So, did you miss us? Well we're back and we have lots of news to share with you. You know who else is back? Our beautiful humpback whales. That's right it's Whale Season on Maui. The annual whale migration from Alaska to Hawaii started last month, and they'll be here through April. * Did you catch the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Resort's Plantation Course last weekend? Harris English landed top of the leader board for a $1,340,000 win. And while we're on the topic of golf, the Mitsubishi Electric Championship is coming up January 19-23 at Hualalai Golf Course. There won't be any spectators allowed, but you can catch all the action on the Golf Channel.

You're probably aware that there are hundreds of Native American owned casinos on the mainland. Well, Tyler Gomes, deputy chairman of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is proposing a casino and resort on DHHL-owned land. Gomes estimates the project could generate $30 million a year under a new Hawaii gaming commission, and help get Native Hawaiians off wait lists and into homes. * Hitting the beach is pretty common in Hawaii, but from now on you should leave your old Sun Screen at home. Beginning this month, Hawaii now bans sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate. New reef-safe sunscreen is readily available here.

Despite fears last spring that the pandemic would absolutely wreck Hawaii's real estate market, it took a beat, then pulled a 180. There were 18 sales of single-family homes for $10 million or more. 8 of those were for $15 million or more, and 3 were for more than $20 million. Oakley founder James Jannard sold his 3 homes on Kauai for $36.75 million and Julia Roberts sold her Kauai estate for $19.99 million. The largest sale on Hawaii Island was a $37 million sale oceanfront property in the Kukio Golf and Beach Club. Maui's largest sale was a $24 million oceanfront estate in the Kapalua Resort. Oahu scored two oceanfront sales in Kailua one for $18.7 million and the other for $12.5 million.

Check out the rebound in home sales in December. Condominium sales jumped 35.2% to 169 units compared to 125 units in December 2019. The median price of those units increased 22.3% to $629,00 from $514,120 in December 2019. Single-family home sales rose 8.2% to 105 homes sold, from 97 sold in December 2019. The median price for those homes increased 16.9% to $865,000 compared to $740,000 the same month in 2019.

Now let's compare Year-End 2019 with Year-End 2020 for Maui:

Tourism is the lifeblood of Hawaii's economy, and last spring we thought that was going to tank too. Not so fast ... all of a sudden there were all these folks who could work remotely. Now with the flexibility to work from anywhere do you do it from your apartment in the urban jungle - or do you to it from HAWAII? Easy choice right? I experienced folks who would buy a home without even seeing the place first - hello virtual tours and video chat. Then there were those who'd come and rent for say 6 months, but as their expirations were coming up, they'd decide to stay and buy a home.

Tourism has improved so much that the state Council on Revenues had to change its forecast upward. In September they thought our revenues would drop 11%, but now they've revised it to only 6.5%. At first we thought we might hit a tourism recovery rate of 15% - 20% by the end of this year. Current projections call for tourism to return to about 70% of 2019 levels by the end of this year.

Say you have friends or family coming for a visit, don't let them get stuck with the high cost of staying in a hotel. Have them check out Maui Beachfront Rentals. They can get a fully furnished condo or home complete with kitchen, laundry, and free parking ... all things you either can't get - or pay thru the nose for at hotels. And of course they'll enjoy all the amenities of a Resort!

Now, if you own property that you'd like to make income on when you're not using it, again the solution is Maui Beachfront Rentals. They tell me pent up demand for travel is really high now, throughout the year, and they're even fielding requests for 2022! And MBR takes all the hassle out of it for you.

Are you interested in finding out more about long term leases? Enter Maui Property Leasing . Their property management team is available 24/7 with personalized service. From their high impact marketing, to their pre-qualification process, and their convenient online portal for both owners and tenants, nobody does it better than MPR at (808) 661-2658.