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Whaler Thanksgiving on Maui
Hau'oli La Ho'omaika'i 2017
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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.
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Aloha Fellow Whaler Owners,
The Maui Jim Maui Invitational is going on now at the Lahaina Civic Center. This year they've brought on Tommy Bahama as the tournament's official lifestyle apparel partner.
(tix/schedule). * You can practice your high jump and a lot of other things when Maui's first indoor trampoline park opens next month.
Ultimate Air Maui will open their 25,000 sf facility next month in Kahului.
Hawaii is joining 34 other states and the District of Columbia in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the "physical presence" rule. They're looking for tax revenues from online stores that aren't a brick-and-mortar presence in Hawaii. Earlier this year e-commerce giant Amazon began collecting sales tax on items purchased in Hawaii.
Lots of new stores coming to our Island. Ulta Beauty, Starbucks, Domino's Pizza and a local restaurant called Fork & Salad Maui are among the new tenants that will join Target and Petco next year at the Puunene Shopping Center. Already announced tenants include Planet Fitness, Verizon, Supercuts, Maui Tacos and Massage Envy. * Meanwhile Safeway is spending more than $17.5 million including a $10 million new store on Maui and more than $7 million on upgrades and a 25,000 sf expansion to their Lahaina Store.
And no, the sky isn't falling nor will this be an Orwellian War of the Worlds. Which is why I'm giving you a heads up: Starting Dec 1st, and continuing on the first business day of each month at 11:45am you'll hear the usual 50 sec. steady toned "attention alert" test for hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes. In addition you'll now hear a 50 sec. wavering-tone siren "attack warning" ... all brought to you by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
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 Want to own a little piece of Rock n Roll history? Sammy Hagar's Maui estate just came on the market for $3.3M. You know some good times were had at that 10-acre estate. * Did you know that Hawaii had the highest share of equity-rich homes in the entire United States during the third quarter of this year? It's true! Hawaii led all states with 41.9%, followed by California with 41.4%, and New York with 35.7%. Median home prices nationwide are up 9.4% so far in 2017, the fastest pace of appreciation through the 1st three quarters of a year since 2013.
The Maui Planning Commission has approved changes that will take place at the old Makena Beach & Golf Resort Hotel. In 2014, the plans were to convert the hotel into condominium units and build a separate 76-unit boutique hotel. That's no longer on the table. Now the demolished 7-story hotel will be replaced with new low-rise, single-family and multifamily residential structures.
Home sales on Maui increased by 35.4% last month to 111 homes sold, compared to 82 home sales during the same month last year. . The median price of a single-family home in October was $667,350 ... 5.5% more than the $632,500 median price in October 2016. Condominiums on Maui gained the most in sales and prices last month. The median price rose 12.9% to $519,500 in October, from $460,000 in October 2016. The number of sales increase 38.1% with 134 condo units sold last month compared to 97 sold in October 2016.
