November 2016 Whaler Resort Update

Thanksgiving on Maui

Hau'oli La Ho'omakika'i

Long before the Puritans went sailing to Plymouth Rock, "Makahiki" was a harvest celebration that ran from November thru February. Fast forward to 1849. In an effort to strengthen relations between Hawaii and America, King Kamehameha III declared December 31st a national holiday of Thanksgiving. Why not November? Well, Hawaii already had a holiday called La Kuokoa at the end of the month. So even with a different date, Thanksgiving became official in Hawaii 14 years before President Abraham Lincoln declared it the national holiday it is now. There is another Hawaiian tradition that might also be appropriate for this post election Thanksgiving ... the practice of hooponopono. It literally translates to "restore and maintain good relationships and work together towards finding solutions."

LOCAL MAUI NEWS

Aloha Fellow Whaler Owners!

Disney's Moana movie opens this week featuring Disney's first Polynesian Princess. Stars include Hawaii born Auli'i Cravalho as Moana, and Nicole Scherzinger as Sina. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stars as the demi-god Maui.

If you're a golf lover, how about a chance to volunteer for the Tournament of Champions ? It'll be at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Jan 4-8, 2017. If interested click here .

"Honoring the past, inspiring the future." That's the theme of the 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor running December 1st - 11th. Celebrities include Tom Hanks, Gary Sinese, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood (performing 3 concerts), and possibly President Obama. You can find all the details here.

And a little tid-bit for football fans: It was announced this month that the Hula Bowl will be played in Raleigh, North Carolina starting in 2018, then rotate between there and our Aloha Stadium every year.

CURRENT MARKET ANALYSIS

Nationally the housing market outperformed the U.S. economy in the first half of the year as growth in sales and prices was stronger than the growth in GDP.

Hawaii got a surprise this month with the announcement that Outrigger Hotels and Resorts is selling its portfolio of 37 hotels in Hawaii and the Pacific to Colorado-based KSL Capital Partners. Founded in 1947, family-owned Outrigger is the largest locally owned hotel chain in Hawaii. Even with the change in ownership, the Outrigger name and management will stay in place.

Here on Maui, the number of single-family homes and condominiums sold dipped last month when compared to October of last year. There were 82 homes sold compared with 106 in October 2015 - a 22.6% drop. A total of 97 condos were sold, down 7.6% from 105.

The GOOD news is the median selling price of a home was $632,500, up 6.8% from $592,000 from a year ago. The median selling price for a condo was $460,000, a whopping 17.1% increase from $392,900.

Let's take a look at The Whaler:

Status	Unit	Bd	Ba	List $	Sold $	Close
Active	364	0	1	719,000
Active	564	0	1	719,000
Active	459	1	1	975,000
Active	859	1	1	1,050,000
Active	270	1	2	895,000
Active	570	1	2	950,000
Active	657	1	2	995,000
Active	105	1	2	1,075,000
Active	508	1	2	1,150,000
Active	205/207	1	2	1,225,000
Active	1260	1	2	1,289,000
Active	1212	1	2	1,299,000
Active	573	2	2	1,650,000
Active	702	2	2	2,550,000
Active	1221/23	2	2	2,850,000


Escrow	201	1	2	1,895,000
Escrow	252	2	2	2,490,000


Sold	316	0	1	635,000	620,000	06/02/16
Sold	856	1	1	1,195,000	1,022,500	04/19/16
Sold	670	1	2	950,000	885,000	09/28/16
Sold	1211	1	2	995,000	925,000	06/09/16
Sold	1060	1	2	1,195,000	1,170,000	07/21/16
Sold	1112	1	2	1,299,000	1,274,700	08/23/16
Sold	902	2	2	2,550,000	2,300,000	07/15/16

Figures from Realtors Association of Maui

TOURISM

The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) has released statistics showing 2016 is ahead of pace to set annual records for the island's tourism industry. For the first 9 months of the year, Hawaii's tourism economy experienced $11.6 billion in visitor spending, $409.6 million more than the same period last year. There were close to 7 million visitors, a 2.6% increase over the same period in 2015. The bump in visitors is mostly attributed to the Mainland. Western U.S. brought in 2.7 million, while East Coast arrivals brought in 1.4 million. Japan represents the third-largest share, followed by China. Maui experienced a 10.1% increase in visitor arrivals that contributed 312.7 million in expenditures, a daily average of $217 per person.

Last week Hawaii experienced a dip in hotel occupancy when compared to the same week last year. Statewide, the average occupancy was 80.4% a 2.4% decrease. The average cost of renting a room was $228.05 - up 1.3%. Better news on Maui: occupancy increased 2.4% to 80.6%. Room rates also surged 10.7% to $268.25

No secret - I keep my vacation rentals with Maui Beachfront Rentals . So many of you complain about your front desk rental pools. All I can tell you is I don't have any of those hassles. They cover all the bases. Because they're local they can offer so many concierge services that include car rentals, airline reservations, island activities, and special in-room amenities. Plus at no additional charge, they advertise my rental on sites like VRBO, HomeAway, Flip Key and others! You really should check MBR out.

TRAVEL

Hawaiian Airlines has announced it will resume service to Kapalua Airport in West Maui. The airline will offer four daily flights between Kapalua and Honolulu, and two daily flights between Kapalua and Kahului Airport on Maui. Tickets are on sale now for flights starting Jan. 18th, 2017. January is also the time that Hawaiian Airlines will debut their new uniforms.

