Kahana Update
August 2016
LOCAL MAUI NEWS
Aloha Fellow Kahana  Owners!

           
                 Jumanji   Sequel                      Jur assic World Sequel         Amy Schumer/Goldie Hawn
                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Have you ever thought what fun it might be to be the next big thing discovered by Hollywood? Well, Hollywood is returning to the Aloha state.  You could be ready for your close-up right here in paradise when two Hollywood Blockbusters come to Hawaii to film.  Over 2 decades ago, the late Robin Williams starred in the original Jumanji.  The remake will begin filming this fall with stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kevin Hart and Jack Black.  The sequel to last year's hit movie Jurassic World  will begin filming in Hawaii at the first of the year.   And what does that have to do with making your dramatic entrance?  Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn just wrapped up filming an as yet untitled mother-daughter comedy here, and they hired 728 residents and 120 nonresidents for the film.   

Looking like a movie set, the 150-year-old ruins and relics of the Haiku Mill have been recently restored and unveiled for tours. Check out their  website and you'll see why celebrities have been booking it for weddings and parties.     Remember the 60's TV series  Flipper ?  He was a bottlenose dolphin and apparently had permission to film during the day.  Our Spinner Dolphins ... not so much. One of the most popular tourist activities in Hawaii is swimming with the dolphins, and Federal regulators are proposing a ban on it.  Apparently they're nocturnal, and when they sleep they rest half their brains and keep the other half awake so they can surface and breathe.  The fear is the added stress is harming their ability to reproduce.

The postage stamp pictured at right is an intact, unused stamp from 1852, when Hawaii was still a kingdom.  This early Hawaii postage stamp was commonly called a "missionary" stamp because they were used by missionaries to send mail to the United States.  Avid stamp collector William Gross and his wife Sue recently sold it and decided to donate part of the proceeds back to Hawaii.  Their $250,000 donation to the Hawaii Foodbank will be used to distribute 625,000 meals to the needy in Hawaii.     The Ulupono Initiative is an investment firm founded by Hawaii resident and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.  He's just committed to provide $3 million to a Hawaii offshore fish farm - Blue Ocean Mariculture. Currently they produce 700 - 900 pounds of Hawaiian Kampachi each year.  They are also the only sashimi-grade, aquaculture-raised yellowtail in the United States.
        CURRENT MARKET ANALYSIS
Nationally, existing-home sales lost momentum last month due to very low inventory on the market across the country.  According to the National Association of REALTORS, July saw existing-home sales post their first year-over-year drop since November 2015.  Home prices were up 5.3% nationally year-over-year.  While home sales are still expected to finish the year strong, the housing market is undershooting its full potential because of inadequate existing inventory.

The Hawaii State Pension Fund plans to redevelop the lands surrounding its 100-acre, 36-hole Kaanapali Golf Course into a mixed-use development with homes, a hotel, restaurants, retail shops and entertainment. They have owned the 305-acre property for about a decade. It's a sign of the times, but interest in golf is shrinking around the world.  An additional idea being looked at would be to take nine holes out of the 36 total holes and turn it into a par-3 course.  All of this is just in the talking stages, and it would be at least 3 years before the project breaks ground.

Here on Maui, the median sales price of single-family homes and condominiums sold jumped last month. While the number of  single-family homes sold dropped 28.7% to 92 ... down from 129in July 2015, the median sales price edged higher by 1.5% to $599,000, up from $590,000. Condominium sales on Maui shot up 26.4% to 110 units from 87 sold in July 2015. The median price of condominiums in Maui County also rose 10.3% to $440,000 from $399,000 last year.

Let's take a look at Kahana:

KAHANA OUTRIGGER
STATUS
UNIT
BD
BA
LIST $
LT
SALE $
CLOSE
no new activity
KAHANA SUNSET
Active
E4E
1
1
465,000
Active
B1B
1
1
585,000
Active
E5
2
2
675,000
KAHANA VILLAGE
Active
34
2
2
849,000
LH
ROYAL KAHANA
Status
Unit
Bd
Ba
 List $
LT
 Sold $
Close
Active
405
0
1
215,000
LH
Active
604
0
1
299,000
Active
119
0
1
299,000
Active
203
0
1
300,000
Active
204
0
1
300,000
Active
605
0
1
310,000
Active
616
0
1
325,000
Active
916
0
1
328,000
Active
619
0
1
345,000
Active
1217
0
1
364,500
Active
107
1
1
474,500
Active
115
1
1
475,000
Active
108
1
1
485,000
Active
614
1
1
485,000
Active
314
1
1
499,000
Active
1114
1
1
499,000
Active
807
1
1
527,000
Active
201
2
2
498,000
Active
501
2
2
499,000
Active
720
2
2
569,500
Active
1001
2
2
615,000
Active
311
2
2.5
1,100,000
Escrow
413
1
1
519,000
Sold
104
0
1
322,000
305,000
8/02/2016
Sold
703
0
1
340,000
300,000
2/26/2016
Sold
513
1
1
549,000
518,000
4/27/2016
Sold
201
2
2
399,000
399,000
2/16/2016
Sold
220
2
2
498,000
498,000
3/11/2016
Figures from Realtors Association of Maui
TOURISM 
The new Airport Road into Kahului Airport is open.  It features a beautiful water feature and a two lane road which deliver you to the departure terminal.      While it's old news now that the NFL is moving the 2017 Pro Bowl to Orlando, Florida from our Aloha Stadium where the game had been held for 35 of the past 37 years, the Hawaii Tourism Authority didn't just want to sit on their hands.   So they've hired Ascendent Sport Group, a marketing firm to bring sporting events to Hawaii.

Separate from what the Hawaii Tourism Authority is doing, the 2015 NBA champion Golden State Warriors have just registered a new company in Hawaii - Golden State Warriors LLC.  That will allow them to hold a sports camp in the state.  They held one here last month featuring star guard Steph Curry.

