Richard Dolbeare (RA) Hawaii Real Estate news from a Kauai REALTOR

Wordless Wednesday--Maui's Kehalani

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:38:49 -0600

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Small park in the Kehalani Mauka community nestled on the slopes of the West Maui Mountains. Terraced terrain gives many of the homes unobstructed views of the city below with ocean beyond.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information

Maui Pineapple Shutting Down

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:20:38 -0600

NEWS FLASH--Maui Land & Pineapple Company has just announced that they are shutting down pineapple operations on Maui by the end of the year.

Maui Land & Pineapple Company has been sustaining heavy losses for many years and was unable to define a viable plan to continue operations. Several hundred workers will lose their jobs and fresh Maui-grown pineapples will be a thing of the past except for some small farmers. The island of Oahu went through this last year when Del Monte abruptly stopped pineapple production. Dole still produces pineapple on Oahu but has significantly scaled back operations over the years.

Agriculture is taking a heavy hit throughout Hawaii. Just last week Kauai ended their sugar cane operations after harvesting their final crop (see my post HERE). For now, sugar is still a big crop on Maui and thousands of acres of it greet incoming passengers who pass over the valley fields prior to landing.

Tourists can still get fresh Hawaiian pineapple to take back to the mainland. But those wanting to do so would be wise to visit now rather than later.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information

Mellow Monday--Lahaina Street Party

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:14:38 -0600

OK, here are the promised photos from the Lahaina Halloween Street Party here on Maui. The first one gets my vote for best costume...

...and honorable goes to this nice couple in street clothes who insisted that I just had to take their picture. Hope they find it on AR.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information

No More Sugar on Kauai

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:41:20 -0500

Gay and Robinson, our last sugar producer on Kauai, clebrated their final harvest yesterday. They had been producing that sweet stuff for over 100 years and the celebration was mixed with saddness. Two other sugar producers had exited the business in previous years and now there are none. Kauai still maintains extensive agrucultural lands and hopefully a new use will be found so that they don't just grow up in weeds.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information

Halloween in Lahaina!

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:28:28 -0500

I wish I had a scary Halloween picture to include with this post but I'm away from home and don't have access to my photo collection. Nevertheless, I wanted to wish everyone a fun and safe Halloween.

I'll be in Lahaina for the Maui Halloween version of the Mardi Gras. Grab the next flight and come join in the partying! I'll try to get photos to post.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information

Wordless Wednesday--Maui nights

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:07:03 -0500

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Kahului, Maui's major city as seen from the West Maui Mountain slopes.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information

Mellow Monday--Sweet Surfing Swells

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:55:32 -0500

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This real estate is not for sale

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information

Mellow Monday--Sweet Surfing Swells

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:54:12 -0500

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This real estate is not for sale

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information

Foto Friday--West Maui Backside

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:07:40 -0500

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No room for guardrails, just drive, don't look, and don't meet an oncoming car. No flats allowed.

Oops, Maui-style traffic jam! The car on the right is backing up as there is no room to pass on this cliffside road.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information

Foto Friday-Kahakuloa

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:45:44 -0500

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Entering Old Kahakuloa Village

Fine dining and the ONLY dining near Old Kahakuloa Village

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information

Golden Domes on Kauai

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:50:12 -0500

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I had a delightful experience today when I "stumbled across" a tour of the Hindu temple being build above Kapaa on our little island of Kauai. Granite slabs are being hand-chisled in India and shipped 10,000 miles to Kauai for the construction which has been ongoing since 1991. The gold leaf dome overlays are stunning in the bright Kauai sunshine.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information

Dog Sign

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:47:13 -0500

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I was a little taken aback by the sign but decided it was funny. I guess there's no debate about how this owner feels about little presents being left behind

(last word edited in photo)

Sea Water Air Conditioning

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:25:24 -0500

A new type of air conditioning system is planned for downtown Honolulu that will be a major energy saver. A local company has plans to install underground pipes running from the ocean into downtown Honolulu so that sea water can be used for cooling instead of refrigeration systems. The system is slated to be operational by 2011 with savings of around 75% on the electric bill. With Hawaii's cost of electricity being 3 times the national average, this is a very big deal.

