The May 2013 market statistics are available!  Below is a summary of how the Kauai real estate market is doing year to date so far for 2013 compared to this same time last year.

Just as expected, the May statistics show residential, condominium, and vacant land sales are continuing to show increases when you consider sales island wide, year to date, when compared with 2012. However, some areas of the island are doing much better than others, and some areas still show a decrease when comparing 2013 year to date sales with last year.

When you look at just the month of May 2013 compared to the month of May 2012, some areas of the island show decreases, some were about the same, and some showed increases.  The largest jump island wide continues to be in vacant land sales!  The last few years we saw the greatest values in existing homes, but as inventory decreases and buyer demand increases, prices are trending upwards.  As a result, land sales are increasing as it makes economic sense in some areas to build rather than buy an existing home.

Residential Sales

Year to date island wide residential sales are up 8.77% compared to this same time last year.  There have been 186 residential sales so far this year, compared with 171 last year. Year to date sales volume shows a very slight increase of .30%. The median sales price has increased 11.67% to $502,500 year to date compared with $450,000 in 2012.

Condo Sales 

The number of condos sold island wide has increased when compared to 2012.  There have been 134 condos sold year to date compared with 127 sold last year; an increase of 5.51%.  The sales volume for condos also increased. There was approx. $45.6m in sales last year compared with approx. $70.8m in sales so far this year; an increase of 55.05%.  As I mentioned last month, the large increase in sales volume was due to the sale of the 21 acre land parcel in Poipu where the Royal Palms condominiums were to be built.  The parcel closed in mid February for $13m. Although the property is currently a large vacant land parcel with nothing built on it, it was sold as condos because it is entitled for 165 separate condo units and could have been sold as separate condominium units. If you take that sale out of the equation, condo sales volume had a year to date increase of $12.1m; a 26.5% increase. The median sales price for condos also increased to $335,000 from $285,000 in 2012; a 17.54% increase. However, this figure is also influenced by the $13m sale mentioned above.

Vacant Land

Buyers are continuing to buy land like we have not seen in a few years!  The number of vacant land parcels sold year to date increased quite a bit compared with 2012 thanks to all the closings that occurred in April and May.  There were 12 vacant land parcels sold in May making the year to date total 69 sales compared to 45 at this time last year; an increase of 53.33%.  Sales volume for vacant land increased nearly 60%.  There were approx. $16.8m in sales in 2012 compared with approx. $26.2m so far this year.  The median sales price increased 12.40% from $258,000 to $290,000.  As we saw in April, the majority of vacant land parcels sold in May were on the south shore (Koloa Region).

Market Statistics by Area

The above summary is a look at the market statistics year to date, island wide.  If you’d like to know how the market performed in a specific area of the island for a specific time period just let me know.  I’d be happy to speak with you anytime or I can email you a summary.

Looking ahead…there are currently 131 residential properties, 88 condominiums, and 66 land parcels in escrow.