On Top of the Aloha Beat BLOG

Well, i finally got it right. We are electing a new mayor and seven county council members in November on Kauai. Today however was the primary election. If someone gets 50% of the mayoral vote, there will not be an election in November. And,  we are narrowing down the county council candidates from 22 to 14.

I headed off to the Kapaa Middle School to vote earlier this afternoon. After making my picks, I went to insert my ballot into the ballot machine. The machine spit it back out to me and the gentlemen helping said that i needed to blacken the square next to the candidate of my choice, not simply make an 'X'. OK. I went back and pressed hard with the pens and then came back to reinsert my ballot. NOPE. The machine spit the ballot back again and it was then i realized, I had selected eight, not seven, candidates for county council. Guess what? I had a "spoiled ballot". Oh well. Now, the election volunteers had to check me out, check my ID, and then have me sign several pieces of paper before starting me all over again.

The good news is, I finally got it right. If you have never been to Kauai, it is truly "small town" politics. Electioneers are spread all over the road, up and down the island, promoting their candidates. The leading mayoral candidate, a former football player, and the head of our Parks and recreation Department, seems to have more relatives than i have blades of grass in my yard. His teal and white signs were visible pretty much everywhere you turned. His name is Bernard Carvalho and he was the favorite son of our mayor, Bryan Baptiste, who passed away suddenly several months ago.

When you see these people in their T-shirts waving their placards, you just have to smile. At least that's what i do.  We'll hopefully find out tomorrow who is left in these two contests.

Apollo Kaua`i is a Kauai-based organization committed to sustainability and the environment. I received this email blast in support of Joann Yukimura who I feel is our best option for Kauai becoming more sustainable. Joann has quite a track record from her previous tenure as mayor when she started things like the Kaua`i bus and our current recycling programs. I thought I would post Apollo Kauai`s pitch since it makes a lot of sense to me.
 
We in Apollo Kauai have been studying the issues of our oil dependence 
and climate change for the last three years.  We have been educating 
ourselves and fellow residents about both the impacts and mitigation 
strategies for Kaua`I.  Our investigations and educational efforts 
have included numerous public meetings presenting renewable energy 
solutions, transportation, efficiency and conservation measures for 
saving energy, and a myriad of related subjects.  During this time, 
rising local electricity rates and ever-increasing transportation fuel 
costs as well as global events and awareness of climate changes have 
caused a call for urgent immediate action to address these energy 
issues.

Most recently, that call reached a fever pitch here on the Garden 
Island, when Maurice
Kaya, former head of the State Department of Business, Economic 
Development, and Tourism, as one of several presenters, addressed a 
room of over 200 Kauai officials business people, and concerned 
residents at an renewable energy event organized by the Office of 
Kauai Economic Development.  Mr. Kaya started his presentation with an 
insistence on the need for the people of Kaua`i to proceed with far 
greater urgency in addressing our energy dependence. He emphasized 
that we cannot simply consider this in a box, as ‘another’ social 
problem that will eventually resolve itself! He proceeded to outline 
the incredible fragility of our entire economy because of our total 
reliance on increasingly scarce and expensive petroleum.

Our energy crisis has been building for years, and despite the recent 
softening of oil prices, it is widely expected to worsen significantly 
in the foreseeable future.  And, despite interest in this or that 
possible technological ‘solution’ (algae, nanotechnology, cellulosic 
ethanol) there is very little disagreement in the energy industry that 
we are at the edge of a precipice. The single most important thing for 
local governments around the country in responding to this 
unprecedented crisis is clear recognition of it and to quickly begin 
implementing solutions.

We need a Mayor on Kauai who understands both the severity of our 
situation, and the appropriate responses to it. We need a Mayor who 
goes into office on day one as a strong proponent of the solutions 
that can benefit us the most. We need a Mayor who has the experience 
of having worked through real crisis situations before. We cannot 
afford anything less now.

Some may see this perspective as too pessimistic or alarmist, and 
choose not to think that they or their job or business on Kaua`I might 
be impacted by such abstractions; but we need to face the facts.  Most 
of us already see the affects of our electricity and transportation 
costs and the resulting rising costs of all goods, including food, 
and services.  If we can elect a Mayor who truly understands the 
urgency of our energy situation, we can move together as a community 
and successfully meet this challenge.

We can expand the bus system that Mayor Yukimura started; we can 
depend on affordable housing becoming a reality as in the past; we can 
transform the COOP that JoAnn Yukimura helped found; we can protect 
the rural Island that Mayor Yukimura has, countless times, defended; 
we can begin employing the conservation measures and green building 
practices which will  save our County energy. . With Mayor Yukimura’s 
leadership, we can avoid saddling the West Side with yet another toxic 
burden in a Waste to Energy Incinerator; and instead proceed with much 
more profitable and innovative recycling efforts.  We can expand the 
Farmer’s Markets that Mayor Yukimura championed, and by doing so, help 
promote more agriculture on Kaua`I, more small farms and more 
exporting of our products.  We can assist Kaua`I families and 
individuals who must live on limited or fixed incomes to save through 
energy saving incentives.

