Kaanapali Alii   
February 2015
LOCAL MAUI NEWS

 

Aloha Kaanapali Alii Owners!
 
Hope you've all been enjoying your month of Valentines and Presidents. I'll try not to belabor our tropical conditions as a courtesy to those of you who haven't been able to find your car under mounds of snow for weeks. (sorry)  It's been a while since I've lauded the lists Maui's been topping ... but it's definitely worth bragging about this month.  The picture to the right is of Maui's Hotel Wailea ... just named one of the most romantic places to stay in the world by Conde Nast Traveler. Open Table ranked 4 Hawaii restaurants including Lahaina's Gerard's Restaurant as the most romantic in the country.  That same survey scored Lahaina in the top 10 most romantic cities in the U.S..  And what about the folks ... how are we doing? According the a recent Gallup poll Hawaii is the 2nd happiest and healthiest state in the nation ... just behind Alaska (I demand a recount).  And last but not least ... according to the People's Pulse, Hawaii residents are generally confident in the state's economy and the direction in which it is headed.
                    
Senate Bill 234 has been introduced in the Hawaii state Senate.  Typically employees receive time-and-one-half their regular rate when they work on holidays.  This bill would increase overtime compensation to 3 times their normal wage rate.   There is a new Urgent Care Clinic on the West Side.  Doctors on Call expanded and now has a 1700 sf state-of-the-art facility located in Honokowai.  If you find yourself jonesin for Kihei's Coconut's Fish Cafe island taco (rated by Zagat as "perfect") when you're on the mainland ... your problem may be solved.  They'll soon be all over the place in Texas, Arizona and California.

President Obama has designated a WWII Oahu internment camp as a national monument.  Honouliuli Camp opened in 1943 and held 320 mostly second-generation Japanese-American internees.  The site also held German and Italian nationals. The designation as a national monument "will ensure its stories are told for generations."
CURRENT MARKET ANALYSIS

Both home prices and affordability are on the rise. According to the National Association of Realtors, the spring market will likely be a hotter one this year.  Home owners and appraisers have not always agreed on the value of their home, but that trend is starting to turn around.  Not only are the appraisers' opinions of home values mostly falling in line with home owners' estimates, 74% of the time they have Higher opinions of home values than the home owners.  This means that many folks may have more equity in their home than they realize. 
          
Hawaii is the 10th most popular state in the U.S. with Chinese investors, who rank Honolulu, Kailua, Kapolei, Lahaina and Kapalua as their top five destinations to buy real estate.  Andrew Taylor, CEO of Juawai.com forecasts a 15% to 20% increase in Chinese buyer transactions in the coming 12 months.  As China further loosens capital controls in the next few years, the Bank of England expects the assets Chinese citizens and companies own overseas to increase by 600%.
                     
Maui Beach Here on Maui, the median price of a single family home dropped 17% in January, with the median price being $577,000 compared to $695,000 in January 2014.  The number of sales rose 15.4% to 75 homes sold last month, compared to 65 homes sold the January before.   Meanwhile the median price of a condominium last month was 378,000, a 14.3% decrease from $441,000 in January 2014.  The number of sales also declined to 83 units sold, from 94 units closed in January last year. 
                            
Let's take a look at Kaanapali Alii:  Figures taken from the Realtors Association of Maui

