April 2017 Honua Kai Update

Honua Kai Update

April 2017

LOCAL MAUI NEWS

Aloha Honua Kai Owners,

You may have already noticed the demolition underway at the Lahaina Cannery Mall. The plan is to spend $18 million in renovations, and work to double the size of the Safeway will begin in June. Just down the street at Whalers Village, the old Whale Museum (which was closed in 2015) will be replaced by The Whale Center of Hawaii with doors set to open June 1st. No wonder Lahaina was voted #1 City/Town in Hawaii Magazine's Best of the Best issue. And not to limit ourselves to just one city ... ladies Hawaii is the best state in the country for women to live and work according to new research by MoveHub.

I have an update for you on something I shared in my February update about Disney/ABC coming to Hawaii to produce a new TV series "Marvel's Inhumans". Yes, the series is still set to premiere later this fall ... but that's not all. It'd be pretty hard to out-do 2016 for productions in Maui: 56 commercials shot here, 4 reality-based shows, 2 feature films, one TV pilot and 16 print campaign shoots. In the pipeline now are: 20th Century Fox TV action-comedy series "The 808", Syfy channel's zombie-theme feature film "Dead Season 2" confirmed for this summer, You Tube Red's comedy series "Surf Break Hotel" late 2017, Warner Brothers' horror/thriller feature "Ashtray" late 2017, Independent film "Found in Maui" summer, two Paramount feature films, a Netflix drama series, and ABC may bring back a reboot of Tom Selleck's show "Magnum, P.I." focusing on his daughter.

And it looks like the long-delayed $354.5 million redevelopment of the Makena Resort will start construction next year. The final environmental assessment said it will include a total of 158 units, a resort-oriented commercial village, 27,300 sf of retail/commercial space, 405 onsite parking spaces, redevelopment of the Makena Golf & Beach Club, and the old Maui Prince Hotel redeveloped into luxury apartment units.

CURRENT MARKET ANALYSIS

Nationally, housing shortages are prompting existing homes to sell a lot faster this year. According to the National Association of Realtors home sales are at the highest pace in more than a decade. CoreLogic Home Price Index is projecting an additional 5% rise in home prices nationally over the next 12 months.

Single-family home sales on Maui surged 60% last month to 101 from 63 in March 2016. The median sales price also rose during the same time period to $769,000. Median condominium prices dropped 16% to $390,000 from $465,000 during March last year ... but the number of condos sold increased 15% to 130.

Here in Hawaii residential sales aren't the only ones strong - golf courses are big too! In the past 3 years alone, 11 golf courses in Hawaii have changed hands, and most of them are in some phase of upgrading their courses. All but one, were purchased by Asian investors. While Japan once dominated Hawaii's golf market, China and South Korea are making gains. Besides residential and golf course sales ... there are the Resort Hotel sales. The Westin Maui Resort & Spa Kaanapali, one of the largest hotels on Maui, just sold their leasehold interest (not including the land the resort is on) for $317 million. The joint venture purchase by Trinity Investments now joins their others including The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua. They plan to significantly upgrade the hotel guest rooms, public areas, and food/beverage areas. Trinity is also involved in the redevelopment of the Makena Resort.

Now l et's take a look at Honua Kai :

Status	Unit	Bd	Ba	List $	Sold $	Close
KONEA
Active	524	1	1	799,000
Active	K243	2	2	1,499,000
Active	K143	2	2	1,525,000
Active	634	2	2	1,595,000
Active	926	2	2	1,595,000
Active	305	2	2	1,785,000
Active	813	2	2	2,239,000

Escrow	920	2	2	1,250,000

Sold	345	2	2	1,429,000	1,337,500	03/07/17
Sold	229	2	2	1,599,000	1,575,000	04/07/17
Sold	613	2	2	2,100,000	2,100,000	04/13/17
Sold	251	3	3	3,650,000	3,600,000	03/13/17


HOKU LANI
Active	223	0	1	725,000
Active	219	0	1	795,000
Active	224	1	1	699,000
Active	928	1	1	749,000
Active	634	2	2	1,288,000
Active	1022	2	2	1,295,000
Active	511	2	2	1,775,000
Active	545	2	2	1,799,000
Active	505	2	2	1,899,000
Active	629	3	3	2,650,000
Active	341	2	2.5	1,875,000
Active	603	3	3	2,950,000
Active	150	3	3	2,999,999
Active	451	3	3	4,099,000

Escrow	732	1	1	729,000
Escrow	710	2	2	1,399,000

Sold	537	0	1	850,000	845,000	04/03/17
Sold	837	0	1	872,000	872,000	02/13/17
Sold	632	1	1	719,000	712,500	04/07/17
Sold	213	1	1	950,000	950,000	04/17/17
Sold	442	1	1	1,089,000	1,060,000	03/22/17
Sold	201	3	3	3,775,000	3,775,000	04/17/17

Figures from Realtors Association of Maui

TOURISM and TRAVEL

Hawaii hotels had a great March. Statewide occupancy for the month was 80.2% and the average daily room rate was $265. But the big numbers were here on Maui. Hotel occupancy was 82.7% and the average daily room rate was $364.23. While it's nice so many tourists came to visit, the Hawaii Convention Center is preparing for 2 of what they feel may be the largest events for the year. Comic Con is expected to bring in 12,000 attendees July 28-30. The larger Amazing Hawaii Comic Con should bring in 25,000 August 25-27. That even will include guests like William Shatner (Capt. James Kirk - Star Trek), Kevin Eastman (co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), and Jason Fabok (the artist for comics including Batman, Suicide Squad and Justice League).

