Waialae Avenue is the hinge for a stretch of Honolulu that gets talked about as one general area, “town,” “the Kaimuki side,” or “up by Diamond Head.” The InfoSparks data on three connected neighborhoods along that corridor tells a much more specific story: right now, each one is behaving differently, and the direction of leverage runs opposite to the price.
Quick Answer
Are Kaimuki, Palolo, and St. Louis Heights in the same real estate market?
No. All three sit off the same stretch of Waialae Avenue, but the 12-month data shows three different conditions right now. Kaimuki is the priciest and tightest, with a $1,470,000 median and only 2.5 months of supply, though the volume of homes actually trading has dropped sharply. Palolo has the fastest price appreciation of the three at +17.6 percent. St. Louis Heights is the one pocket where a buyer currently has real room to negotiate, with inventory up 40 percent and days on market up nearly 75 percent, while its median price actually dipped slightly.
By Aksana Tupalskaya | September 12, 2026
| Neighborhood | 12-mo median (change) | Days on market | Months of supply | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaimuki | $1,470,000 (+10.5%, island +4.8%) | 14 days | 2.5 months | Priciest and tightest, but new listings and closings both fell sharply year over year |
| Palolo | $1,163,763 (+17.6%, island +4.8%) | 13 days | 2.5 months (-39.0%) | Fastest appreciation of the three, catching up to its neighbors |
| St. Louis Heights | $1,349,500 (-1.5%, island -5.5% on inventory) | 33 days (+73.7%) | 4.0 months (+81.8%) | The one pocket where a buyer currently has room to negotiate |
What this tells me as the numbers agent for Oahu buyers and sellers: three neighborhoods on the same avenue can be in three different markets at the same time, and the only way to know which one you are actually in is to check the pocket, not the town.
Kaimuki: the priciest, and the tightest, but trading less
Kaimuki sits on the gentle slopes mauka of Diamond Head, not on a flat plain the way it is sometimes described. Its 12-month median sale price of $1,470,000 is up 10.5 percent, more than double the island-wide pace of 4.8 percent over the same period. Homes here are moving fast, a median of 14 days on market, and at 2.5 months of supply, this is a genuine seller’s market.
The detail that changes the story: new listings are down 28.6 percent, pending sales are down 34.1 percent, and closed sales are down 25.0 percent, all year over year. Kaimuki is not tight because demand is exploding, it is tight because supply has pulled back sharply. Fewer homes are coming to market, and fewer are changing hands, even as the ones that do sell are commanding strong prices.
Palolo: catching up the fastest
Palolo is the valley behind Kaimuki, low near the Waialae Avenue mouth and rising toward roughly 600 feet at the back of the valley. Its 12-month median of $1,163,763 is up 17.6 percent, the fastest appreciation of the three neighborhoods in this corridor, and well ahead of the island’s 4.8 percent pace.
Days on market run 13, the fastest of the three, and months of supply sit at 2.5, down 39.0 percent year over year. Palolo is not the priciest neighborhood on this stretch, but on every measure of speed and tightness, it is moving at least as fast as Kaimuki, and its price is closing the gap.
St. Louis Heights: the one pocket with room
St. Louis Heights sits on Waahila Ridge, the ridge that separates Manoa from Palolo, reached by a winding climb up St. Louis Drive. It is the outlier of the three, and the payoff of this comparison.
Homes for sale here are up 40.0 percent, while island-wide inventory is down 5.5 percent over the same period. Days on market have climbed to 33, up 73.7 percent, well above the island’s 20-day median. Months of supply nearly doubled, up 81.8 percent to 4.0 months. The median sale price actually dipped 1.5 percent, while every other scope in this comparison rose.
This is not a neighborhood in trouble. Homes here are still closing near 100 percent of asking price, and pending sales are up 5.0 percent. Sellers in St. Louis Heights appear to be waiting rather than cutting, which is a different posture than a distressed market. But for a buyer who has been priced out of Kaimuki’s speed or Palolo’s appreciation, this is the pocket on the same corridor where there is genuinely more time and more selection to work with right now.
Why this matters even if you are not buying on this exact street
The pattern here is the real lesson: three neighborhoods that share a single road can be in three different markets simultaneously. A headline about “the Diamond Head region” or “town” market conditions can be true for one of these three neighborhoods and misleading for the other two. If you are evaluating a listing anywhere on Oahu, the pocket-level data, not the town-wide average, is what actually tells you whether you are looking at a seller’s market, a buyer’s market, or something in between.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which of these three neighborhoods is the best value right now?
“Best value” depends on what you’re optimizing for. St. Louis Heights currently offers the most negotiating room and selection. Palolo offers the fastest-appreciating entry point relative to its neighbors. Kaimuki commands the highest price and the fastest sales, for buyers prioritizing certainty over negotiating room.
Why is Kaimuki’s median rising while fewer homes are selling?
Fewer new listings and fewer closed sales mean less supply is reaching the market, which supports higher prices on the homes that do sell, even as overall transaction volume falls. Rising price and falling volume can happen together.
Is St. Louis Heights’ price drop a warning sign?
Not based on the data here. Homes are still closing near full asking price and pending sales are up, which points toward sellers holding firm on price rather than a market in decline. A slight median dip alongside rising inventory more often reflects a shift toward buyer negotiating room than a collapse in value.
Are these neighborhoods considered part of the Diamond Head region?
Kaimuki, Palolo, and St. Louis Heights fall within the MLS “Diamond Head” region boundary used for sold-report purposes, alongside Diamond Head, Kahala, Waialae, and several other Honolulu-metro neighborhoods, which is broader than the neighborhood-only sense of “Diamond Head.”
Want the sold numbers for your specific street?
Neighborhood-level trends are useful for orientation, but the actual sold prices and seller credits near a specific address tell a sharper story. Get the monthly Oahu sold report here, including the seller credits the portals never show.
