Homebuyers on Kauai and Hawaii island last year generally purchased fewer properties but paid higher prices that produced a record in one market segment despite COVID-19 impacts.
According to a report released Tuesday, the median sale price for single-family homes on Kauai surged 23% to a record $810,000 last year from $659,900 the year before.
The report from Hawaii
Information Service showed median sales prices rose broadly across the Garden Isle, including regions with many vacation homes and regions with more primary housing.
For instance, the median sale price for single-family homes surged 17% to $699,500 last year in Lihue from $599,790 the year before. In Hanalei the median price jumped 23% to $1.35 million from $1.1 million in the same period. Three other regions in the report — Waimea, Koloa and Kawaihau — also posted increases.
The median price is a point where half the sales were at a higher price and half were at a lower price.
Sale volume for Kauai single-family homes decreased 9% to 531 transactions last year from 581 the year before.
Home sales last year were buffeted by a number of forces related to the novel coronavirus, which included severe job and wage losses that reduced the ability of many residents to buy homes.
There were also some
restrictions on showing homes to prospective buyers, and restrictions on tourism dramatically reduced visitor arrivals that include potential vacation-home buyers.
At the same time, record-
low interest rates made homes more affordable, and some sales were driven by out-of-state buyers who viewed Hawaii as a safer place to live given that COVID-19 infection rates were higher in most mainland states.
In Kauai’s condominium market the median sale price dipped 3% to $549,000 last year from a record $565,000 the year before.
There were 351 Kauai condo sales last year, down 18% from 430 a year earlier.
Hawaii Information’s report for the two neighbor islands is based on data from the Kauai Board of Realtors and Hawaii Island Realtors trade associations.
On Hawaii island the
median sale price for single-
family homes rose 8% to $410,000 last year from $378,420 the year before. Last year’s gain was the ninth consecutive annual increase and the biggest since a 13% rise in 2013. However, a record median price of $421,000 set in 2006 still stands.
The number of single-
family home sales on Hawaii island rose 9% to 2,653 last year from 2,434 the year before.
For Hawaii island condos the number of sales fell 13% last year to 750 from 862 the year before, and the median price rose 9% to $395,000 from $362,000 in the same period. A median sale price record for Big Isle condos was set in 2006 at $426,498.
