Last month I started my housing video by saying the interest rates had dropped and how this will be so fantastic for the housing market. My, my, my how things can change in just one short month and I’m not going to belabor what has happened.
What I will say is our real estate market has some new headwinds. Hawaii is no stranger to the headwinds of higher oil prices, a military conflict, and interest rates that took a dip and went back up. This is not our first rodeo, it’s not even our second or third rodeo with these headwinds and even worse events.
I’m thinking of a sign I saw in a gift shop over here: Keep Calm and Carry On. We’re going to do just that and we’ll start by looking at the first three months of Kauai residential real estate activity. Here are the number of sales, which are not so good, but wait until we get to the median prices, it’s a bit shocking in a good way.
What the First Three Months Are Telling Us
- Island wide there were 79 homes that sold compared to 136 last year a -41.91% decrease.
- The South Shore is down -46.15% in their number of sales from 52 last year to 28 this year.
- Lihue was even selling 21 homes for both 2025 and 2026 Year To Date.
- The North Shore was down by -25% going from 6 homes sold for the first three months of 2026 compared to 8 the year before.
So that was rough but in looking at what did sell the median prices went up! One of the factors that is helping home sales is the high cost of building. Buyers who have vacant lots are getting sticker shock at the cost to build a home and I can’t see, with all that is happening this getting better anytime soon. This is benefitting our existing housing inventory.
Price Growth by Region
- Island wide our median price is up 20.70% going from $1,150,000 at the end of March last year to this year’s $1,388,000.
- The South Shore took a hit in their number of sales but are up by 5.57% at $1,350,000 compared to last year’s $1,278,750.
- The North Shore is now at $2,632,000 and last year they were at $2,375,000, a 10.82% increase.
- Lihue was less than 1% in their increase at $1,150,000 compared to $1,140,000 last year.
Stay Informed on Kauai Real Estate
What is going to happen in this month of April? I couldn’t hazard a guess but I welcome you to join me at the beginning of May and we’ll review it all.
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Aloha!
Lynda Gill RS Lic. 63088
Hawai’i Life Real Estate Brokers 808.346.0056
LyndaGill@HawaiiLife.com
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