Big Island Market Update | Big Island Hawaii Real Estate Market Update

Aloha, I'm Josie Coleman with your Big Island Monthly Market Update for September 2026. The market we're in right now is still considered normal, and it's not flashy or particularly exciting like it has been in the past decade, but it's something. And I'd really break it down to fewer deals and bigger dollars when we look at this year compared to last year. Overall on the whole, island sales are down 8%. We see buyers are more deliberate and selective with inventory, but with the median price up by 10%, values continue to show resilience. As far as volume, we're seeing strong upper-tier activity driving sales by 55%. Let's look at each major market specifically. North Kona. A 50% jump in sales means buyers who were previously sitting on the fence due to elevated interest rates or record high prices are finally stepping back into the market. North Kona is more approachable than it was at its peak levels in early 2020s. With the median dipping 6.4%, buyers have more room to negotiate inspection credits, price adjustments, or seller buy-downs. However, the more than 55% increase in volume shows properties priced correctly are being absorbed before they hit that average days on market of 67. South Kona. With four sales in August of this year versus seven sales from last year at this time, a 42% plunge can feel a bit dramatic. But South Kona is a region characterized by agricultural parcels, coffee acreage, and hillside homes. So this kind of freeze is driven by two primary factors. Existing homeowners who hold substantial equity or low-rate fixed mortgages have little motivation to sell unless relocating. Now, buyers for this area, often looking for lifestyle properties, agricultural land, or second homes, are running up against higher borrowing costs, stricter insurance guidelines, especially in Lava Zone 2, and higher required cash-to-close scenarios. So despite transactions being nearly cut in half, the median sales price rose by 4%. Sellers are not engaging in panic fire sales or deep discounts even if their property is in Lava Zone 2 and the insurance scare has got them going. With transaction numbers cut nearly in half, the deals that did close include enough higher-priced acreages to cushion that total decline in volume. Thinking about relocating to the Big Island? Well, I've got just the thing for you. My team and I have actually taken the time to create the Ultimate Relocation Guide, which is meant to save you hours of research, and I've linked it down below, from top employers, the best hospitals, and a boatload of other things that you need to know before making the move. The best part is that this guide is 100% free. That's right, you heard me right, 100% free. Just click the link in the description or the top-pinned comment. Hope that helps. Next, we'll move down to Kau. First of all, for those of you that want to give some love to the Kau community since Hurricane Lala, if you feel inclined to donate to the costs of rebuilding in that community, I recommend checking out Hawaii Mutual Aid Network because it's a volunteer-led group that vets and creates direct community fundraisers. This provides financial support to impacted residents in the Kau district. For Kau, they had a 44% decline in closed transaction, which in general tells us that the buyer pool we're used to seeing in this area has pulled back since this time last year. We are basically at a price plateau as far as median sales price, and even though sales fell by nearly half, sellers are not engaging in price cutting to force sales. Keep that in mind. Because holding costs for properties in Kau are relatively low, we've got minimal property taxes and road fees, sellers generally prefer to let listings sit rather than deeply discount. For buyers that are pre-approved with a lender and can search in Lava Zone 2, you will probably see this affordability remain at this price plateau. Just don't forget Kau, you guys, and send some love their way. All right, moving on to Puna. Puna's market is seeing a much milder cooling in sales, and while it's still commanding those record-level values. A 14% decrease in closed sales is a modest slowdown compared to the other Big Island areas. As the most accessible price point for single-family homes on the island, Puna retains an active pool of local owner-occupants, helocommuters, and mainland relocators. A 10% year-over-year increase in median price proves that demand continues to outpace available inventory for residential homes, and the properties closing are increasingly modern, fully-permitted homes that command premium pricing. Volume remains essentially intact, just down by a fraction. For buyers, Puna is not offering discounts on turnkey homes, and while there are fewer competing offers than during those peak frenzy years, well-maintained homes in desirable divisions like Upper HBP, Keau, or other adjacent pockets, they continue to appreciate. Buyers should really focus negotiations on seller-paid closing costs, rate buy-downs, or credits for deferred maintenance rather than expecting low-ball pricing. For sellers, you maintain clear pricing power, but you must price according to closed comps. There's a lot of buyers that are discerning, and they see those comps from the early 2000s. Really, those unpermitted additions or neglected deferred maintenance will cause homes to sit, while newer permitted homes sell under the average days on market of 58. Next is Hilo. Hilo's transaction numbers held steady compared to last year at this time, but the price points where deals closed really shifted. In markets with older housing stock like Hilo, when interest rates consistently rise, borrowing power declines a bit. High-end, renovated homes can see fewer buyers. At the same time, entry-level plantation homes and fixer-uppers continue to sell, putting the median point downward. To keep deal volume moving at the exact same pace as last year, sellers had to lower asking prices and accept realistic offers that match today's financing constraints. The good news is that buyer demand in Hilo has not disappeared. Homes are selling, and accurate pricing is the only way to ensure a property doesn't sit on the market. And people seem to be doing that pretty well. These properties in Hilo are moving really fast. Next is Hamakua. These metrics illustrate a micro-sample size shift, so just keep that in mind. This is a small area, and individual properties completely dictate the district's metrics, making it impossible to make assumptions about the broad buyer behavior. While the median home price saw a healthy, modest increase of 12%, at least one or two of this year's five sales were high-value, luxury cliffside or large acreage estates. That high-end transaction pulled total dollar volume and the average price upward, while the median accurately tracked standard local residential pricing. Hey guys, it's Josie. As much as I love making these videos, there's one thing I love more, and that's helping people and families from all over the U.S. make the move here to the Big Island of Hawaii. I've helped countless families make the move, so whether you're coming out next week, next month, or next year, don't hesitate to reach out. My contact information is right here on the screen and linked in the description in case you miss the on-screen pop-up. I look forward to helping you and your family make the move to the Big Island. And we'll finish off with Kohala. So fewer everyday deals were closing. We're 18% down in sales. Standard residential buyers, such as local families and workforce buyers looking in Waikoloa Village, Central Waimea, or Kapa'au, faced elevated mortgage rates and tighter qualifying criteria, reducing the volume of lower to mid-tier sales. Existing homeowners holding substantial equity or historically low mortgage rates had little incentive to move, keeping turnover low among everyday single-family homes. Because the median only marks the midpoint of all closed transactions, a 15% dip simply reflects that more than half of the total closings happen to be probably lower-priced village homes, town cottages, or fixer-uppers relative to last year's midpoint. For total dollar volume to surge nearly fourfold while transactions dropped, we know several of those ultra-luxury mega-estates must have closed along the Kohala Coast this last month compared to last year at this time. So with the current market, for buyers, real leverage exists in the sub-luxury and rural sectors, of course. Overall sellers are more open to rate buy-downs, repair credits, and realistic negotiations than really at any point in the last four years. For sellers, aspirational testing-the- waters kind of pricing has ceased to work, really, in this market. Homes priced strictly to recent closed comps really sell quickly, and the listings that ignore current financing limits, they tend to sit on the market pretty much indefinitely. So as we navigate through this normal market, subscribe to this page to stay informed. If you're planning a move to the Big Island, download our Real Estate Relocation Guide for more information. So thank you so much. I'm Josie Coleman with EXP Realty and the agency team Hawaii. Aloha and mahalo nui for watching.