About Honolulu County, HI

My Favorite Honolulu Neighborhoods: Portlock, in the Hawaii Kai Region

Without question Portlock is one of the most affluent neighborhoods found on Oahu. Located on a peninsula overlooking the ocean on the southwestern slopes of Koko head, Portlock offers some absolutely spectacular ocean, cliff and mountain views. As you drive to Hanauma Bay, this neighborhood would be located on your right, with beach front estates, ocean view mansions and more luxury homes on the slopes. The location is convenient to all that Hawaii Kai has to offer and is just minutes from Hawaii Kai Town Center, the Koko Marina Shopping Center and more.

Portlock is perhaps one of the most prestigious areas of Hawaii Kai, and with no future plans to develop any higher up on the slopes of Koko Head, the exclusiveness of this area is retained. In fact, Henry Kaiser himself, who developed and built Hawaii Kai, built his own huge estate there, overlooking Maunalua Bay and Diamond Head. Homes in this neighborhood were built on large lots, mostly 12,000 to 15,000 square feet in size where homes average roughly $4 million in price.

Portlock Road runs parallel to the beautiful blue waters of Maunalua Bay. Homes on the water side enjoy gorgeous views of the Bay and Diamond Head and many have white, sandy beaches. There is a decent surf break not far just offshore, and also a small public beach that is primarily used by local residents. With this neighborhood located just off Kalanianaole Highway, it’s an easy drive to the freeway (H1) and downtown Honolulu. Heading east, residents can enjoy Hanamua Bay, the Makapuu Lighthouse and even drive a short distance to the windward side of the island. Residents of Portlock can easily enjoy all that suburban Hawaii Kai has to offer, but yet be just fifteen minutes from busy Metropolitan Honolulu and Waikiki.

View Current Homes for Sale in the Portlock Neighborhood of the Hawaii Kai Region of Honolulu

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A good story doesn't cost a thing...so what's your story?

Lets face it just about everyone enjoys a good story, even the potential buyers looking at your property for sale. In Hawaii we call it Talking Story which colloquially means both story telling and social conversation. When it comes to Real Estate Merchandising and Marketing, storytelling or in this case Story-SELLING is more than just anecdotal ice breakers or idle gossip but a highly evolved art of association that casts the potential buyer as the protagonist in the drama that is your property for sale.

In the antiques and diamond selling business it's called provenance. Similar to a chain of title in Real Estate terms the provenance of a unique and valuable asset is the history of it's ownership from it's creation to it's current owner. Sometimes it is the very history of the object that closes the deal for the purchaser and not so surprisingly it is the emotional connection to the narrative that often motivates the purchase. Case in point the infamous Hope Diamond has an astonishing and storied provenance and a purportedly notorious curse. The large blue diamond was first introduced to Evelyn McClean, Washington socialite and owner of the Washington Post, by renowned French jeweler Pierre Cartier. Knowing the power of storytelling, Monsieur Cartier cleverly presented the diamond wrapped in paper and did not reveal the stone until he told it's storied and colorful past, at which point Mrs. McClean demanded to see it. Although, Cartier did not make the sale that day, Mrs. McClean did purchase the legendary gem shortly there after and it is said she did so largely because of it's story and curse.

Talking story to potential buyers can instantly push the purchase potential from luke warm to hot to trot and the reasoning behind this is: consumers like to feel emotionally connected to their environments. If you have ever walked into a home that is several hundred years or older there is often a revelation of the humanity associated with the space and the many generations that have lived there. It is here that the story teller turns wear and tear into nostalgia; an empty room into the birth place of a dynasty; a dank basement into a former speakeasy; and a cool consumer into a burning buyer. The narrative should of course be truthful but it doesn't have to include famous people, major events, or end happily for that matter. It just has to convey emotion in a way that is relatable to the buyer. Granted you will probably want to leave certain information as a discreet disclosure as necessary. It doesn't take a Stephen King to know that horror as a genre may sell movies and books but not necessarily homes, obviously discretion should be used.

My Favorite Honolulu Neighborhoods: Mariners Ridge, in the Hawaii Kai Region

This hillside neighborhood is located just past the Hawaii Kai Post Office and is reached via Kaluanui Road and climbs a ridge of the Koolau mountains and overlooks Hahione Valley. House lots in this neighborhood are generally hilly or sloped. Because of this, views of the ocean, Koko Head, Koko Crater, Hawaii Kai and the inner harbor and canals are outstanding, many are panoramic.

Most of the homes built in Mariner’s Ridge were built in the early 1970′s. Roughly 275 homes were built by a California developer in the lower two thirds of the ridge at this time. In later years over 150 lots were sold in the upper section of the ridge, where owners built custom homes. Today homes in this area total 429.

The average home is roughly 1,600 to 2,800 square feet in size with lots average 9,000 to 10,000 sqaure feet and many, because of such steep sloping lots, have multiple stories or floors, taking advantage of the hillside and views.

View Current Homes for Sale in the Mariners Ridge Neighborhood of the Hawaii Kai Region of Honolulu

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My Favorite Honolulu Neighborhoods: Koko Villas, in the Hawaii Kai Region

Koko Villas is located on the east side of Koko Crater right next to the Hawaii Kai Golf Course and the communities of Queens Gate and Laulima. Seventy homes were built between 2005 and 2006 featuring three to four bedroom homes ranging in size from about 2,000 to 3,100 square feet with 7,000 square foot lots.

This is one of the newest and more modern neighborhoods in Hawaii Kai, with a plantation style of architecture, many homes have large roof overhangs, large windows, high ceilings and large yards.

Some homes have views of the Hawaii Kai Golf Course and some will have ocean views looking over Sandy Beach.

View Current Homes for Sale in the Koko Villas Neighborhood of the Hawaii Kai Region of Honolulu

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The Oahu Real Estate stats continue to show an active market with sales increasing, days on market low, and extremely low inventory levels. Normally, those stats indicate upward price pressure for Oahu real estate , and would be giving us climbing median prices. Median prices have remained unusually, almost inexplicably flat!!!

The reason could be a combination of the way median prices are calculated, and the high number of first time home buyers. First, median price calculation. Median price measures changes in choices, more than it measures changes in market value. This is because to calculate median, you list all of the sales by price from low to high, then choose the sales price that is in the physical ‘middle’ of the list of prices. Median Oahu Real Estate price is not technically a mathematical calculation. Add to this the high number of first time home buyers who purchase at the lower end of the price spectrum. When taken together, we have a large number of Oahu buyers choosing to buy at the lower end of the price spectrum, so the “middle” number will tend to be a lower sales price. This would explain why condo prices appear to be falling….. First time home buyers disproportionately purchase condos.

We see Oahu single family home median prices drifting upward, and Oahu condo prices drifting downward.