Kohala Ranch – Residential Sales Shift to Larger Homes and Price Points

When I wrote in June that Kohala Ranch Homes were selling again, there were four in escrow and seven active listings. By October, I reported that those had closed, two more were in escrow, but fortunately, some new listings had come on market. Here we are in mid-December, and there have been three closings in the past six weeks and six pending sales. Some of those sales will not close until after the first of the year, but we are on track to potentially match the record 19 Kohala Ranch residential sales in 2019.

And…there are only three active listings at Kohala Ranch…two of them at eye-popping prices.

Kohala Ranch: a gated community of homes on acreage with ocean views, year-round sunsets, and whale watching in season.

Higher Median Price Does Not Mean Individual Home Prices Are Up

I can never figure out why the media is so fond of reporting changes in “median home price.” As we all remember, there are three ways to calculate an average; median home price is the sale in the middle. Half the homes sold at a lower price, and half the homes sold at a higher price than this home.

At Kohala Ranch, the median price seems to have jumped around 35% from 2019 to 2020…but that does not mean you can list your home this year for a third more than you could last year. It just means the more expensive homes that had been sitting on the market for a long time finally became popular as buyers shifted towards larger homes more suitable for their pandemic and post-pandemic lifestyle.

How much are home prices actually up? The highest sale year to date was a 3,447 sq ft home on 5 acres with fabulous ocean views that was listed for $2,750,000 and sold for $2,722,500. That same property sold in 2015 for $2,600,000, the top sale of that year. In short, it was up about 5% over a 5-year period.

Another home in the $2 million range that changed hands in 2019 and again in 2020 had some investment and was sold at almost 15% higher than it was purchased for. After expenses…probably not much of a profit.

Only Three Active Listings at Kohala Ranch – All Large Estate Homes

The bottom line of that little digression is to say that demand caught up with supply but has so far not significantly pushed up the price at which a particular Kohala Ranch home is likely to sell. That is good news for buyers, and with plenty of buyers still floating around, reasonably priced listings will sell quickly.

Of the three active listings, one of them fits in that “reasonably priced category,” which is why the one I describe as a mini-resort…which sold as my listing for $2,700,000 in 2019…should find another buyer easily with its $2,950,000 asking price.

My favorite Kohala Ranch home just fell out of escrow…a self-contained resort on 5 acres asking $2,950,000

Around the corner from that home in the Heathers is a listing for $3,300,000. Like the other Kohala Ranch home, it has 7 bedrooms; in this case, bedrooms are configured with five in the main house and two in an attached guest dwelling. It was acquired by the present sellers in 2018 as a pretty trashed foreclosure, for what at the time we thought was a jaw-dropping $1,342,425. Do we think the sellers have added $2 million, $400/sq ft in value? Just a rhetorical question.

Up in the Summit, a new listing has come on market at $4,600,000. I like the property for several reasons, but the price seems ambitious given that only one home in Kohala Ranch has sold for over $3 million. Ever. The two highest sales at Kohala Ranch were in 2005, and then $2,800,000 seemed to be the ceiling for the past 15 years. There are some other gorgeous properties likely to come on the market if prices reach into the $3-4 million range, but in the meantime, the demand will likely continue to be highest under $2 million at Kohala Ranch.