referendum on November 4.  According to the article, 51% support the project, 43% oppose, and 5% are undecided.  A major concern is the cost of the project and related impact on taxes.
To me, the major issue is that it is planned to be an overhead steel on steel system.  That means steel wheels on steel rails which in turn means lots of NOISE!  I remember how Boston tore their overhead steel on steel system down in 2005 and … (4 comments)

Kauai is paradise but drownings continue all too frequently - 10/26/08 12:32 PM
 
 Kauai Ocean Safety Bureau ceremony
In my post of October 13, I commented on Kauai water safety after 3 of our visitors drowned on Sunday (and another the following day).  In related news, The Garden Island newspaper published an article today on hiring and promotions by the Kauai Ocean Safety Bureau.  I offer my congratulations to the 4 who were promoted and welcome the 3 who were hired. 
The goal of the Kauai Water Safety Bureau is stated as to educate the public (tourists and residents alike) on the dangers present at our multitude of beaches.  The organization now consists of … (0 comments)

Islander on the Beach condo with stunning ocean views - 10/25/08 07:23 PM
 For those looking for stunning ocean views and low price, this could be the one for you!

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 Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers
Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information 
… (0 comments)

Hawaii Interisland Travel Cost Comparison - 10/25/08 07:00 PM

With the departure of Aloha Airlines due to bankrupcy, the cost to fly interisland has risen substantially.  I fly between the islands frequently and put together a cost comparison which is published below.  I have personally travelled on each of the carriers below.  Cost comparisons are based on a trip duration of 1 week with a Wednesday departure and return.  The most expensive portion of travel is car rental.  Foir travel between Honolulu and Maui, that can be avoided by taking your car with you on the Superferry.  Or, for those that commute regularly between two islands as I do, it can pay to have … (3 comments)

Poipu's Largest Development Project Announces Layoffs - 10/25/08 12:43 PM
According to today's Garden Island newspaper, Poipu's largest project, Kukui'ula is laying off about 20% of it's staff because of market conditions.  The president is reported to have said he hoped no additional cuts would be necessary which leaves open the possibility that there could be more later.  It is reported that timelines for the homes, golf course, and shopping center are unaffected by this.
 Photo in The Garden Island newspaper
Kukui'ula is the largest ongoing development project on Kauai's South Shore.  The develoepr, Kukui'ula Development Company is comprised of a partnership between A&B Properties, Inc and DMB Associates, Inc.  A&B is a … (0 comments)

New Custom Home In Kauai Countryside - 10/24/08 06:20 PM

… (0 comments)

Hawaii News Item on Senator Obama's Short Visit To See His Ailing Grandmother - 10/24/08 02:12 PM

Senator Obama arrived in Honolulu last night and went directly to visit his ailing grandmother Madelyn Dunham (Toot) in her apartment.  The story as reported by the Honolulu Advertiser can be found HERE.
This post is not an endorsement of any particular candidate for president as my blog is used to report Hawaii news & real estate information and not for political purposes. We all hope for a recovery for Madalyn Dunham but the news reports do not sound optimistic.
Aloha,
Search Kauai/Big Island | Search Maui | Email | About Me | Visit Website| Phone/Text   (808) 651-4550                                                                                                               

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More on Hawaii's Mokulele Airlines - 10/23/08 01:51 PM
It's Thursday here in Hawaii where the news has been a little light this week.  Maybe that's a good thing given the trend of recent nationwide news.  The biggest, little news item I found was the temporary shutdown of Mokulele Airlines due to a training issue.  It seems that the FAA determined that proper fire extinguisher training had not been completed.  It's a tiny airline so the problem was quickly rectified and they were flying again the next day.  Per my post of October 19, it's soon to graduate from 9-weat prop planes to interisland jet service ((For information about this … (0 comments)

Kauai Yearly Sales Comparison (2000-2008) - 10/20/08 03:21 PM
Having generated the data for "seasonal" variations in Kauai sales, I thought I'd take a look at what yearly sales look like for the period 2000 to 2008.  We all know that sales are down nationwide and Kauai is no exception.  The chart below seems a good way to show what is going on based on our historical closing data.  Percentages are relative to the total closings since the new millennium arrived on January 1, 2000.

