Blossoms For The Brave
Over 2700 Leis made to place at Maui Veterans Cemetery
LOCAL MAUI NEWS
Aloha Fellow Mahana Owners!

The latest dairy free alternative to milk has just hit the stands. One of Hawaii's most tasty products - Royal Hawaiian Macadamia Nuts - has come out with 4 flavors.   Next month PBS will debut a new TV series hosted by Hawaii's own Chef Ed Kenney. "Family Ingredients" will explore the creation of Hawaii's diverse dishes.  Maui came out prominently in several new surveys: OpenTable ranked 12 Hawaii restaurants in the top 100 for al fresco dining - 4 of those on Maui - Duke's Beach House, Ferraro's Bar e Ristorante, Hula Grill, and Pacific'O.  "Dr. Beach" came out with the top 10 U.S. beaches ... and Kapalua Bay Beach was named 3rd.  Another AAA Five Diamond hotel has joined the list which includes the Four Seasons Wailea and the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua - just months after reopening, the Four Seasons Resort Lanai's been given the honor.

Two of the biggest events on Maui are taking place next month:

The longest running food and wine event in the USA. 35th Annual Kapalua Wine & Food Festival June 9 - 12  Details

Maui Film Festival June 15-19. Maui version of Sundance. Info
       CURRENT MARKET ANALYSIS
Nationally, existing-home sales increased 1.7% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.45 million.  Sales are now up 6% compared to a year ago.  The number of buyers bringing all-cash to the table this year is on track to be the lowest since 2008.  And despite the slowing of the Chinese economy, Chinese buyers aren't showing signs they're letting up on investing in American real estate.  Between 2010 and 2015, Chinese investors acquired more than $93 billion worth of residential real estate and $17.1 billion worth of commercial properties in the U.S.  Analysts believe that Chinese investors and individuals will expand their stake in the U.S. real estate market.

Here on Maui, the number of single-family homes and condominiums sold jumped last month, as did their selling prices.  There were 99 single-family homes sold compared to 87 sold in April 2015 - an increase of 13.8%. The median price of a single family home was $680,000 compared to $581,000 the same time last year, an increase of 17%.  Condominium sales on Maui shot up 19% to 125 units from 105 sold in April 2015. The median price of condominiums in Maui County increase 8.5% to $445,000 from $410,000 last year.

Let's take a look the Mahana:

STATUS
UNIT
BD
BA
LIST $
SOLD $
CLOSE
Active
313
0
1
609,000
Active
718
1
1
798,000
Active
418
1
1
805,000
Active
216
1
1
878,000
Active
606
1
1
895,000
Active
715
1
2
889,950
Active
215
1
2
969,000
Active
301
2
2
1,475,000
 Active
701
2
2
1,549,000
Escrow
1102
0
1
625,000
Sold
1212
0
1
625,000
585,000
01/19/16
Sold
214
1
1
695,000
630,000
05/20/16
Sold
308
1
1
775,000
740,000
05/10/16
Sold
207
1
2
779,000
770,000
01/19/16
Sold
219
2
2
1,185,000
1,100,000
05/03/16
Sold
1119
2
2
1,499,888
1,500,000
04/27/16
Sold
1211
2
2
1,650,000
1,450,000
05/04/16
Figures from Realtors Association of Maui
TOURISM and TRAVEL
Hawaii hotels saw record revenue gains of $1.44 billion during the first quarter of this year.  The Japanese visitor market played a big role in boosting those figures.  Over 20,000 Japanese visitors came here with incentive groups (high-end corporate meetings offered as a reward).  First-quarter occupancy on Maui was up .7% to 79.3% full, and revenue per available room was $276.88 - a .6% increase.

Looking at just last month, Visitor arrivals to Hawaii rose 3.4% due in part to the Japanese Golden Week holiday tradition and a lucky cruise ship schedule.  International arrivals by air rose 6% over April 2015. Arrivals via cruise ships rose 85.3% due to several ships changing their typical March and May arrivals to April.  So far year to date statistics show Hawaii remains ahead of last year's record-setting pace for both arrivals and visitor expenditures.   If we look just at last week, statewide occupancy and average daily room rates decreased by 1.3% and 1.6% respectively.  However, Maui's occupancy rate only fell slightly by .5% with room rates falling .8%.