Now l
et's take a look at The Whaler
:
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Status
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Unit
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Bd
|
Ba
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List $
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Sold $
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Close
|
|
Active
|
364
|
0
|
1
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650,000
|
|
|
|
Active
|
508
|
1
|
2
|
1,150,000
|
|
|
|
Active
|
1169
|
1
|
2
|
1,250,000
|
|
|
|
Active
|
1060
|
1
|
2
|
1,400,000
|
|
|
|
Active
|
573
|
2
|
2
|
1,650,000
|
|
|
|
Active
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1223
|
2
|
2
|
2,395,000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Escrow
|
564
|
0
|
1
|
675,000
|
|
|
|
Escrow
|
720
|
1
|
1
|
890,000
|
|
|
|
Escrow
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474
|
1
|
2
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1,050,000
|
|
|
|
Escrow
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757
|
1
|
2
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1,235,000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sold
|
665
|
0
|
1
|
650,000
|
590,000
|
10/10/17
|
|
Sold
|
764
|
0
|
1
|
698,000
|
669,900
|
08/17/17
|
|
Sold
|
459
|
1
|
1
|
975,000
|
900,000
|
10/20/17
|
|
Sold
|
859
|
1
|
1
|
1,025,000
|
904,000
|
09/01/17
|
|
Sold
|
1159
|
1
|
2
|
950,000
|
937,500
|
05/19/17
|
|
Sold
|
570
|
1
|
2
|
950,000
|
950,000
|
03/29/17
|
|
Sold
|
711
|
1
|
2
|
995,000
|
925,000
|
06/29/17
|
|
Sold
|
207
|
1
|
2
|
1,195,000
|
1,100,000
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09/15/17
|
|
Sold
|
1111
|
1
|
2
|
1,279,000
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1,200,000
|
06/16/17
|
|
Sold
|
1212
|
1
|
2
|
1,279,000
|
1,070,500
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10/30/17
|
|
Sold
|
1260
|
1
|
2
|
1,289,000
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1,250,000
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09/01/17
|
|
Sold
|
702
|
2
|
2
|
2,295,000
|
2,245,000
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09/18/17
|
|
Sold
|
352
|
2
|
2
|
3,200,000
|
2,850,000
|
11/08/17
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Figures from Realtors Association of Maui
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Maui appears to be on track to break last year's 2.6 million visitor mark. We're already 3.2% above the same period last year. We're also on track to top last year's visitor spending record of $4.5 billion. We're currently 3.8% higher than the same period last year. Maui has even seen an 18.2% increase in cruise ship visitors. Here's the breakdown across the major sources of tourism: West U.S. up 3%, East U.S. up 6.4%, Canada up 5.8%, and Japan up 3%. * U.S. Customs has just made it easier for Taiwanese visitors to apply for expedited customs and clearance. The increase in visitors will benefit Hawaii, as last year visitors from Taiwan contributed more than $36 million to the state's economy, generated $4.2 million in state tax revenue, and supported 441. jobs.
What about a
new kind of tourism - Medical Tourism. Medical tourism is a $100 billion world-wide industry that attracts 11 million tourists who travel for medical treatment each year. True, we can't compete with highly specialized destinations, or even with some of the less expensive places like Thailand and India. But at this month's first-ever Pacific Regenerative Medical Conference in Hawaii a panel discussed the possibilities. Hawaii would be more of a destination choice for patients seeking non-emergency health care services. They thought Hawaii will appeal to high-end tourists from China, Japan and other places in Asia. Hawaii would create a unique experience focused on health, wellness, longevity and aging.
Holiday season is here. If you have friends or family coming in for the holidays, do them and yourself a favor. Check out
Maui Beachfront Rentals
.
There are no hidden fees. That's where I keep my vacation rentals, and my guests save money by avoiding all those inflated fees by travel agencies. They have properties to suit even the pickiest traveler with over 60 locations island-wide. Their service doesn't stop with the booking - locally based staff is available 24/7. For me, it means
no hassles.
No more trying to cover all my bases with a local rental agency here plus extra advertising on sites like VRBO, HomeAway, Flip Key and others to try and get a decent return.
MBR covers it all and at no additional cost.
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Hawaiian Airlines got delivery of the first of 18 Airbus A321NEO aircraft last week. The fleet will begin service on Jan. 8th on the existing Kahului Maui - oakland route. Then move on to new service between Kahului Maui and Portland Oregon starting Jan. 18th. The new fleet will resume April 11th with its seasonal summer service between Lihue and Oakland, and March 11th from Kona to Los Angeles. Hawaiian Air is also trying to hire folks left unemployed by this month's
Island Air bankruptcy, which has now been converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation.
So, now who might step up to launch interisland flights with the absence of Island Air?
Mokulele Airlines and
Makani Kai are not thought to have the financial wherewithal to expand.
Mesa Air lost money in its 7 year
go! venture.