Status

Unit

Bd

Ba

List $

LT

 Sold $

  Close

 Active

1-104

1

1

1,295,000

Active

2-204

1

1

1,150,000

Active

3-103

1

2

1,475,000

Active

3-201

1

2

1,495,000

Active

1-401

1

2

1,500,000

*Active

1-801

1

2

1,635,000

Active

2-1002

1

2

1,700,000

Active

1-502

1

2

1,729,000

Active

1-1002

1

2

1,750,000

Active

4-1103

1

2

1,750,000

Active

3-601

1

2

2,095,000

*Active

4-205

2

2

1,675,000

Active

1-903

2

2

3,250,000

Active

3-304

2

2

3,425,000

Active

1-205

2

2

3,700,000

Active

3-706

2

2

3,850,000

Active

263

2

2.5

3,700,000

*In Escrow

4-501

1

2

1,550,000

*In Escrow

3-801

1

2

2,250,000

* New Listing

*Price Reduction

*New Escrow


TOURISM

The Hawaii Tourism Authority has teamed up with McDonald's Japan for a "World Mac Hawaii" campaign.  Apparently McDonald's is very popular in Japan, and Hawaii is one of the most desired overseas destination among Japanese.  Your local Japan McDonalds will feature Hawaiian BBQ pork burgers, loco moco burgers, Hawaiian pancakes with mixed berries, pineapple pie, and the McShake banana pictured on the right.     Hawaii's tourism industry saw its third record-breaking year in a row in 2014 with 8.28 million visitor arrivals. That's a 1.3% increase from the previous year.  Total spending also grew 2.3% to $14.7 billion.   Maui saw both arrivals and spending rise, with visitor arrivals reaching 2.4 million, a 1.6% increase, and total expenditures reaching $4.1 million, an 11.6% increase.  Arrivals from China for 29.1%, while arrivals from New Zealand also saw a huge gain with 26% more arrivals.
            
There is one group that we saw a fairly big drop off with ... and that's the South Koreans.  A wedding superstition that warned people Not to get married in the latter half of 2014, led to a drop in weddings in South Korean and the honeymoons they would take in Hawaii.  It all had something to do with tetraphobia - fear of the number 4.  Apparently in many Southeast Asian languages, the word for "four" sounds similar to "death."  Just like the 13th floor of a building in America is sometimes skipped over, so too are the numbers 4 and 14 in Asia.

Hawaii's average hotel occupancy slipped 1.5% last week compared to the same time last year, but room rates rose 3.2%  As usual, Maui had by far the highest average room rate - $354.28 per night, a 6.4% jump year over year, with occupancy at 83.9%

I own condominiums that I use as vacation rentals here on Maui, and I used to try and rent them out myself.  Not only did I have to worry about filling the rooms, and paying the taxes, but also keeping abreast of comparable rental prices to keep competitive.  Let me tell  ya - headache!   Easy fix folks - I now have my units with Maui Beachfront Rentals. They take care of e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.  With MBR I never have to worry about a thing. They guarantee your best rate.  Check 'em out and see if you can get more bang for your buck.
                      
TRAVEL

Virgin American could start flights to Hawaii by the end of this year. The San Francisco-based airline says they're pretty "bullish on the Hawaiian market" and could enter the market as soon as October.   Alaska Airlines is going to up their game to Hawaii with the purchase of six more Boeing extended-range aircraft.  The new planes can transport 25% more passengers on the same amount oaf fuel. Hawaiian Airlines saw a 2.9% increase in passengers last month from the same month in 2014.  And while Hawaiian got edged out by Delta Airlines for the best on-time performance in December, they still won the year for 2014.

Allegiant Air has had a change of plans.  They will not be starting up their seasonal Honolulu to Fresno, California route.  This leaves Allegiant with only two routes serving Hawaii ... Las Vegas and Los Angeles to Honolulu.  On the other hand, Qantas will add a fifth weekly flight during its peak season for its Sydney to Honolulu route.  They're also going to adjust their schedule to connect it with more interisland flights.  Their peak seasons are between Sept.7 - Oct. 19,2015, and Nov. 30,2015 - Jan. 25, 2016.
MORTGAGES

There's been a lot of talk about mortgage rates inching up this year, they did just that last week. I always turn things over at this point to the man I trust when it comes to all things mortgage ... Dean Rathbun of Avis Mortgage.  Dean says that indeed rates rose to the highest level since the beginning of this year last week, and the market did indeed see a decrease in mortgage applications because of it.  When you break it down, refinances posted the greatest loss.  But before you get all nervous, total volume of mortgage applications remains 14% above where it was a year ago, at a time when interest rates were notably higher.  And while fixed-rate mortgages inched higher for the second consecutive week, they are still hovering near their all-time low on May 23, 2013.  Dean sees this as the ideal time for home buyers and refinancers to lock in their rates now.  

