Prince on Maui
Whaler Update
April 2016
LOCAL MAUI NEWS
Aloha Fellow Whaler Owners!

Solar Impulse 2 over Hawaii
The artist known as "Prince" passed away last Thursday.  Many don't know Prince had a tie with Maui (pictured above).  He loved the Islands and had a home on Maui. Prince said he most enjoyed his annual visits because he liked the people and "because nobody's frontin" in Hawaii.   Pictured to the right is the Solar Impulse 2 departing from Hawaii.  The solar-powered aircraft is continuing its around-the-world flight.  You can follow along with their journey on their website.   Spam the canned meat so beloved in Hawaii that there's an annual event devoted to it, plans to make some ingredient changes to their recipe. Some 25,000 people are expected to the Annual Spam Jam Hawaii this Saturday info
  
The Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa will spend some $13 million on renovations this summer.  Meanwhile a $300 million redevelopment of the Makena Golf & Beach Club will begin July 1st.  The existing 310-room hotel will be transformed into 50 luxury apartment units, 14  single-family residences and two multifamily 'six-plex' buildings. The development will also include a spa, restaurant, pools and a boutique hotel.  The new $340 million car rental facility at Kahului Airport has begun construction.  It will be home to more than a dozen rental car companies and have nearly 3,800 parking stalls.  An electric tram will replace the 25 shuttle buses currently used.
       CURRENT MARKET ANALYSIS
After a dismal February, home sales were back on track in March, up 1.5% from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors. Officials from Freddie Mac have also made a bold prediction: that home prices nationally will reach their highest levels since 2006.  Most home sellers are seeing plenty of equity when selling their home. Last month sellers average $30,500 more than what they had paid for their home. That marks the highest average price gain for sellers since December 2007, the onset of the Great Recession.  Even foreclosures are getting harder to find. 36% of the U.S. housing markets are now below their pre-recession levels in foreclosures.

So how did Maui home sales do last month?  Sales of single-family homes in Maui County rose by double digits last month. There were 98 single-family homes sold compared to 86 sold in March 2015 - an increase of 14%. The median price of a single family home was $610,750 compared to $632,625 the same time last year, a decrease of 3%.  Condominium sales on Maui dipped ever so slightly to 104 units from 123 sold in March 2015. However, the median price of condominiums in Maui County increase 12% to $494,000 from $440,000 last year.

Let's take a look the Whaler:

Status
Unit
Bd
Ba
  List  $
  Sold  $
Close
Active
364
0
1
719,000
Active
720
1
1
895,000
Active
469
1
2
799,000
*Active
270
1
2
895,000
*Active
570
1
2
1,000,000
Active
105
1
2
1,100,000
Active
508
1
2
1,150,000
*Active
1060
1
2
1,195,000
Active
1112
1
2
1,299,000
*Active
201
1
2
1,975,000
Active
573
2
2
1,500,000
* Active
252
2
2
2,490,000
* Active
1221/23
2
2
2,900,000
Active
702
2
2
2,950,000
*Sold
856
1
1
1,195,000
1,022,500
04/19/16
* new listing
* $ reduced
*new sale
Figures from Realtors Association of Maui
TOURISM and TRAVEL
Hawaii tourism officials are hoping that a new Japanese government mandate could help boost our tourism numbers. Turns out Japan ranks second-worst in the world for taking paid vacation.  Now the government is insisting all organizations make their employees take 5 days of paid vacation. If you sandwich that between 2 weekends, that could bring visitors to Hawaii for nine days.    Statewide, Hawaii hotels were 78.7 % full, an increase of 1.6%.  The statewide average daily room rate rose 4.8% to $238.86 last week.  Maui hotels  saw the greatest occupancy gains last week, an increase of 5.2% to 79.7% occupancy. Maui hotels also had the highest average daily room rate in the state at $299.68 a night, an increase of 1.5% from last year.

A lot of us use our Maui condominiums as vacation rentals when we're not actually using them to offset the cost of ownership. Makes sense if you're renting it out that you get the best bang for your dollar.  I tried using property management companies, front desk reservations, even trying to book them myself, and every one of them posed their own set of problems for me.  That's why when I placed my units with Maui Beachfront Rentals I left them there to this day. What can I say ... I like making a profit.  You should check 'em out yourself MBR.

