The story of this market
The typical home in Kauai County, Hawaii sells for about $996,663, or $797 per square foot.
Prices are up +8.9% from a year ago, so sellers still have some momentum. Homes take about 134 days to sell, which is slow. Over the long run, values in this county have grown 244% since 2000. Last year 7 of 12 neighborhoods saw prices rise, so the story isn't the same street to street. The biggest natural hazard here is riverine flooding, which FEMA rates very high. HUD's fair market rent for a two-bedroom is $2,105 a month.
HUD sets the fair market rent for a 2-bedroom at $2,105 a month. FEMA's National Risk Index rates overall hazard risk here as Relatively Moderate.
Price climate
Every year of price change, 2000–2025
0%
2025
Each stripe is one year's median price change across the area's census tracts (FHFA repeat-sales index). Deep blue is a strong gain year, red a falling year. Best: 2004 (+31%). Worst: 2009 (-12.6%). Hover to read a year.
Monthly price momentum
Home values since 2015
+4.3%
HI · past 12 months
Freddie Mac House Price Index, single-family homes, monthly through 2026-08. Each line starts at 100 in January 2015, so a reading of 180 means prices are up 80% since then.
Rent benchmark
Fair market rent by size
$2,588
3-bed / month
HUD Fair Market Rents, fiscal 2027, for this county. A typical rent for a modest unit, used to set housing-voucher payments.
Neighborhood price trend
Long-run price trend, 2000–2025
0%
2025 change
FHFA repeat-sales index, median of 12 census tracts in this county (2000 = 100). Bars are each year's median change.
Natural hazard exposure
The area's risk shape
82
Relatively Moderate
FEMA National Risk Index. Each spoke is a hazard ranked nationally, where 100 is the most exposed. Expected annual loss: $60,858,086.
Mortgage activity
Home lending in this county
76.5%
2019 approval rate
| Year | Applications | Loans made | Approval | Investor share | Median home value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2851 | 1592 | 74.5% | 13.6% | $605,000 |
| 2019 | 3140▲ | 1768▲ | 76.5%▲ | 16.9%▲ | $635,000▲ |
CFPB Home Mortgage Disclosure Act records: every mortgage application reported by lenders for homes in this county. Approval rate is approved ÷ decided (withdrawn and incomplete files excluded). Investor share and home value are the median census tract.
Kauai County, Hawaii
Kauai County's housing market reflects a normalizing but high-priced environment where median sale prices hover near $1,000,000 while sales volumes have contracted over 20% year-over-year. Rising days on market and increasing price reduction activity indicate buyers are pushing back against aggressive pricing, creating an extended negotiation posture across coastal and resort sectors.
No ARED distress-ledger coverage for this county yet — the foreclosure ingest rotates the national county directory, and filings appear here once the county's posted notices are read. Key-figure check: no independent anchor retained yet — first-researched cycles establish the anchor baseline this pass.
Select a city to expand its ZIP intel reports beneath · 16 cities · 16 ZIP reports
Median prices moved up 0.0% year over year.
Homes spend a median of 1 days on market with 0.1 months of supply — a fast-moving market.
0% of listings have cut prices · homes sell at 1.01% of asking — demand is holding steady.
no recorded foreclosure-ledger notices (0.0 per 10,000 residents) · unemployment 2.8% · poverty 8.4% — a stable, low-distress profile.
Deterministic aggregate of 16 researched ZIP reports — sales_count-weighted (population fallback); per point, children lacking the value or its weight are excluded. Tax rates, sentiment and context notes are tier-native and never roll.
Kauai County, Hawaii — researched county-level history with a deterministic 1 / 3 / 5-year projection
Solid: researched ten-year history · dotted: 1 / 3 / 5-year projection extended from the historical 6.8%/yr trend — a deterministic estimate, not a published forecast or guarantee.
No researched properties in this county yet — the property base layer populates as property research runs, and each property feeds its ZIP's roll-up.
researched Sep 29
researched Sep 29
researched Sep 29
researched Sep 29
researched Sep 29
researched Sep 29
researched Sep 29
researched Sep 29
researched Oct 4
researched Sep 29
| 96703 | Anahola | $450,000 | $385 | +2.4% | 62 | 97.5% | 12% | 4.1 | 48 | $2,100 | researched Sep 29 |
| 96705 | Eleele | $684,900 | $335 | +4.2% | 112 | 97.5% | 12% | 4.6 | 14 | $1,348 | researched Sep 29 |
| 96714 | Hanalei | $3,749,500 | $3,811 | +4.2% | 135 | 94.5% | 12% | 18 | 36 | $4,500 | researched Sep 29 |
| 96716 | Hawi | $850,000 | $650 | +2.5% | 75 | 97.5% | 12% | 5.2 | 42 | $2,800 | researched Sep 29 |
| 96722 | Princeville | $1,431,600 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | $2,105 | researched Sep 29 |
| 96741 | Kalaheo | $1,049,472 | $518 | +13.8% | 110 | 98.5% | 2.2% | 4.8 | 63 | $3,200 | researched Sep 29 |
| 96746 | Kapaa | $739,450 | $665 | +4.2% | 61 | 97.5% | 12% | 6.2 | 87 | $2,850 | researched Sep 29 |
| 96747 | Kaumakani | $810,000 | $558 | — | 90 | 100% | — | 1 | 2 | $2,500 | researched Sep 29 |
| 96751 | Kealia | — | $3,498 | — | 35 | — | — | — | 1 | — | researched Oct 4 |
| 96752 | Kekaha | $750,000 | $550 | +2.5% | 85 | 97.5% | 15% | 4 | 12 | $2,800 | researched Sep 29 |
Figures are each ZIP report's own latest research — the county roll-up aggregates them sales_count-weighted (population fallback); ZIPs cycle quarterly.