Hawaiian already does it ... but there is one name that keeps popping up as a possibility ...
Southwest Airlines. Southwest says it has been considering running its own interisland flights. AND Southwest executive Andrew Watterman used to work for Hawaiian Airlines and knows the market. Just sayin ...
There will be one more exit in service between Hawaii and the US mainland.
Allegiant Air will say aloha to Hawaii when they end their service next August.
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A slight dip in interest rates brought more homeowners and home buyers to the mortgage market. More homeowners were quick to refinance before interest rates rise again, and home buyers were able to lock in lower rates during the week. According to our mortgage guru
Dean Rathbun
of
Avis Mortgage, that's not even the big news. Here's what he says is:
At the beginning of this month, the Federal Reserve decided to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged. They did however, signal it may hike the rate at its December meeting. The Fed said the economy continued to expand at a solid pace despite disruptions caused by recent hurricanes. The latest jobs report was solid and gross domestic product growth was stronger than expected. And that's not all ...
 President Trump nominated Jerome "Jay" Powell to serve as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. He has the credentials, but what sets him apart is his reputation for encouraging diverse viewpoints, and the ability to set aside partisanship, to find realistic common ground and build a consensus. One of his more well known quotes: "The best outcomes are reached when opposing viewpoints are clearly and strongly presented before decisions are made."
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MAUI HAPPENINGS
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Banyan Tree Lighting
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12/01: 36th Annual Tree Lighting
Hale Mahaolu Akahi -Kahului
12/02: Annual Lighting of the Banyan Tree
Lahaina
12/2-23: "Let It Snow" Tues, Thurs, Sat
Queen Ka'ahumanu Center
Lahaina Gateway 9-2
11/24 Black Friday deals, 11/26, 12/3, 12/10, 12/17, 12/24, 12/31
11/24-12/10: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
12/16-17: Maui Chamber Orchestra Christmas Holiday Concert
Maui Theater
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday Friday tickets
"Ulalena" Hawaiian Show 5pm
"Burn'n Love" Relive Elvis in Hawaii Concert 7:30pm
Maui Arts & Cultural Center
11/21: Honolulu Biennial 2017 Island Hopping visual arts
11/22: Jo Koy comedy
11/25: Thompson Square This is Us Tour concert
11/26: Maui Choral Arts: Happy Holly Jolly Days
12/02: Ranch Church & Friends country
12/03: Maui Holiday Pops
12/06: Miranda Sings (from Netflix)
12/08: Billy Collins U.S. Poet Laureate
12/10: Nahko (of Medicine Tribe for the People) concert
12/14: Tom Segura comedy
12/16: Streetlight Cadence alternate folk-pop band
12/28-29: Phil Lesh & Friends former bassist Grateful Dead
12/30: Howie Mandel comedy
Our island is really busy right now, and will only get more so as we get deeper into our holiday season. Know what happens to those visitors who come to Maui having escaped freezing temperatures and shoveling snow? They want to stay ... or at least own a piece of paradise for themselves.
I'd be happy to offer you a no obligation, confidential evaluation of your property if you're even considering selling your property. Likewise, if you're thinking of purchasing a property and locking in those low interest rate now, remember the Fed hinted at a rate increase at next month's meeting. As a fellow Whaler owner, I have a vested interest in seeing the property grow in value. With over 30 years experience in the Maui market, you can't put yourself in better hands. Remember, we are the
only
Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate Brokerages on Maui. Our offices are located in Lahaina-Kapalua and Wailea-Makena. I'm available to you 7 days a week.
Happy Thanksgiving
Hau'oli La Ho'omaika'i
,
John
Broker/Owner
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If you are currently listed with another Broker, this is not intended to disturb that relationship
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Low Fixed & Adjustable Rates
Condo-tel Lender for over 23 Years
DEAN RATHBUN
Toll Free (888) 455-AVIS (2847
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