Kauai Real Estate Update for Sept 2023

Aloha! Hope you’re doing great.  I’ve got some fresh news on what’s happening with houses and land here on Kauai as of Sept 1st, 2023.

(click here for detailed report)

So, Kauai is this amazing place, right? Far from the mainland, with awesome views and that perfect island weather. Because of all this, lots of folks come to me wondering if now’s a good time to buy or sell their place here.

I’ve heard some people say they’re hoping home loan rates might go down or prices will fall.  Nearly 40% of the sales are cash and we have a historically low availability of properties. (Down nearly 65% from start of 2020)   So, honestly, I can’t predict what rates or prices will do. But I can sure tell you what’s happening right now! Prices are going up and we have a housing shortage and affordability challenge on Kauai.

You might have heard about the rough summer the US had with fires and floods. Especially after Maui’s big fires, more folks might want to buy homes here in Kauai. And when more people want homes, prices often go up. It’s just how things work.

Even with all that’s happened, Kauai’s the average sales price has increased slightly.  But we did sell fewer houses – about 35% fewer. And you know, when fewer houses are available and people still want to buy, prices tend to go up. That’s what happened here: our prices went up by about 3.5% this year.

Kauai has lots of super expensive houses, not very many where most people can afford to purchase. . More than other parts of Hawaii.   Sure, places like the Big Island have cheaper homes, but Kauai is mostly in a league of its own when it comes to affordability and availability..

The main thing? There just aren’t enough houses or condos for everyone who wants one. Like, if you go back 10 years, we had 65% less properties for sale and 87% less than 2008 (last real estate crash).  And we’ll need a lot more properties in the coming years (nearly 5000 according to government reports). Yet, even though we’re trying to build more houses, it’s to expensive, not enough suitable lands, or infrastructure.  I don’t know if we will ever have enough just to make up the shortage. =

Almost everyone on Kauai feels this housing crunch. It’s tough. Some folks are even leaving the island because of it, from builders to teachers to doctors.

So, as of 2023, finding an affordable home on Kauai? Not so easy. And it might stay that way for a while.