Dean also says their could be new hope for underwater home owners. FHFA Director Melvin Watt, is considering reducing the principal on underwater properties ... a move the agency has refused to ever take in the past.  Additionally, there are no plans to expand the terms of the Home Affordable Refinancing Program, which is set to expire at the end of this year.    Other moves that will positively affect the housing market this year; the recent move of the Federal Housing Administration which reduced its insurance premiums from 1.35% to 0.85%, and the announcement by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that they will allow first-time home buyers to qualify for loans with down payments as low as 3%.

And speaking of Fannie Mae ... taxpayer time to get happy ... Fannie will send another $1.9 billion to the U.S. Treasury as part of its government bailout.  Fannie is required to return all profits to the Treasury as dividend payments on its bailout.  They paid $20.6 billion in dividends to the Treasure in 2014.  Their next payment is due in March, and with that it will have paid $136.4 billion in dividends to taxpayers, more than the $115.1 billion it received in its 2008 bailout.
                                                     eco island
                    
NextEra Energy is planning to build the largest wind energy farm in Hawaii on the southern slopes of Haleakala. The 120-megawatt project is called The Kahikinui Wind Project.   NextEra is also looking to build an undersea cable that would connect the electric grids on Oahu and Maui.

Some promising news for our ocean corals.  Last fall a sudden and sharp rise in Hawaii's coastal ocean temperatures caused a number of usually vibrant and healthy coral colonies to bleach.  Corals throughout the state, but reefs in the shallow waters of Oahu, Maui and Kauai seemed to fare the worst.  Now, in a happy turn of events, some of those corals are regaining their lost color and appear to be on the rebound.

The Energy Excelerator, which invests in energy startups in Hawaii, is getting a $100,000 grant from Blackstone.  So far Energy Excelerator has helped 32 energy startups to raise more than $55 million.

One of the biggest problems facing Solar power in Hawaii ... is the inability to integrate with the grid.  To that end, Enphase Energy, one of the largest microinverter companies in the country, is working to determine new frequency and voltage settings that would allow more rooftop solar installations to be more tolerant when a problem occurs on the grid.  This next story didn't come as any surprise to me.  Turns out Hawaii ranks as one of the top states in the U.S. when it comes to green buildings per capita.
                          MAUI HAPPENINGS

Feb 28: Great Whale Count Volunteer
Mar 6: 4th Annual Mystery Gala Swashbuckling theme Info
Mar 14: St. Patrick's "Go for the Green"  Details
Mar 28: Special Olympics Maui Swim & Fin Schedule
Mar 28: Taste of Aloha  Lahaina Specifics
Mar 29: 4th Annual Maui 5k Run particulars
Mar 31: Cesar Chavez Fiesta Info

Maui On Stage tickets
3/6-22: Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun
4/24-5/10: Neil Simon's Brighton Beach memories
7/10-8/2:  The Adams Family

Maui Arts & Cultural Center  Tickets 
02/28: Abraham.in.Motion   dance
3/1: Peter Kater & R.Carlos Nakai in Concert   new age/world music
3/3: George Benson in Concert
3/5: "The Brave" New Zealand Theater Company
3/7: Lee Brice & Chris Young   country music concert
3/13: "Symphony of the Soil"  Green film
3/19: "We Wait in Darkness   dance
3/20: "Legends & Ghosts in Hawaii"  storytelling
3/21: Kupaoa   Hawaiian music
3/22: "Maui Pops goes to the ballet"
3/27: "Solo Sessions:  Richard Thompson   concert
3/29: New York Polyphony  Male vocal chamber ensemble

If you're thinking of adding to your real estate portfolio, now would be the time.  Prices, though on the upswing, are still reasonable.  Same goes for mortgage rates ... lock them in now.  I'd be glad to help you with a complimentary valuation of your property ... there are Buyers out here.  Just remember I'm available to you 7 days a week.  I am the Broker/Owner of Berkshire Hathaway Maui Properties - Hawaii's only Berkshire Hathaway brokerage.  I've been a Kaanapali Alii Specialist since 1987 and have closed over $1.5 billion in Maui real estate sales. 

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