I get a lot of inquiries from those of you who like me, place our Maui condominiums into vacation rental programs when we're not actually using them ourselves.  I tried using various property management companies, front desk reservations, even tried booking them myself, and every one of those options posed their own set of problems for me. I don't know about you, but I don't need extra problems. 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 will resume service from Honolulu to Kona beginning June 14th.  Virgin America, which launched flights to Hawaii from San Francisco last year, is now flying daily flights from Los Angeles to Honolulu.  On June 14th, the airline will add flights between Los Angeles and Maui!   Hawaiian Airlines has just added about 74,000 seats due to increased demand. They now offer 3 weekly flights from Oakland, CA to Kauai and Kona, and 4 weekly flights from Los Angeles to Kona.  Right now through June 13th they've increased their Los Angeles to Kauai flights from 3 to 4 times weekly ... then between mid-June and Sept 5th, Los Angeles-Kauai and Oakland-Kauai flights will be offered daily.

Air New Zealand has launched their Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner for flights between Auckland and Honolulu ... if you're visiting down under you might want to catch a few zzzz's on the flat-bed seats!  And Hawaiian Airlines was awarded a second route to Haneda Airport in Tokyo ... which opens to way for them to re-introduce regularly scheduled flights from Japan to the Big Island.
     MORTGAGES
Average fixed-rate mortgage climbed slightly this week from their 2016 lows. According to  Dean Rathbun of Avis Mortgage, U.S. Treasury yields moved up in response to the Fed minutes release - which kept alive the possibility of a summer rate hike.  Even with the rates inching up slightly, Dean says that didn't seem to deter home buyers from shopping for a loan last week.  Mortgage application volume rose 2.3% week-over-week, and are up nearly 24% higher than they were a year ago.  Dean also shared what National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun had to say in Washington, D.C. recently. Right now, Yun is forecasting mortgage rates to b e at 3.9% at the end of this year, and rise to 4.6% in 2017.  Yun identified 6% as a mortgage-rate threshold ... noting anything much higher than that will curb home sales.  In Yun's own words ... "if rates get to 7 or 8%, watch out."
GREEN
Hawaii is looking to possibly work with Philippines-based Energy Development Corporation - one of the largest geothermal companies in the world. The state feels a partnership would help us move closer to our 100% renewable energy goal by 2045.  Meanwhile, Hawaiian Electric has reached a deal with Canada's Fortis Inc.  They will supply Hawaii's largest utility with liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a replacement for oil starting in 2021.  The use of LNG would ave customers up to $3.7 billion over the life of the 20-year contract period.
                             
MAUI HAPPENINGS
 
6/4: A Night at the Movies with Humane Society tickets
6/4-5: 36th Annual Maui Upcountry Fair  details
6/4-5: Hands-On Beekeeping Class Kula info
6/9-12: 35th Annual Kapalua Wine & Food Festival details
6/11-12: Maui Triathlon info
6/15-19: Maui Film Festival schedule
6/18: Na Kamehameha Commemorative Pa'u Parade & Ho'olaule'a specifics

Maui Arts & Cultural Center
 
 tickets 
6/3: Anders Osborne & Luther Dickinson
6/4: Zenshin Daiko's 17th Annual Taiko Festival
6/5: Mana: What is Sacred    talk/lecture
6/7: Esperanza Spalding presents: Emily's D+Evolution
6/8: Thunder From Down Under
6/11: Miss Maui Filipina Pageant
6/11: ArT=Mixx: Modern Heroes  The Rat & The Octopus
6/15-19: Maui Film Festival
6/21: Acoustic Alchemy
6/23: Xavier Rudd
6/25: Michael Ondaatje   poet and novelist
6/25: 3rd Annual MAMo at the MACC  wearable art
6/26: 25th Annual Ki Ho'alu Guitar Festival
6/30: Wayne Brady

I hope you enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend, and I'll be in touch again next month.  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 Mahana 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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