Of course the year 2008 still has 2 1/2 months to go so it will look better by the end of the year.  Still, … (2 comments)

What is the Kauai Busy Season For Closings? - 10/20/08 02:50 PM
On the mainland, real estate sales typically perk up in the Spring after being relatively dormant during the Winter months.  National data shows that the busy months for closings is the period of May through August with a peak in the months of June and July. 
Our mainland visitors often ask what the busy season is for Kauai and I've heard various answers based on personal experience of the agent.  In order to better answer this question, I took a look at our Kauai sales data for the last 7 years (I excluded 2008 data since the year is not over) … (2 comments)

Poipu Kauai Condo Sales - 10/17/08 10:28 PM
This post of for my Kauai contacts seeking information on condo sales history in the Poiipu, Kauai area. Data has been extracted from our Kauai multiple list system and charted in Excel.
The first chart is for "legacy condos".  I use the term "legacy condos" to mean those built in 1990 or earlier.  Much of Poipu was constructed in the 1979-1980 time frame so this data applies mostly to resale units as opposed to new construction.  The data is as reported in our Kauai MLS system with leasehold, timeshare, and shared-ownership excluded.  The yellow trend line constructed automatically by Excel shows a decline … (0 comments)

Hawaii Gets New Inter-island Jet Service - 10/15/08 11:40 PM
 New jet service for Hawaii interisland travel
It has just been announced that Hawaii is getting additional jet service for inter-island travel.  The local commuter airline, Mokulele Airlines has executed an agreement with Republic Airways to operate 4 Embraer 170 jets offering 6 first class and 64 coach seats.  After Aloha Airlines passenger service was cancelled due to bankruptcy, fares have gone up and flight availability down so this is welcome news.  Current jet service is offered by Hawaiian Airlines and GO Airlines.  Neither of those offers first class seating and I question the rationale for Mokulele in providing this for … (6 comments)

Who Remembers These Things? - 10/13/08 03:57 PM
 Tools From Yester-Year
MOSAIC 1.0 RELEASED NOVEMBER 1993
Who remembers the release of Mosaic, the first user-friendly web browser that preceeded Netscape?  It was developed by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois. and released in November 1993.  While I'd like to say I was in kindergarten at the time, I was actually well into my engineering career when this huge development hit.  It was only available at work or so I thought.  Imagine my surprise when I learned I could actually get internet service at home and use it there!  Back then, internet service was via dial-up moden and what today … (17 comments)

Kauai Real Estate Dominance - 10/13/08 02:05 PM
Century 21 All Islands continues to dominate the Kauai real estate market as shown in the updated chart below.  The brokerage has 3 offices on Kauai plus multiple offices on Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island.  Recent rumors that the company had closed some of it's offices on Kauai are incorrect.  This may have been triggered by the recent move of the Kapaa office from it's old location in the Safeway shopping center to the Kapaa Professional Building.

Aloha,
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3 Visitors Drown Sunday Here On Kauai - 10/13/08 12:30 PM

Our local newspaper, The Garden Island, announced today that 3 Kauai visitors drowned in 2 separate incidents yesterday.  One was on an East-Side beach in Kapaa where a man drowned off Kauai Sands beach.  The other was 2 women who were swept off a ledge by a large wave at Queens Bath in Princeville on the North Shore and subsequently drowned.
Sadly, such tragedies are more common on Kauai than our visitors realize.  The North Shore is known to be unusually hazardous in the Winter months when seas are high and currents treacherous.  Please keep this in mind when you come … (0 comments)

Kauai Kai'Olino Condo Project Done In By Economy - 10/12/08 06:46 PM
BREAKING NEWS ON KAUAI! 

