After the eruption began in early May, many people who have been on the fence about buying a home in West Hawaii were waiting to see if housing prices would start to drop. Potential buyers were waiting for the statistics from June to see how the eruption may have affected the market in West Hawaii. Numbers are in from the Hawaii Information Service and what LUVA Real Estate agents are seeing is this, across the island, home sales have dropped less than 2% year over year and year to date, they have dropped 2.59%. Median prices for single-family homes have increased 9.11% year over year and year to date, prices have increased 7.46%. Islandwide, condo prices have increased by 12.95% so far this year.

For North Kona, 52 single family homes sold last June compared to 55 this year, a 5.77% increase. For condos, 49 units sold last June and 39 sold this year a 20% decrease. Year to date 275 single family homes have sold compared to 272 last year, which is a 1% gain year over year. For condos, however, 226 have sold from January to June this year, compared to 246 last year, which is an 8.13% drop. The median price of single-family homes in this area decreased 2% year over year from $675,250 to $660,500. Condominium prices jumped 10.24% year over year from $317,500 to $350,000 and year to date prices are up 12.16%.

South Kohala saw a 5.77% increase in home sales year over year and a 1.10% gain year to date. The median price for a single-family home has risen 5.45% from January to $600,000 in June and condos have increased 2.54% from $512,000 in January 2018 to $525,000 in June.

Lance Owens, LUVA Realtor, stated that LUVA has not seen home buyers backing out of escrows, although that has been reported in a few title companies due to worried homebuyers who are unsure of living on an active volcano! Homes are staying on the market on average for only 22 days right now and there still is a general lack of available inventory, which is keeping prices steady and actually rising. People who have made plans to purchase homes here are still moving ahead with their plans and according to quite a few of our new buyers, they are very excited to start living their new lives on our island.

If you would like more information about a specific neighborhood or area you are searching in, please contact LUVA Real Estate today and we can get more in-depth information to you.

Pictured is the view from LUVA Real Estate agent, Yuki Laliberte’s listing in Halii Kai, Waikoloa Resort.