Every real estate office on this island puts out a monthly numbers sheet, usually the same week, usually with a stock photo of a beach and a headline written to make whatever happened sound great. We are not doing that this month, because August does not cooperate with that plan. Kailua-Kona single-family sales were up 50 percent year over year, 36 closings instead of 24, genuinely good news. Condos in the same town fell 45 percent and are sitting on the market about half again as long. Both happened in the same month in the same zip code, and a report that only led with the happy number would leave out half the story.
Brenda has sold real estate on this island for 35 years, which mostly means she carries a mental spreadsheet of what every listing sold for going back decades and does not need Zillow to check her own work. I spent 35 years as a transactional and litigation real estate attorney before trading a law office for a beach commute, so I have read the paperwork on more deals that fell apart than I care to remember, and I also sit on the county’s Real Property Tax Appeals Board, which mostly qualifies me to explain why your tax bill is wrong. What we actually bring to this report is simpler than either of those things: we pull the Coldwell Banker MLS numbers, the West Hawaii Association of Realtors district figures, and Title Guaranty’s recorded deed data, and check them against each other. They do not always agree, and this month they really do not, so let’s start there.
Title Guaranty’s recorded deeds show roughly 92 condo transactions closing islandwide in August. The MLS shows 30. That is not a typo, and it does not mean one dataset is wrong. It means a lot of condo activity, family transfers, private sales, deals that never touched the open market, is happening off the MLS entirely. The MLS says the condo market is soft. The recorded deeds say something more is going on underneath it.
The Big Picture
Kailua-Kona had 36 single-family home sales in August, up from 24 a year ago, and that is the number that matters more than the median price this month. Thin months make medians jumpy, and August was not thin on the house side. Those homes also moved faster, a median 32 days on market versus 38 last August, telling us serious buyers are still out there for anything priced right.
Condos are the opposite story. Twelve sales in Kailua-Kona, down from 22, median down 14 percent to $496,500, days on market up to 65 from 44 last year. South Kona, meaning Captain Cook and Kealakekua, was quiet across the board: 4 sales, down from 7, taking 66 days to find a buyer versus 20 days last August.
Right now this reads like a market that rewards speed if you are buying a house and patience if you are selling a condo, which is an odd sentence to write but an accurate one.
The Numbers
Single-Family Homes, Kailua-Kona (North Kona)
Metric | August 2026 |
|---|---|
Median sale price | $1,062,000 (down 6% year over year) |
Number of sales | 36 (up 50% year over year) |
Median days on market | 32 (down from 38, a 16% drop) |
Single-Family Homes, South Kona (Captain Cook)
Metric | August 2026 |
|---|---|
Median sale price | $678,000 (up 4% year over year) |
Number of sales | 4 (down 43% year over year) |
Median days on market | 66 (up from 20, more than triple) |
Condominiums, Kailua-Kona
Metric | August 2026 |
|---|---|
Median sale price | $496,500 (down 14% year over year) |
Number of sales | 12 (down 45% year over year) |
Median days on market | 65 (up from 44, up 49%) |
The number that matters most here is the pairing of that 50 percent jump in Kailua-Kona house sales with a shorter time on market. Buyers are moving fast on well-priced single-family homes right now, and the condo numbers next to them make the split hard to miss.
What This Means for Buyers
If you are watching the Kailua-Kona house market from the mainland, the takeaway is that competitive, well-priced homes are not waiting around. A 32 day median in the Palisades or Keauhou means a good listing will not sit there while you make up your mind. If you are shopping condos instead, you are in a better negotiating position than the sales numbers alone suggest, and the honest answer is that nobody on this island, us included, has landed on a single clean explanation for the 45 percent drop. Insurance costs, HOA increases, interest rates, and short-term rental uncertainty all come up every week, usually in the same conversation, and none of them fully explains it alone.
South Kona buyers should treat this month’s numbers as a data point rather than a trend. Four sales is a small enough sample that one unusual property can move the median on its own. And if you are still working through the basics of buying from the mainland, our relocation guide covers that ground.
What This Means for Sellers
If you are selling a single-family home in Kailua-Kona right now, the data is in your favor. Faster days on market and more transactions than a year ago means serious pricing gets serious attention fast. Condo sellers need a different conversation. A 65 day median on market is real, and pricing to last year’s comps instead of this year’s is the fastest way to sit unsold into winter. South Kona sellers should expect patience to be part of the plan. Sixty-six days on market is more than triple last August, and four sales is not enough to call it anything other than a slow month.
One Thing Worth Watching
We are watching the gap between MLS condo sales, 30 islandwide in August, and Title Guaranty’s recorded deed count of roughly 92. That gap is worth knowing about even if it does not change what you do this month, because it means the condo market on paper and the condo market on the ground are not the same thing right now.
Where This Leaves Us
Numbers tell part of the story, and this month more than most, the parts that do not fit together tell you something too. If you want to talk through what this looks like for a specific property or neighborhood, call us at 808-854-5432 or reach out through the contact page.
Mark Davis, Esq. and Brenda Kuessner are Kona Homes for Sale at Coldwell Banker Island Properties, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Mark practiced as a transactional and litigation real estate attorney for 35 years before moving to the Big Island full time. Brenda has sold property on the Big Island for 35 years and holds the Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) designation, held by less than 5% of agents nationwide. This post is for general informational purposes and does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice.