Letters have been issued to those under contract for Kauai's new, almost oceanfront Kai'Olino project in Eleele.  I just received my own letter advising that economic conditions do not allow the project to go forward at this time.  According to the letter, all those under contract may request a refund of their deposit plus interest and will be released from the contract.  I'll post more later.
Aloha!
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 Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers
Visit … (0 comments)

Kauai & Maui Real Estate Sales Comparison - 10/12/08 01:53 PM
.style1 { text-align: center; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; padding: 1px 4px; } .style2 { font-size: medium; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; padding: 1px 4px; } .style3 { border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; } .style4 { border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; padding: 1px 4px; } September sales statistics have now been released for Maui so it's possible to compare the 2 markets of Maui & Kauai (see the table below).  My view of the data is that the two counties are quite similar.  Prices are holding up fairly well (and in some cases are up) although the number of sales have taken a huge hit.  … (0 comments)

Hawaii Needs You! - 10/11/08 09:15 PM
Governor Lingle reported that revenues are down and a budget shortfall of $900 million is projected.  She plans to cut spending and take other measures in response.  That does not include any tax increases.
In related news, Hospitality Advisors reported Autust hotel occupancies were down substantially which is not a good sign for the Fall season.  Maui hotels showed the steapest decline with an August occupancy rate of only 69% compared to 81% in 2007.  Decreases are hitting budget and moderate properties the hardest.  Hotel rates are remaing relative stable.
A breakdown of August occupancy rates looks like this:
State of … (0 comments)

Price Range Shifts in Kauai Residential Sales - 10/09/08 10:08 PM
The number of residential home sales on Kauai are down substantially in 2008 to about half what they were in 2006, I took a look at the sales data as reported in our multiple list service to see if there had been a shift in buyer's price range during this time.  Here's what I found for the last 3 years.
The proportion of homes sales in the $1 million & uip price bracket have stayed steady in the 23%-25% range.
The proportion of homes sales in the $750,000 to $1 million price bracket have stayed relatively steady as well in the 14%-18% range.
The … (6 comments)

Yes, Hawaii Has Cultural Activities! - 10/09/08 07:51 PM
It was an exciting time when I moved to Hawaii in 2004 after years of planning.  With the near-perfect year-round climate, Hawaii is mainly about outdoor living with less need for indoor living space or large yards.  That is fortunate since our buildable land area here is small and it's not increasing very fast even though Madam Pele remains quite busy extending the Big Island with her volcano and lava flows.
After a while, I felt a desire for some cultural activities here in Hawaii.  Here is a list of my favorites I've discovered so far.
 Honolulu Neil S. Blaisdell Center
… (2 comments)

Kauai Residential Financing Options Exercised in 2007 & 2008 - 10/08/08 07:44 PM
With the turmoil in the financial markets, I got to wondering about the financing methods used by buyers of homes in Hawaii.  The charts below show the breakdown of financing methods in 2008 and in 2007 as a comparison.  There is very little difference between the two.  Clearly Conventional (CNV) financing is still king.  Cash is second at 17% in 2007 and a little more in 2008 (20%).  Each of the others (FHA, VA, Purchase Money Mortgage-PMM, etc) represent very small portions of the financing methods.
I'd add a note that even though options such as FHA and VA are a … (0 comments)

Gas prices in paradise - 10/08/08 07:17 PM
What are you paying for gas in your area?  I took this photo today after filling up my tank in Kahului on Maui.  From what I can see, Maui has the highest prices of all the 4 largest Hawaiian islands.  Those of us living here are glad to see that gas prices have come down to these levels because they were substantially higher not long ago.  I hope that prices are much lower where YOU live. They are in Ann Allen's hometown of Birmingham, AL as you can see from her post HERE.

Aloha!
Search Kauai/Big Island | Search Maui | Email … (10 comments)

Kauai Housing Supply Overview - 10/08/08 12:33 PM
The supply of Kauai properties has increased substantially compared to the mid-August statistics.  This is especially true for condos which have now increased to a huge 5+ year supply across the island.  This appears to be due to a marked decrease in sales more so than an increase in listings.  The supply of homes is better and are even relatively tight in the central Lihue zone.
The chart background colors indicate what is healthy (blue & green) and what is not (red).  This is per the Business Week article referenced in the chart. The disparity between homes and condos is likely a … (5 comments)

Kauai's Top 10 Brokerage Rankings Based on Sales--Updated - 10/04/08 09:14 PM
Century 21 All Islands continues to rank #1 on Kauai based on sales volume as shown in this Top-10 brokerage ranking.  The Century 21 All Islands brokerage continues to have 3 offices on Kauai in addition to those on Maui and Oahu.  One is located on the North Shore in the Princeville shopping center, one on the Kapaa's East Side in the Kapaa Professional Building, and one in historic Koloa near the South Shore's Poipu resort area.