Kauai County consistently reports violent crime rates significantly below state and national baselines, though localized property offenses and theft around resort and beach parking corridors represent the bulk of incidents.
Public education operates under the statewide Hawaii Department of Education (Kauai Complex Area), anchored by high-performing primary schools like King Kaumualii (rated 9/10) and Hanalei Elementary (8/10), though secondary schools show moderate academic proficiencies.
Kauai is exposed to coastal flooding, tsunamis, flash flooding in mountain watersheds, hurricane/high-wind vulnerabilities, and tightening property insurance availability due to statewide carrier retrenchment.
Economic expansion is guided by hospitality, tourism, healthcare, defense research at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), and diversified agriculture, constrained by strict county zoning caps on island-wide expansion.
Kauai County levies ad valorem property taxes categorized by tier classification; owner-occupied residential properties benefit from generous homestead exemptions ($160,000 base exemption for primary homeowners under age 60, scaling up with age) yielding effective rates around 0.25%-0.38%, while non-owner-occupied and vacation-rental tiers face markedly higher millage schedules.
Tourism and hospitality remain the primary economic engines, supported by government administration, healthcare, regional aerospace/defense defense contracting at PMRF Barking Sands, and niche agriculture.
Kauai Highway system (Route 50 and Route 56) connects west, south, east, and north shores around the perimeter; public transit is provided by The Kauai Bus county transit service.
The County of Kauai Real Property Assessment Division assesses all taxable real estate annually at 100% of fair market value, dividing properties into classes such as Homestead, Residential, and Vacation Rental.
Unlike mainland counties, Hawaii does not have municipal utility districts (MUDs), school districts, or independent city tax jurisdictions; real property taxing authority rests exclusively with Kauai County.
Property insurance markets are constrained statewide with escalating wind and hurricane premiums, stricter underwriting on aging roofs, and rising HOA condo master insurance assessments following recent catastrophic disasters in the islands.
- Smith Family Garden Luau4.715.7 mi
- McBryde & Allerton Garden, National Tropical Botanical Garden4.67.6 mi
- Tahiti Nui4.417.1 mi
- Kalapaki Joe's Poipu410.1 mi
- Lu’au Kalamaku4.511.6 mi
- Waimea Canyon State Park4.99.4 mi
- Kalalau Lookout4.813.6 mi
- Waimea Canyon Lookout4.99.2 mi
- Kikiaola Small Boat Harbor4.57.6 mi
- Hanalei Pier4.817.7 mi
- Hanalei Pier4.817.7 mi
- Smith Family Garden Luau4.715.7 mi
- Kauaʻi Museum4.613.2 mi
- Warehouse 35404.65.2 mi
- Koke'e Natural History Museum4.412.6 mi
- Waimea Canyon State Park4.99.4 mi
- Lydgate Beach Park4.716 mi
- Queen’s Bath4.519 mi
- Nā Pali Coast State Wilderness Park4.815 mi
- Salt Pond Beach Park4.75 mi
- Port Allen Marina Center4.64.5 mi
- Kukuiula Small Boat Harbor4.67.9 mi
- Wailua Golf Course4.415.5 mi
- Poipu Bay Golf Course4.410.7 mi
- Kukuiolono Park & Golf Course4.44.4 mi
- Puakea Golf Course4.312.8 mi
- Kiahuna Golf Club4.29.4 mi
- Safeway4.312.1 mi
- Safeway4.217.5 mi
- Coconut Marketplace4.416.8 mi
- The Shops at Kukui‘ula4.58.8 mi
- Poipu Shopping Village4.49.5 mi
- Lihue Airport4.114.8 mi
- Blue Hawaiian Helicopters4.914.7 mi
- Blue Hawaiian Helicopters518.9 mi
Theme parks, venues, golf, airports, museums, water and shopping across the area from Google Maps, ranked by popularity within the radius shown.
The amenity base that shapes daily life and property demand in this county — what residents actually live with, and what the pipeline is adding.
Iconic 16-mile coastline known for dramatic sea cliffs, hiking trails (Kalalau Trail), and remote beaches.
Known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, offering panoramic hiking trails and canyon vistas.
Popular South Shore marine recreation beach featuring snorkeling, surfing, and monk seal viewing.
North Shore crescent bay offering world-renowned surfing, sailing, paddling, and mountain vistas.
Retrieved via Census Bureau ACS 5-year county-level profile for Kauai County, HI (FIPS 15007).
Sellers must provide a written disclosure statement to the buyer within ten calendar days of contract acceptance. Buyers have fifteen calendar days to examine the statement and may rescind the contract without loss of deposits if they provide written notice within that period.
Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 508D (2025)
Tax is calculated by applying county-specific tax rates to the assessed value of the property. The formula is (Assessed Value - Exemptions) * Tax Rate. Exemptions include homestead exemptions for owner-occupants, which vary by county.
Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 246 (2025)
applies when — Applies to parcels registered under a condominium property regime
Each unit and its appurtenant common interest is deemed a separate parcel for taxation and assessment purposes. Units must be separately taxed; common elements are not subject to separate assessment.
Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 514B; Part I General Provisions (2003)
Governance registry — every jurisdiction re-researches on a rolling 90-day cycle. Property reports compose these inherited burdens into a per-parcel ledger with conditional determinations. Informational only — not legal advice.