Homes in Honolulu range in price from about $600,000 for a fixer-upper in Kalihi to about $20,000,000 for the most incredible oceanfront homes in Kahala or Diamond Head.
The homes vary greatly in style & character and include charming vintage houses in Manoa, gated luxury homes in Hawaii Loa Ridge, marina front homes in Hawaii Kai, rainforest living in Tantalus and spectacular oceanfront homes in Kahala, Diamond Head, Kai Nani, Aina Haina Beach, Niu Beach & Portlock.
Regions Honolulu real estate is divided into 3 regions:
- Metro Honolulu: Includes homes in neighborhoods such as Salt Lake, Punchbowl, Pacific Heights, Dowsett, Tantalus, Manoa and more. This region is home to the majority of Honolulu's condo neighborhoods, including Kakaako, Ward Village, Ala Moana and Waikiki.
- Diamond Head Region: This is considered the most exclusive single-family home region in Honolulu and include neighborhoods such as Diamond Head, Kahala, Waialae Iki, Hawaii Loa Ridge, Aina Haina, Niu Valley, Paiko Lagoon and more.
- Hawaii Kai: Master-planned region in east Honolulu, developed in the 1960’s, which feels like it is a city of its own. A unique part of Honolulu with marina from homes spread throughout the region, incredible oceanfront homes in Portlock, hillside living in Mariners Ridge & Napali Haweo and golf course living in Queens Gate & Koko Villas.
Neighborhoods Honolulu, like any major city, boasts a diverse range of neighborhoods. Here, we'll spotlight just 6 of these communities, each offering a distinct flavor of life, showcasing the variety of single-family home experiences you can find in Honolulu.
- Hawaii Loa Ridge: Gated hillside community, predominantly large luxury homes. Most homes were built in the initial development during the 1980’s, but several lots were left vacant and most have now been filled with more recent structures. This neighborhood feels more like an upscale neighborhood from California than anywhere else in Honolulu.
- Kahala: Flat neighborhood - most residences do not have ocean views - and home to Honolulu’s prestigious Kahala Ave with stunning estate sized oceanfront homes valued near the $20,000,000 mark. In the eyes of many, Kahala is still the most prestigious neighborhood to own a home in Honolulu. You will find a mix of modern mansions next door to vintage residences, some linked to Hawaii’s most prominent families over the last 100 years.
- Manoa: Old Hawaii with a vast number of well kept historic and vintage homes. Few places glow so greenly, which also comes at a price with quite a bit of rain, and has a very tranquil and peaceful feel.
- West Marina: Home to several marina front homes, many homes with their own personal boat docks, allowing owners to cruise out to the ocean of even to a nearby waterside shopping center. Very unique living concept.
- Tantalus: Rainforest living - feels like a jungle far from any city, yet you are very near Downtown Honolulu. Temperatures are distinctly lower up here, making for cooler days when it really counts. Large neighborhood, few homes, most with lots in the 15,000 to 40,000 sf range - considered large for Honolulu homes.
- Waialae Golf Course: As the name would indicate, it is all about golf living. Needless to say, many of these Honolulu homes are located directly on Waialae Golf Course, considered the most prestigious golf club on Oahu and home to a professional PGA Tour every January.
Popular Blog Posts About Honolulu Honolulu is a unique blend of tropical paradise, modern city and small town atmosphere where you will find palm tree lined beaches alongside
new high-rise condos, large shopping malls and vintage homes in an Old Hawaii style setting.
With no winter and the active lifestyles we live, you'll likely spend significant more time outdoors here. That's where that most important of real estate factors comes in - Location. Along with the options near you, everything on Oahu is within about an hour's drive, no matter where you live in Honolulu, except rush hours that is.
Drive to the unspoiled
North Shore to take in the world class waves, head to
Kailua to enjoy a quieter, even more laid back part of Oahu or go out to
Ko Olina, the 2nd Waikiki, on the Leeward side of the Island. You'll never run out of places to go and you'll never get tired of the places you do return to over and over.
Also Good to Know- Honolulu property tax rates vary depending on whether the property is your primary residence, 2nd home or a short-term vacation rental condo.
- Kakaako is the fastest growing neighborhood in Honolulu with plans to develop more than 20 new high-rise condos. Ward Village and Our Kakaako are 2 master-planned condo developments in the work, both located within the Kakaako neighborhood.
- 16 condos - built in the 50’s & 60’s - literally hang on the ocean’s edge in Diamond Head, dubbed the Gold Coast. No condos in Honolulu can ever be built this close to the ocean again, making these condos incredibly expensive, despite their age.
- Waikiki is Hawaii’s tourist mecca and Honolulu’s largest condo neighborhood, home to more than 100 residential condos, mainly older structures, with less than 10 newer condos built after year 2000.
- Many of Honolulu's neighborhoods have a very interesting history.
- It is expensive to purchase land and built a home in Honolulu, since undeveloped land is scarce and construction costs are some of the highest in the nation.
History of Honolulu Honolulu owes its existence to one crucial piece of geography - its harbor. It’s true that Native Hawaiians lived across Oahu for as much as a thousand years before the town began to take its shape. However, they lived in widespread communities whose centers changed according to where the alii were at any one time.
That would change forever in 1793 when sea captain William Brown, a fur and gun trader, realized the harbor was deep enough for large ships to dock. Soon the land nearby was filled with shops and businesses catering to the whaling ships and trading vessels who increasingly stopped here. Neighborhoods sprang up quickly as well to house those attracted by the booming industry. A city had been born.
Plantations & Tourism - Honolulu’s Foundations The harbor’s focus would change from whaling to the local sugar and pineapple products in the late 1800’s. The need for plantation workers brought men, and later women, from Asia and Europe, arriving through this same waterfront. Many of them would fulfill their obligations on the farms, then move to urban Honolulu to take advantage of the job opportunities there or start their own businesses.
The plantation economy was joined in the early 1920’s by the tourism industry, the cruise ships finding their berths in the piers near where ships loaded with goods were going in and out of Hawaii. The contents of the ships was changing, but the effects were the same.
Though the plantations would become almost extinct before the end of the 20th Century, Honolulu was set in place. Tourism outgrew the harbor, producing hotels and entire districts that catered to the visitor industry, attracting new residents and growing families who needed homes. Real estate, in other words.