Aloha
Search Kauai/Big Island | Search Maui | Email | About Me | Visit Website | Phone/Text   (808) 651-4550                    

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New Highways on Maui Eases Traffic Considerably - 10/04/08 08:58 PM
Click image for recent news article.
The expanded Haleakala Highway on Maui has opened after years of planning and construction.  I just arrived back on Maui and what a treat it is to have this divided 4-lane highway from Kahului to upcountry Pukalani.
The project increasing lanes from 3 to 4 has been underway for 4 years.  The 5.5 mile project cost $31.8 million.  For months now it looked ready to go except for the orange cones blocking traffic from using the new lanes.  Things move a little slower in Hawaii than on the mainland so patience is a good thing to … (4 comments)

Kauai South Shore Condo Median Sales Prices Off Modestly From 2006 Peak - 10/04/08 08:39 PM
The decline in median sales prices for Kauai's South Shore condominiums has flattened based on several high-end sales in recent months.  What previously looked like a 25% decline from the peak reached in 2006 is now more like a 7.5% decline.  What a difference a few months of sales data can make!  This data reflects what has sold and is not necessarily indicative of change in value of an individual unit.  The chart contains data through the end of the 3rd quarter of 2008.

 
Data has been extracted from Hawaii Information Systems reports compiled from data submitted to them … (2 comments)

Kauai Sales Down Substantially With Price Data Subject to Interpretation - 10/03/08 10:14 PM
Kauai Sales Reports Sept 2008 .style1 { text-align: center; } .style4 { border: 5px solid #F5BF19; } .style5 { border: 1px solid #F5BF19; } .style6 { font-size: medium; border: 1px solid #F5BF19; } .style8 { font-size: xx-small; border: 1px solid #F5BF19; background-color: #F5BF19; } .style9 { text-align: center; border: 1px solid #F5BF19; } .style10 { font-size: xx-small; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #F5BF19; background-color: #F5BF19; } Kauai Sales Statistics For September 2008 Kauai home sales statistics have been released for the month of September 2008.  A summary for residential and condominium properties is presented below.  The figures are island-wide comparisons of … (0 comments)

Hawaii's Hilo Hattie in Bankruptcy - 10/03/08 11:39 AM
Local newspapers announced today that Hilo Hattie has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  Hilo Hattie is famous with Hawaii tourists who shop there for Hawaii clothing, gifts, and souvenirs.  Fortunately for tourists and employees alike, the store plans to continue in business while it reorganizes.  The announcement states that all stores will remain open and the company still plans to open it's new flagship store in Waikiki next summer.  The economy, historic oil prices, and a sudden drop in tourism are blamed for the cash-flow problem.
… (0 comments)

2nd Hawaii Superferry Is Launched - 10/01/08 12:37 PM

An Associated Press news release states that the 2nd Hawaii Superferry was launched into a floating drydock in Mobile Alabama on Monday.  The vessel is scheduled to provide ferry service between Hawaii's Big Island and Honolulu.  It is to be delivered in March of next year after completing sea trials.
The aluminum catamaran-type vessel is 370 feet in length and can carry more than 800 passengers and  200 vehicles.  It will join its sister ship, the 350 foot Alakai which currently provides service between Maui and Honolulu.  There are no plans that I'm aware of to attempt to restart service … (4 comments)

 
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Richard T Dolbeare, R(B), ABR, CRS, RSPS BS/MS - Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today

Lihue, HI

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Keller Williams Realty

Address: Kauai & Maui homes & condos, 95 E. Lipoa St., Ste. A212, Kihei, HI, 96753

Office Phone: (808) 651-4550

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Real estate is the largest investment that many of us will ever make so it's critical that buyers & sellers have access to essential information. This blog provides key news and information about Hawaii real estate.


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