We cannot and should not rely on solutions to come from our State and 
Federal Government.  Instead, with Mayor Yukimura’s leadership 
assisting us in becoming more energy self-reliant; and in joining 
together, we can take responsibility for the well-being of our 
families, businesses and our communities right here on Kaua`i.

Apollo Kaua`I endorses JoAnn Yukimura as the person most capable of 
working with us to bring about the energy solutions we will need to 
enjoy  that optimistic future.

 

I agree!

I saw this today on a friend's blog and thought, OK I must put this on my blog. It's wake up call for all of us who think our life or work challenges are impossible. This short video reminded me to be thankful for all that i have been given. Click below to see what this chap accomplished, then ask yourself whether or not what YOU'RE trying to accomplish is really so difficult to pull off. For more pearls of inspiration from my friend Mitch's Blog, check out http://www.ideachampions.com

Short Sales and Foreclosures continue to be an ongoing part of our market on Kauai though not nearly as severe as many areas of California, Arizona, Florida, etc. Though we have not had many subprime fiascos, some mainland buyers did overextend with their vacation or investment homes, and some local families were prey to being given a loan they probably could not afford and thus, sadly, are losing their homes because the values are now lower than what they owe. Primarily the short sales are at the lower end of the home and condo market.

On Kauai only two of the short sale/foreclosure properties are above one million dollars in price. There are currently 35 properties out of our total inventory of just under 1700 properties. So, 2% of the market is a very small percentage compared to many mainland markets. Here are a few of the short sale highlights that seem most attractive:

1. This 3 bedroom, 2 bath home located in a great neighborhood on Lokelani Rd. in the mountains above Kapaa. Nice size kitchen, walk-in shower in the master bathroom, linoleum throughout the kitchen and hallway. There's a lot of room to expand this 1076 sqft home. Currently at 454K. View the MLS LIsting of this short sale.

 

2. Unit 2103 at the Cliffs in Princeville is now under 400,000.This turnkey furnished condo is in move-in condition and the ground floor is attractive for many owners not wishing to walk up steps. The Cliffs has a great homeowners association and have just opened their new office. The pool area will be remodeled next. View the MLS listing of this short sale

 

3. Looking for something in Kilauea town? -
GREAT investment property with a very versatile floor plan with permited additions! Currently home is rented as a 2 bedroom/1 bath main house and 2 attached studios with a total rental income of $3600. Newly remodeled, some of the new features include:
- bamboo floors in main living area
- solar fans
- new bathroom fixtures
- new tile countertops throughout

Purchased in 2005 for 720,000, this short sale is listed at 580K. View the MLS listing of this short sale.

 

One of the features of our MLS system, Hawaii Information Systems, is the ability to view market statistics. HIS as we kindly refer to it services the island of Kauai and the island of Hawaii. By simply selecting the island and the month, its pretty easy to look at a glance at the market numbers. Each month there are little footnotes to the information that provide more context for the numbers meaning. On the neighbor islands, Kauai, Maui and Hawaii, the summer season is often a very busy time as folks vacation with their families from the mainland and sales are generally higher. With the rise of airfare prices this summer has been softer than the past  several years and that of course effects real estate volume. The next surge in buyer traffic generally occurs right before Christmas and continues through the winter as snowbirds and Canadiens seek a warm refuge from the cold.

The MLS generates three reports. They are:

1. Sales Numbers -i.e., how many transactions occurred

2. Sales Volume - i.e., what was the total dollar volume of the transactions

3. Median Price - i.e. - defined as the price of the house that falls in the middle of the total number of homes for sale in that area.

I have highlighted a few cells in each table to point out a couple of things. The trend continues to be downward on prices and numbers of sales. The market gets ever more attractive for buyers especially in light of the possibility of interest rates rising after the election. In the first table, numbers of sales, notice the total numbers at the very top. So, for August the number of sales compared to August of 2007 was down 36.92%. For the year, the total number of transactions is currently down 36.97%. So that number around 37% seems to be pretty consistent for now. As you can see from the numbers, Kauai is a small island and therefore any particular region of the island (the chart is divided into the five zones that our taxkey system is comprised of) can be dramatically effected by even a single sale. Notice on the right column of the first chart that residential sales stay strongest while land sales are weakest or down the most in numbers.

 

 

Notice in this second table of sales numbers that while the sales in the North Shore district, Hanalei, Princeville, Haena, etc. were down 92% for the month of August, for the year both land and condo sales volume is down the least in this zone of the island. That is primarily due to the sales of a new luxury condo, Kaiulani, which i have blogged about previously. Last August 2007, a number of those units closed and therefore this August looks bleak comparatively.

 

 

 

The final chart shows median price and again you can see the effects of Kaiulani. Because the luxury condos at Kaiulani sell for between 800,000 and 2.7 Million, their sales have effected the median condo price of the Hanalei zone. These all are in taxkey 4 dash 5. This does not mean that the prices of condos in Princeville has gone up over 2%. In fact they have not but looking at the numbers out of context you could draw a different conclusion.

Hope this provided a little insight on these numbers. If you have a specific question on a range or the meaning of this info, drop me an email and I'd be delighted to respond.