By now you know I keep my vacation rentals with  Maui Beachfront Rentals.  One of the biggest reasons I do, is the response from my guests.  I get so many repeat bookings because Maui Beachfront has such great guest services.  What do you want help with ... discount car rentals? They can set you up with that.  Airline Reservations ... they're on it.  Island Activities ... they can hook you up with all the fun stuff.  Groceries ... Believe me, one of the advantages to staying in a condo over a hotel room is the full kitchen.  So instead of having to fork out big bucks to eat out at every meal ... go out and have a good time knowing that one of Maui Beachfront's guest services is grocery delivery!  If you have friends or family coming to Maui, do them a favor and hook 'em up with MBR.  If you own your unit and would like to offset the cost by renting it out when you're not there ... call MBR.  They're marketing will get you more bang for your buck. You won't have to spend your own extra money on peddling your unit yourself ... they've got you covered on support sites like VRBO, HomeAway, Flip Key and many more all at no additional cost to you.   I could go on and on ... but I think you've got the idea.  Check 'em out for yourself MBR.
TRAVEL
Remember the good ol days when you'd get some sort of meal on every flight?  Sure 1st class choices were better than the ones you'd get in coach ... but still there was some dedicated chewing time on your flight.   Now if you get a bag of pretzels in coach you think you're living the life. Well, to counter increased competition  Japan Airlines  will begin a new meal service in economy and premium-economy classes starting Sept. 1st on all Honolulu-bound flights.   But that's not all, JAL has introduced seating with an extra 4 inches of legroom.  In January, look for them to change the seat layout .  Hawaii flights draw more couples than other routes (can we help it if we're that romantic?), so they're replacing the conventional 3 sets of 3 seats per row with seats grouped in two, four and 3 seats.

Delta Airlines is bringing back seasonal flights between Minneapolis and Hawaii with free meals and beverages for all passengers!  Check this out ... everybody will get TWO free meals - one at the beginning and one before the end of the flights, plus complimentary beer, wine and spirits including Mai Tais. Those flights resume November 3rd. Delta is also offering free meals and drinks on Honolulu flights to and from Atlanta International Airport starting Sept. 17th and John F. Kennedy International Airport beginning Dec. 17th.
      MORTGAGES
Fixed-rate mortgages dropped slightly this week compared to the previous week, and continue to hover near all-time lows.  And who better to bring you up to date on all things mortgage than Dean Rathbun  of  Avis Mortgage. Dean shared that Freddie Mac economists have lowered their interest rate estimates for the second consecutive month.  They're predicting the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for this year to average 3.6%. For 2017, they're predicting the average at 3.7%.     Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced a redesign for the standardized form borrowers use to apply for a loan.   This is kind of a big deal since it's the first substantial revision in more than two decades.  The whole point of the changes to the Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) is to simplify the terminology and make it easier to read so that borrowers will need less help from lenders.  The new forms will roll out Jan 1, 2018.
GREEN
A $170 million power plant being called the most " survivable"  power plant  will be built on 8 acres of leased land on the Army's Schofield Barracks.  The 50-megawatt biofuel-capable generating plant will be located over 8 miles from and about 900 feet above seal level.  This will protect it from possible coastal effects of tsunamis and storm surges.  At a recent energy conference John Cole, former member of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission said that it will take an estimated $8 billion in infrastructure upgrades alone to get to our goal of 100% renewable energy.  At that same meeting Governor David Ige said that "all the easy projects have been done or contemplated and it will get harder as we move forward."  

Energy storage, which is considered by many as the key to reaching that 100% renewable energy goal, will be the main topic at an energy conference Sept. 12-13.   For instance, Maui is just 2% from reaching its 5-megawatt cap for the grid-supply program. That program gave customers the option of exporting excess energy to the grid in exchange for bill credit.  So now we're back to energy storage. A self-supply program is being looked at where homeowners generate their own electricity and could store energy for use after the sun sets.
Sergio Mendes
                             
MAUI HAPPENINGS

9/03: Japanese Kite Festival   Kahului  details
9/8-11: 6th Annual Maui Jazz & Blues Festival  info
9/10: Hana Relay  52 mi from Kahului Airport to Hana  sche d
9/10: Obon Festival  Hana Buddhist Temple  Hana Fairgrounds dance 5pm
9/16-17: Chinese Moon Festival Lahaina  specifics
9/17: 10th Annual Pailolo Challenge 26 mi Maui - Molokai Canoe Race  info
9/24: Maui Okinawan Festival 10am - 3pm  Maui Mall Kahului
 
Maui OnStage   Iao Theater   tickets
8/30-10/16: Boeing Boeing
10/22-23: Maui Chamber Orchestra
11/25-12/11: Mary Poppins

Maui Arts & Cultural Center
 
  tickets  
9/03: Na Mele O Hawaii ... the Golden Years
9/04: Pink Martini     orchestra and dance floor
9/08: Demystifying the Kuahu    hula
9/10: Ku Mai Ka Hula 2016    hula competition
9/11: Spyro Gyra   contemporary jazz concert
9/14: "Desert Migration"   Movie on life after AIDS
9/15: Sergio Mendes      concert and dance floor
9/16: Sublime with Rome    ska punk reggae
9/17: "Mai Poina: The Overthrow"     live theater  last 4 days of the Hawaiian Monarch
9/25: Chick Corea Trio    jazz


I'm currently working on something big that will provide even more service to you. I look forward to sharing the good news with you in future updates.  Meanwhile if you have friends or fellow owners you think would enjoy these updates, shoot me a message and I'll include them 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. As a fellow Kahana Owner I have a vested interest in our property values and have been a Kahana 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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