The Hawaii Tourism Authority has plans to attract high-spending visitors from Japan and the U.S. East with new marketing campaigns. The Japan market is experiencing a strengthening yen against the dollar. New Hawaiian Airlines routes between Haneda and Kona launched in December and new routes to Kauai and Maui are expected within the next few years, as infrastructure improvements are needed to accommodate the larger planes. Already Japan has posted an increase in arrivals of 5.8% from February last year. As far as the U.S. visitors go, a study shows that 90% of those that have never been to Hawaii are between the ages of 25 - 35, and most live in New York. So the lure of that marketing campaign will focus on "cuisine".

More good travel news for us: The number of visitors to Hawaii by cruise ships have nearly tripled based on year-to-year comparisons for February. And three Hawaii airports ranked in the top 10 for the whole country for on-time arrivals. Only Charlotte, North Carolina had a higher on-time arrival at 84.8%, followed by Kona on the Big Island with 83.2%, Kahului airport here on Maui with 82.2%, and Honolulu at 81.6% on-time arrivals.

MORTGAGES

Interest rates have fallen to their lowest average since November 2016. Freddie Mac placed the 30-year mortgage rate at 3.97%. With the Feds just having raised their interest rates, this seemed a little unexpected so I turned to Dean Rathbun of Avis Mortgage . Dean has explained that when the Fed raises its federal funds rate it becomes pricier for banks to borrow money - which usually leads to higher borrowing rates for consumers. Mortgage rates tend to coincide more with the 10-year Treasury note. Lately investors have been buying them up, and the higher demand has been sending mortgage rates lower. If you're considering buying a property you should lock in these low rates. We could see rates around 4.5% by the end of the year.

GREEN

I always talk about Solar being so important in Hawaii ... and it is. But today I want to focus on something a little different. I want to tell you about some interesting moves Hawaii is making in the "automobile" foray. First Hawaii Gov. David Ige went to San Francisco to pitch two tech companies on the idea of testing their self-driving cars in the islands. The governor met with Google and Nvidia to convince them that Hawaii has advantages for testing and developing autonomous vehicles that other states don't. Hawaii can create an environment that allows the companies to test the vehicles in a safe way and learn much more quickly. Look out BMW, Volvo, and Tesla ... we're coming for you.

And speaking of cars, at the recent Maui Energy Conference, Hawaiian Electric Co. said they are working on a plan to get more electric vehicle charging stations built at workplaces and condominium buildings. Hawaii recently topped the 5,000 mark for electric vehicles (EV) registered in Hawaii. We're only second in the nation after California in per capita EV registrations.

MAUI HAPPENINGS

4/25-30: Napili Kai Golden Anniversary Week activities

4/29: 25th Annual East Maui Taro Festival Hana Ball Park

5/01: 3rd Annual Lei Day Festival Bailey House Wailuku schedule

5/5-7: Annual St. Joseph's Feast information

5/06: 38th Annual Women's Na Holo Wahine 5k run details

5/06: 3rd Annual Evening In The Gardens Maui Nui Botanical tickets

5/12-14: Mele Mei Maui Lahaina Banyan Tree

5/13: 39th Annual Maui Charity Walk info

5/15-21: Kapalua Restaurant Week yum yum

5/26: Pint Night For The Birds Maui Brewing Co. details

Maui Classical Music Festival tickets

5/05: From Paris to Vienna

5/08: Romantic Treasures

5/10: Community Concert

5/12: Festival Finale

Maui OnStage Iao Theater tickets

4/28-5/14: A Few Good Men

5/20-21: West Side Story Concert Maui Chamber Orchestra

7/14-8/6: 9 to 5 The Musical

Maui Theater Monday, Tuesday, Thursday Friday tickets

'Ulalena Hawaiian Show 5pm

Burn'n Love Relive Elvis in Hawaii Concert 7:30pm

Pioneer Inn Lahaina show reservations (303) 507-0987

"An Evening with Mark Twain" 5/07

"An Evening with Albert Einstein" 5/21

2 Shows on the Following Dates : 4/28, 4/30

"The Old Man and the Sea" 6:30pm & "The Journey of C.S. Lewis" 7:45pm

Maui Arts & Cultural Center

tickets

4/29: Ha'upu: A Hawaiian Opera

4/29-30: Maui Choral Arts: Sing to Me Salute to Female Composers

5/02: Santana concert

5/6-7: MAPA's Spring Extravaganza dance

5/13: 9th Annual Maui Brewers Festival

5/14: Michael Franti & Spearhead concert

5/18: Nick Swardson comedy

5/19: Starry Night Cinema: Finding Dory

5/20: Tibetan Illusion Destroyer 3D Film and Sarah Cahill pianist

5/21: Tribal Seeds reggae concert

5/25: Maria Muldaur & her Red Hot Bluesiana Band concert

5/25: Trevor Noah (Daily Show) 8pm & 10pm

So as you read above, the push is on for Hawaii properties with Asian buyers as reflected by the number of investments being made by the Japanese, Chinese, and South Koreans. We want to make it easier for them to find and shop our property listings, and to that end Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices has teamed up with China's largest international property website Juwai.com and Juwai.com/luxe which will enable about 2 million monthly users to browse our listings. The website traffic comes from more than 400 cities in China and from 165 countries around the world. Once again, we're at the forefront.

You also read about residential sale price increases here on Maui and the current crazy low interest rates. If you're even considering selling your property, you're in a nice situation as inventory is low. If you're thinking of purchasing a property, lock in that interest rate. Either way we can help you. With over 30 years experience in the Maui market, you can't put yourself in better hands. We'd be glad to review the value of your property with no obligation and complete confidentiality. Remember, we are the only Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate Brokerage on Maui with offices in Lahaina and Wailea-Makena. We're available to you 7 days a week.

Mahalo,

John and Sid