- Image via Wikipedia
The Poipu real estate market, part of the larger Kauai housing market, has seen an increase in condominium sales despite a relative stasis in single family home sales. According to an October 5, 2010 article from Pacific Business News, “Condominium sales on Kauai rose substantially in September, while the number of single-family homes sold remained unchanged from last year, according to statistics from the Hawaii Information Service. There were 16 single-family homes sold last month, the same as September 2009, but the median price for those homes rose nearly 5 percent to $496,750, up from $474,500. The 20 condo units sold last month represented a 54 percent increase from the 13 units sold in September 2009. The median price, however, fell 40 percent to $299,500, down from $501,500. The September figures nearly mirror the pattern for the first nine months of the year. Single-family home sales were up 49 percent through the third quarter, with 251 homes sold, while the median price of $465,000 was up 3 percent over last year. Year-to-date condo sales of 178 units were up 57.5 percent from the same period last year, while the median price of $350,000 was down 11 percent from last year.”
One project, which was intended to include dozens of luxury homes for sale in the greater Poipu region, was recently foreclosed at auction. An October 6, 2010 report from the Honolulu Star Advertiser found that “A California-based investment firm keen on acquiring distressed real estate in Hawaii has bought most of a nearly empty luxury residential subdivision in foreclosure on Kauai. Kennedy Wilson of Beverly Hills, Calif., acquired 63 lots and six model homes at the Wainani at Kiahuna subdivision spread around five holes of the Kiahuna Golf Club on Kauai’s South Shore. The subdivision is one of Hawaii’s starkest examples of how hard the real estate market downfall hit developers of luxury residences largely aimed at wealthy second-home buyers. Wainani was planned by local development firm Maryl Group in partnership with an affiliate of insurance giant American International Group, or AIG. The roughly $60 million project was in the early stages of development in 2006 near the height of Hawaii’s real estate frenzy, and plans called for selling 70 homes for about $2 million each. But after subdivision infrastructure and model homes were completed, only one home was sold for $1.65 million in mid-2008, according to property records.”