Island Air has announced an increase in fees for checked bags for customers not enrolled in the airline's Island Miles program. New fees for nonmembers will be $25 for the 1st checked bag and $35 for every bag after that. Members will be charged $15 for the 1st checked bag, $20 for the 2nd, and $35 for each additional bag.

Alaska Airlines has just started their seasonal flights from Bellingham, Washington to Hawaii. The airlines will fly to Maui, as well as the Big Island until April 2nd. And don't forget to check out their new Premium Class section, with 4" of extra space between rows.

MORTGAGES

So lots of folks wondered if the recent election would affect mortgage interest rates. I turned to Dean Rathbun of Avis Mortgage who shared that they did indeed rise to an average 3.95% up from 3.77% the prior week. In fact they reached their highest level since January of this year. As you'd expect applications for both refinancing and home purchases decreased. Dean says not to jump to conclusions, since applications remain 12% higher than a year ago. The Mortgage Bankers Association said they "continue to expect strong growth in home sales and purchase volume over the next few years." Dean also said that it still looks like we can expect Janet Yellen, chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, to announce that the central bank will raise its benchmark interest rate at its meeting next month.

GREEN

Hawaiian Electric Co. has signed up 671 customers for its new time-of-use program that I told you about last month. That's where residential customers pay less for power used during the day - when solar energy production is highest - and more at night.

While this past legislative session shelved a bill that would have established an energy-storage system rebate program, Hawaii lawmakers will be looking again into creating a bill that would provide a tax credit for energy-storage projects.

All but one of the 8 wind turbines at the 21-megawatt Auwahi wind project at Ulupalakua Ranch on Maui are now back online, following the failure of one of the turbines last month. Maui has 2 major solar energy farms scheduled to start construction. Each 3.8 megawatt project (one in Lahaina - one in Kihei) will provide solar power to Maui Electric's grid at 11.06 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Here's a blast from the past. Remember Gilligan's Island" ? Well the opening sequence of the 1960's TV series was filmed on 28-acre Coconut Island. That island is now used as a marine research facility for the University of Hawaii. The university is going to use the island as a microgrid project utilizing sources like energy storage, hydrogen, solar and small wind. It would be grid-connected so that it could export energy.

MAUI HAPPENINGS

11/24: Turkey Trot Run register

12/2-3: Maui Jim Classic Basketball info

12/3: 19th Annual Lighting of the Banyan Tree Lahaina

12/3-4: Maui Bird Conservation Open House (808) 572-0690

12/10: 3rd Annual Holiday Tree Lighting at Ulupalakua by MauiWine

12/18: Christmas 5K Run & Half Mile Santa Keiki Dash details

12/30: William Shatner Live tickets

Maui OnStage Iao Theater tickets

now-12/11: Mary Poppins

12/17-18: Maui Chamber Orchestra

Maui Arts & Cultural Center

tickets

11/23: John Mayall in concert

11/25: Adventure Club - Leid in Hawaii

11/26: "Duke" 1 man show on Duke Paoa Kahanamoku

11/27: Maui Choral Arts Yule Be Home For Christmas

12/01: Atmosphere concert

12/02: Erick Church country music

12/03: Willie K holiday concert

12/03: William Finnegan speaker/recitation

12/04: Holiday Pops with Nicole Parker

12/06: Konomi Dance Works hip-hop

12/08: Steve Aoki & Friends Dim Mac Records 20th Anniv.

12/09: Jo Koy comedy

12/10-11: Nutcracker Sweets

12/13: Streetlight Cadence folk-pop group

12/17: Trevor Hall concert

12/18: Rebelution reggae concert

12/21: Jim Gaffigan comedy

12/29: Phil Lesh & Friends grateful dead music

Maui Film Festival info

Date	3:30	5:30		7:30	9:30
12/13	My Life as a Zuchini	Music of Strangers		La La Land
12/20	Miss Hokusai	Sing		*
12/22	Seasons	Tanna		Neruda	Nocturnal Animals
12/23	3pm *	5pm Arrival		Fences
12/27	1pm Florence Foster Jenkins		* 3, 5, 7:30
12/28	3pm *	A Monster Calls		20th Century Women

* special surprise screening

Pioneer Inn - Lahaina

(808) 661-3636

"An Evening with Mark Twain" 11/27

"Dyl an Thomas: A Child's Christmas in Wales" 12/4, 12/11

Queen Kaahumanu Center - Kahului

Snow Falls Center Court 6:30pm & 8:30pm: 12/1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 20, 23

Christmas Carol Karaoke Nights 5-7pm: 12/2, 9, 16

Pet Photos with Santa 6pm: 12/5, 12, 19

Sid and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. The Island is getting very busy with the holiday season upon us. So many folks come here to enjoy their holidays amongst the palm trees and ocean breezes, and fall in love with Maui. Those same folks wish they could stay forever and not return to shoveling snow and bad weather. Of course that's not practical for the majority of them, but there are those who want to own a piece of paradise they can come back to again and again. If you're giving any thought to selling your unit, we'd be happy to give you a confidential, no-cost market valuation. Remember we're the only Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate Brokerage on Maui, and now with two offices to serve you ... Lahaina and our new Wailea-Makena office. We're available to you 7 days a week.

Mahalo,

John and Sid