Island Air announced it will resume service from Honolulu to Kona beginning June 14th.  It's been about 3 and a half years since they eliminated that service. It's just the latest change after restarting its service to Kauai last month, and discontinuing its flights to Lanai.  Alaska Airlines will add a seasonal nonstop weekly flight between Bellingham Washington and the Big island starting November 12th and continue that schedule until April 1, 2017.  By now its old news that JetBlue was outbid by Alaska Airlines to acquire Virgin America.  But now there are rumors that JetBlue is looking for a new partner ... and maybe that partner could be Hawaiian Airlines.  Hawaiian already uses JetBlue's gates at JFK Airport in New York.

Meanwhile Hawaiian Airlines has submitted an application with the U.S.government to add a second route between Tokyo's Haneda Airport and Hawaii.  Speaking of Japan, we had an official visit by U.S. Homeland Security Officials to discuss the possibility of establishing a pre-clearance facility at Japan's Narita Airport in Tokyo.  The pre-clearance system would make the process of arrival that much quicker for passengers coming into the U.S. 
     MORTGAGES
Despite a significant drop last week, U.S. mortgage rates continued to decline to reach their lowest level of the year. I turned to Dean Rathbun of Avis Mortgage to explain the details. Dean shared not only did Hawaii mirror the nation as its rates declined, but with even lower rates!   that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate in Hawaii was at 3.42% this month compared to 3.57% last year.  So far in 2016 the average rate has been as high as 3.79% and as low as 3.48%.  Dean went on to talk about a new Fannie Mae program that is suited well to Hawaii's multi-generational households.. The "HomeReady" program has a lower mortgage insurance requirement and it's cancelable when the loan reaches 80% loan-to-value. Other highlights: 3% down payment, and income of extended-family members can be used to help qualify for the loan.
GREEN
Plans for the so-called "Big Wind" project may no longer be on the table, but "Small Wind" farms are still in the works in Maui County. Hawaiian Electric is looking into developing smaller wind farms on Molokai and Lanai to serve those islands.  Geothermal Energy is also being looked at for a plant in the Kaupo district on the southeastern shore of Maui.  Geothermal energy on Maui could be a game-changer in Hawaii's pursuit towards it 100% renewable energy goal.   The 36,000 acre HC&S plantation that's transitioning out of farming sugar, is being looked at by Hawaiian Electric as a place where renewable energy-type projects could be planted ... hemp, crops used for biofuel
Mark Twain 
visits Maui
                             
MAUI HAPPENINGS

Pioneer Inn Courtyard (808) 276-4201
"An Evening with Mark Twain" 4/29, 5/20 
"An Evening with Albert Einstein"  5/6, 5/27

Maui OnStage  tickets
Now - 5/8: Inherit The Wind
5/21: Jazz, Electronic Music and 3D Film  Iao Theater  free

Maui Arts & Cultural Center tickets 
4/28: Justin Moore & Rodney Atkins   country
4/28: The Big Short  movie
4/29: David Benoit "2 in Love"  grammy winner
5/01: Cazimero Lei Day Concert
5/05: Twain Meets Tita   play
5/06: Kawehi in Concert
5/7-8: Maui Academy of Performing Arts Spring Extravaganza   dance
5/13: Maui Classical Music Festival
5/14: 8th Annual Maui Brew Festival
5/15: Tower of Power   concert


Various Events
Now - 4/30: : Kapalua Wine and Food Festival Special Price Early Bird Tickets 
Now - 4/30: "Art of Trash"  Maui Mall   free
4/28-5/1: 1st Annual Maui County Carnival    War Memorial Complex  Wailuku
4/29-5/1: 8th Annual OluKai Ho'olaule'a tickets
4/30: Annual Spam Jam Hawaii info

I'll be in touch again next month, but in the interim I invite you to check out my website and to keep me in mind if you're looking to sell or perhaps add to your real estate portfolio. Remember I'm a fellow Whaler owner, and I've been a full time Maui Real Estate Specialist since 1987. I have closed over $1.5 billion in Maui real estate sales, and I am available to you 7 days a week.

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