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alrighty guys, I guess we're a tougher breed up here in Idaho, I will give honest feedback once I'm there and experience all the Hawaii "horrors" first hand. *chuckles*
The OP asked a question about real estate prices, and there are those of us who live here who have given our opinion(s). The OP can follow the lead of whichever posters he wants, but I'd go with the folks that have firsthand knowledge.
Gyva, when you move here and live amongst the coquis, please come back to City-Data and tell us truthfully how much you enjoy it. Like OpenD said, "people simply don't understand about this issue from a distance".
I wonder if some of the east coast forums are having the same discussions about cicadas. They have unusual life cycles where the can be relatively quiet for 13 or 17 years, and then emerge from the ground by the millions with their deafening noise (at 120 db, comparable to a coqui, but imagine millions of them instead of thousands). Every so often the 13 and 17 year cycles happen concurrently and the noise is truly overpowering.
I live on the east coast and have dealt with cicada years. With cicadas you tend to forget about them. They don't last that long and different areas are hit in different years. We have spring peepers here and thankfully they don't last too long either. So I have never heard of either being a factor in real estate. If you have a nightclub next door, that does affect real estate. Coqui frogs seem to have more the effect of a night club (maybe a retro disco theme where they give everyone free whistles) than peepers or cicadas. So it makes sense many people want to avoid it.
I wonder if some of the east coast forums are having the same discussions about cicadas. They have unusual life cycles where the can be relatively quiet for 13 or 17 years,
I grew up in Chicago and when I was a kid in the early 70's the cicada's were pretty bad - and it didn't seem nearly as bad when the next cycle in 1990. I was visiting my parents at that time and maybe when you are older that don't seem so terrible.
In the bad year, you couldn't walk on the sidewalk where I lived without the sound of crunch crunch crunch from stepping on them. They fly on you but don't bite. People even eat them - no thanks on that. Big difference though is the long cycle and when they come out it is fairly brief.
Since the coquis seem to be mostly in the lava flow areas, it would be difficult to decide whether it is coquis or the possibility of being buried under hot lava that has the most effect on real estate prices.
If it is coquis, then it is not possible to say how much they affect prices, because they blanket an area. You can't compare a house without them to a house right next door that has them. Both houses will be affected by the noise. Also, you can't compare a coqui property in Puna to a coqui-free property in Wiamea. There are other reasons for the price differences that have nothing to do with coqui frogs.
So, do they affect real estate prices? How would you know?
One way they affect real estate is when some buyers won't visit a property with coqui frogs. That makes the pool of buyers smaller for that property. And others that visit, but reduce their offer by what they estimate it will cost to get rid if them.
Lava only bothers some people by making insurance more expensive. Same is true for folks that want to be by a shore/on a cliff/next to a river. Some folks even want to rebuild in the same spot after being flooded or hit by a hurricane. Does it make sense? Not all the time.
Since the coquis seem to be mostly in the lava flow areas, it would be difficult to decide whether it is coquis or the possibility of being buried under hot lava that has the most effect on real estate prices.
They are not comparable. Again, you need to actually experience them to understand.
And no, coquis are not limited to lava flow areas. They go anywhere they can find the damp underbrush they live in. And they are adapting and spreading, whereas lava flow areas are relatively fixed.
I've experienced cicadas in peak years on the mainland. I've heard that the murder rate in the South goes up in such peak years, because people go mad from the sound. I can understand that feeling. Coquis are much worse.
Quote:
If it is coquis, then it is not possible to say how much they affect prices, because they blanket an area.
Real estate professionals and University of Hawai'i researchers have done detail assessments of this situation for years and concluded that indeed, people are not willing to pay as much for property where coquis are present, and some will not buy at any price, so they definitely depress real estate values.
Once you are in Hawai'i, you'll have a much better idea what all the fuss is about.
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