SperlingViews - Kailua_CCD_(Honolulu_county), Hawaii

Kailua is a perfect place to live if you like a relaxed and friendly neighborhood. It is close to local shops, local restaurants, beaches and ocean activities. Easy commute to work, but Kailua offers every reason not to work every day of the year.[read more...]

We've been here for the past 10 years, and it is truly heaven on earth from an environmental perspective, but a Cost of Living comparison will scare the daylights out of you! And, I won't mention the condition of the public schools system... [read more...]

Kailua is a small, friendly, and relaxed beach town. Our location on the island shades us from the better waves so we get don't the surf traffic/hype. However, the beautiful sandy beaches offer a great place to relax and enjoy the perfect weather. Kailua does has a touristy side. However, we mostly attract the laid back travels who want a quiet and spacious trip in paradise. Overall, Kailua is a small, family-oriented town with modern/clean amenities. Its simply a lovely little town.[read more...]

Kailua is a small, friendly, and relaxed beach town. Our location on the island shades us from the better waves so we get don't the surf traffic/hype. However, the beautiful sandy beaches offer a great place to relax and enjoy the perfect weather. Kailua does has a touristy side. However, we mostly attract the laid back travels who want a quiet and spacious trip in paradise. Overall, Kailua is a small, family-oriented town with modern/clean amenities. Its simply a lovely little town.[read more...]

Kailua has been our home since 1951. Over the decades, I've watched Kailua grow from a sleepy, secluded little hamlet of 5,000, accessible by way of a 65-minute one-way drive via a winding, treacherous two-lane road, into a bustling, thriving Honolulu destination-suburb of some 50,000 souls only 30 minutes from "downtown" by freeway. While not totally immune from the downturn in real estate values experienced in nearly all markets over the past 12 months (2008-2009), Kailua's special charm and high demand/low supply for/of available homes have insulated us from the dramtic dip in values most other locations have recently suffered. Nestled snug up against Kailua Bay, and hemmed in on three sides by surrounding verdant mountians and steep hillsides and world famous Kailua Beach to the North, the possibilty for brand new, large scale subdivisions is essentially non-existant, because the finite expansion area has already been maxed out. Also, Kailua Beach has been selected one of the "Top 10 Best" in the United States for the past 20 years. As a result, real estate prices here have always been, and remain, relatively secure. My parents first bought a home here for $4,500. The average home now costs around $800,000, with most of the uptick coming in the past 20 years as national and international markets discovered our "secret" little slice of Paradise. $10 - $20 million home sales of beachfront property remain not uncommon and homes within easy walking distance of the beach will easily fetch $1.5 to $2.0 Million for a 50-year old tract-home of dubious, single-wall, redwood "T&G" (i.e. tongue-and-groove) construction. Underlying land values are driving a strong trend to tearing down many older homes and rebuilding modern, upscale residences, but many older homes till remain and many of those are cansisates for remodeling rather than tear-down. While probably not for the bargain-basement hunters, Kailua appears to remain a very desirebale nieghborhood with plenty of upside for buyers looking to retire in a tropical paradise or those with a fine eye for remodeling and "spinning" upscale residential realty. [read more...]

I have lived in New England a good part of my life where 4 seasons are the norm, with winter being a bit too long. A good part of my adult life has been in Maryland where summers are oppressive and winters mild. Cost comparison....Hawaii is lovely but comes with a price. Housing is at least double the cost of homes/condos/townhouses/duplexes in Maryland. Summer 2008 home prices have dropped quite a bit in some towns like Ewa, Makakilo and stayed stable in towns like Kailua, Pearl City, Metro area. Summer 2008 a 1008 sq ft duplex in Kailua(Oahu) was going for $495-535K depending on condition of unit. In Ewa, you can purchase a home for under $400K but commute time to the city of Honolulu is like the LA freeway or Washington DC beltway, horrendous. Too much time sitting in a vehicle. Weather is lovely but in the city, hot due to all the concrete and hottop. In Kailua, it's in the mid 80s, nice tradewinds and traffic is minimal due to no commercialism like in Honolulu. It's a bedroom community with a perfect beach. Having lived with 4 seasons, I do find that one season 365 days of the year to be a bit too much. I like variety and now that I have been here two years, it's the same weather all the time. Some folks would find this boring after a while. Though walking on the beach with the dogs daily is certainly grand. Folks here are all about family. Generational living home small homes is the norm. Grandma/grandpa, parents and children all under one roof - it is all about family. Nice, very nice. however think about your future years, retirement, senior years, adult living centers, nursing homes, etc. Most families care for the elders in their homes. You won't find ample nursing homes or adult living centers on Oahu or other HI islands. Bring your extended family if you want some form of security in your elder years otherwise you are on your own. Oahu is a small island. Living in Kailua, it's an hour's drive to North Shore, 20 minutes to South Shore, 20 minutes to Honolulu. Scenery is breathtaking, a photographer's dream. I don't find it to be too costly other than for gas and housing. Shop for local foods and live in modestly small housing and you should be able to do fairly well. Most homes are in the 1000 to 1800 sq ft range and around $450-500+/sq ft. Rents for a 1 to 2 bedroom home go for @ $2000/mo. A 1,000 sq ft rental should run you around $1500 or more, depending how close you get to the beach. I can't afford to live here much longer since I want to use my funds to buy a home and here homes for me are unreachable. On the mainland, I can get a lovely home for @ $350K, here in Hi that same home would run @ $800-900K. Ahhhh, the cost for paradise. Lovely people, friendly and very pet friend. too bad I can't afford it.[read more...]

I have lived here for 6 years. Bought a fixer-upper when the market was "low" (400k)and brought the house into the 21st century. The majority of houses in Kailua (90%) are single wall construction on ca. 5000sqf lots, jalousie windows and no AC, which is no problem since the Trade's blow year round and keep the houses cool. Problem's are with the construction and proximity of the houses. On average there are 10-15 feet between one house and the next (most families are large and the houses spread out on the lots). I can hear neighbors from the moment the wake-up until they finally go to sleep. Conversations, TV, brushing teeth, private physical encounters, shaving.... there is no escaping the constant noise. It isn't getting better either just more crowded and louder. The construction of these buildings isn't suited to the proximity of the lots but the majority of owners can not afford to double up the walls. You decide how much a part of someone else's family you want to be, before you move here![read more...]

I have lived all my 55 years in Hawaii. As the population grows recreation areas become less enjoyable. Sports are very limited here.[read more...]

Heavy on tourism and ongoing construction boom.[read more...]