Big Island Real Estate Market News

The market in and around Kona continues to be fast paced and is setting new price records in many neighborhoods. Sales of single family homes up to 600K and vacant land are particularly brisk as the winter tourist season begins to wind down. Buyers are often ready, willing and able to buy, but cannot find the right property due to decreased inventory and increasing list prices. This is frustrating to both the buyers and their agents. The lower interest rates have just fueled the fire; many buyers who put off buying last fall are now eager to proceed. We are doing our best to help them find properties that meet their needs and desires!

Winter Storms!

Hawaii has been the target of several strong storm systems over the past month. One strong system spawned winds that took the roofs off of several homes in South Kona and carved a swath of destruction through mac nut orchards and yards. Many trees were uprooted or sheared off and smaller farm buildings were destroyed. The National Weather Service has been investigating the damage to determine if it was caused by a small tornado, or simply high winds. Heavy rainfall along with power outages and flash flooding has been a weekly occurrence in some areas of the Big Island over the last few weeks along with high surf. It has certainly been an “interesting” weather pattern for the winter!

Having just returned from a sojourn in Boston, I can say without hesitation that our winter weather is much more pleasant than the snow and cold winds of New England. It snowed twice while we were there, but then that just made the chowder taste that much better!! Boston is a great town, but it was very nice to come back home, storms and all.

Whales

The annual migration of the humpback whales from Alaskan waters to the warm Hawaiian coastal waters has been somewhat disappointing this year. Many of us have noticed that spotting the whales from shore has been more difficult and the overall numbers seem to be down from the record numbers seen in recent years. One source explained that this year more of the whales favored the Baja coast than had done so in the past. It will be interesting to see what happens next year.

I was able to enjoy a spectacular show of breaching whales while at the public access area of North Beach at the Four Seasons Resort in late February. It was a beautiful day and the whales seemed to be enjoying it as much with their joyful play as the humans on shore. Watching whales is one of the special pleasures of living in Kona. I am always sad to see them depart in April, but perhaps the transient nature of their presence makes them that much more of a natural treasure.

Big Island Real Estate Market News

Waikoloa Village has recently shown significant resale activity in both residential and land listings. Lots have jumped from an average of around 100K at this time last year to recent sales of 149K and up. Homes have shown significant increases as well, with the average home price for one year ago for a 3/2 in the neighborhood of 325K and today’s average in the mid to high 400’s.

Waikoloa Village is a nice family neighborhood with a strong neighborhood association. It is located about 45 minutes north of Kailua-Kona, near the resorts of the Kohala coast. There is a neighborhood elementary school, and students go on to attend Kealakehe Intermediate and High School here in Kona. Bus service is provided. Waikoloa Village boasts a shopping center, post office, restaurants, and of course, the golf course and swimming pool. For additional information on this neighborhood, just give me a call; maybe it’s right for you!

Coffee Farming

As new owners of a small coffee farm, my husband and I have been eagerly awaiting the first harvest. Well, this past weekend we were able to pick the first 8.5 pounds of ripe cherry. This tiny amount is just the very beginning of the harvest. We couldn’t bear to let it go to waste, so we picked it ourselves and separated the cherry from the beans manually. Now the beans are drying in the sun and we will remove the silvery outer skin when they are dry. After that, we can roast our first batch of coffee! We have been told that it will be about 3 more weeks before the real picking begins. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

After each rain, the trees burst forth in a profusion of snowy white blossoms. The coffee tree is related to the gardenia with its dark green, shiny leaves and fragrant white flowers.

As the cherry ripens, it changes from dark green to red. It is common to have all stages, from flower to ripe red cherry, present at the same time.

This is one of the first ripe cherries. In the two weeks since this was taken, many more have started to ripen.