Some challenges remain such as getting past potential public opposition which is always a possibility when change is happening. The Environmental Impact Statement is due to be filed this month. Source of this information is our local publication Pacific Business News.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.comfor Hawaii real estate information

Silent Sunday-Maui Sunsets

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:56:06 -0500

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I only had the cam in my Blackberry but it did a fair job of capturing an awesome sunset.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information

Foto Friday--Mountains vs Mountains

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:04:08 -0500

Oahu mountains...

...and Kauai mountains

Both are great places to visit and one is a very special place to live.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information

Annapolis Revisited

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:51:09 -0500

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Annapolis Maryland photo from my recent visit to see my new grandchild, Zoe. In the Summer, there is nary a vacant spot along the seawall. It's still quite picturesque without them.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information

Kauai Real Estate Status Snapshot

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:00:03 -0500

A snapshot of Kauai real estate listing inventory is shown below. At what I hope is the bottom of our market, it will serve as a basis of comparison for future updates.

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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

Silent Sunday-Hannibal

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:12:20 -0500

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Hannibal as seen from Lovers Leap.

Aloha, it's still Sunday in Hawaii

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information

Maui's Distressed Market Share

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:47:45 -0500

Some areas of the nation are seeing short and REO sales in such large numbers that they are the majority of all sales, I recently published a chart for Kauai showing distressed sales are only 1/4 of the market there. On Maui they are a little higher at almost 1/3 of overall sales in the month of September. That is still substantially less than the worst areas of the country. What remains to be seen is whether we have escaped the worst or whether it just hasn't arrived yet. I have joined the Keller Williams Realty short sale and REO team so as to be prepared in case it's the latter while hoping that it isn't.

Data below is based on agent reports for September which are not audited for accuracy.

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Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information

Kauai's Distressed Market Share

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:41:46 -0500

Some areas of the nation are seeing short and REO sales in such large numbers that they are the majority of all sales, On Kauai they were only about 1/4 of our overall sales in the month of September. What remains to be seen is whether we have escaped the worst or whether it just hasn't arrived yet. I have joined the Keller Williams Realty short sale and REO team so as to be prepared in case it's the latter while hoping that it isn't.

Data below is based on agent reports for September which are not audited for accuracy.

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Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information

Silent Sunday-A Piece of Tail

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:37:48 -0500

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Hawaii's Humpback whales are gone but will be returning early next year. This one continued to slap his tail on the water for about 5 minutes.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information

Kauai Sales Price Points Update

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 20:59:52 -0500

Kauai residential sales price points continue to move out of the lowest bands with the increase going to the $500K to $750K band. This suggests that our market is recovering from bargain basement prices early in the year when 2/3 of sales were below $500K. We're still a long way from what we were seeing at the peak of the market in 2006 when less than 1/4 of sales were less than $500K. One day we shall return to those price ponts but I'm not prescient enough to say when that will be. Hopefully there will be many who will be buying homes before that happens.

Currently (2009 Price Points Through September)

Previously (2009 Price Points Through February)

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information

Going Home 46 Years Later

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:11:55 -0500

It's always fun to visit my old home where I lived until going away to college. Back in 1963, one of my jobs was to release the windmill brake to pump water for the livestock. When I returned last month, I was amazed to see that the windmill is still there and it continues to pump away. These days, a new generation of windmills is sprouting up to generate electricity instead of merely pumping water.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information

Kauai "Seasonal" Real Estate Market for 2008

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:57:37 -0500

Having published data on Kauai "seasonal" closings averaged over the last 8 years, I though it would be interesting to see if current market conditions have caused any variation. As in the other chart, our "slow" season for closings continued to be the Winter months for 2008.

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information

Kauai "Seasonal" Real Estate Market

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:46:02 -0500

As one of the few states where "season" is based more on tourism than on climate, it's interesting to note that our 4 slowest months are the Winter months of November through February. This mirrors what I have heard about the mainland market but perhaps with somewhat less prounounced differences. The "Wagonwheel" chart below shows our closings by month averaged over the years of 2000 through 2008. Our biggest month is March which may be due to year-end visitors who decide to buy while they are here. The chart follows...

Aloha!

Engineering Hawaii Dreams Today--Helping Buyers Find Dream Homes & Sellers Find Buyers

Visit www.KauaiRocks.com for Hawaii real estate information