Big Island

Puakea Bay Ranch – Strong Sales in 2024

Puakea Bay Ranch is a gated subdivision of just under three dozen parcels, located on the leeward coast of North Kohala just before Akoni Pule Highway swings eastward towards Hawi. In the first half of 2024, two vacant lots and three homes have sold at Puakea Bay Ranch, a strong period of sales activity after a lull in 2023 when only one lot and one home sold.

whale statue at puakea bay ranch on big island hawai

Puakea Bay Ranch is an oceanfront community with remarkable whale watching in season. Sunset and Maui views are year round pleasures.

Sales Activity Strong but Prices Stable at Puakea Bay Ranch in First Half 2024

In 2023, only one home sold at Puakea Bay Ranch. This residence was a newer (2020) 4-bedroom home with 3,360 sq ft, low maintenance landscaping, and an attractive pool, sold for $2,266,000 or $674/sq ft.

A single lot of 10 acres sold for $450,000 in 2023, the basic prince range of a standard Puakea Bay Ranch lot since 2022.

The two vacant lots sold so far this year — but only one was a stand-alone sale. The independently sold vacant lot sold for $440,000 — stable since 2022.

The second lot sold together with the adjacent house (lots above and below what is essentially a home on 20 acres are listed for sale — this was originally a home on 40 acres). The value assigned to the lot was $475,000, with the residence at $4,040,000 — working out to $745/sq ft for this extensively remodeled home with guest quarters and equestrian facilities.

home with horse property at puakea bay ranch

Puakea Bay Ranch has few homes with actual equestrian facilities in place as does this home sold in 2024, but does have riding trails ringing the community and all lots are 10 acres.

An attractive home built in 2016 sold for $2,350,000 — a very reasonable $537/sq ft — but this home did not have a swimming pool, something most buyers in this location and price range value.

The real bargain though was the home that sold for $1,950,000 — and that the sellers had purchased two years earlier for $2,300,000. We are only seeing the first sales of residences  purchased in the 2021-2022 landmark post-pandemic sales rush — and some have done well, making a tidy profit. Other properties with less desirable sales profiles are retrading lower than the previous sale. In this case the home is older (2001) and two-story with the master upstairs, and that would limit the pool of interested buyers.

No Homes and Only Three Lots for Sale at Puakea Bay Ranch

As mentioned above, two lots that were originally part of a 40-acre equestrian estate at Puakea Bay Ranch are still for sale, asking $485,000 for the 10-acre lot essentially adjacent to the riding arena in the photograph above (Lot 6), or $495,000 for the 10-acre lot below the estate picture in the photo (lot 9).

A third lot is one of the few that are just above the oceanfront park area, oriented with their long sides perpendicular rather than parallel to the ocean. This 10-acre lot is listed for $1,350,000.

puakea bay ranch oceanfront cove

Owners at Ranch at Puakea have access to a sweet little oceanfront cove

If I were going to consider the more expensive, closer to the ocean lot at Puakea Bay Ranch, I would first look next door at Ranch at Puakea — a community of only thirteen lots. The only listing of a non-oceanfront parcel is asking $1,090,000 for 20 acres. I know this lot well — once upon a time I had the adjacent lot listed and the two were fenced together. I staged the lot with horses and probably walked every square foot of it with them.

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