Kahana  Update
April 2019
LOCAL MAUI NEWS
Aloha Fellow Kahana Owners,  

If you're into tennis ... then I have great news for you.  You'll be able to see your favorite tennis legends play live right here in Lahaina!  John McEnroe, Michael Chang, Tommy Haas, and Mark Philippoussis are all coming to play the Hawaii Champions Cup May 4th - 5th.  Details are in the Maui Events section down below.  *  If the folks at the Lahaina Cannery Mall get their approval, there'll be another Safeway gas station and convenience store added on to the West Maui retail complex.

Astronomers have captured the first ever image of a black hole.  The image was produced by a network of telescopes around the world including two in Hawaii.  Although it doesn't have an official name yet, one suggestion is "Powehi" Hawaiian for "the adorned fathomless dark creation".  *   Every once in awhile I'll come across some "best of ..." or "Top 100" list.  And this month Maui was all over them!  Yelp's Top 100 Places in the United States to Treat Yourself: Lahaina Grill came in at #12.  TripAdvisor came out with a list of the Nation's 25 most romantic restaurants and Mama's Fish House came in at #13.  And from Hawaii Magazine's Best of Maui 2019 ...  Best Beaches: Kaanapali Beach, Napili Bay, Makena Beach (Big Beach), Baby Beach, and Keawakapu Beach.  Best Hiking Trail for beginners: Iao Needle State Monument.
        CURRENT MARKET ANALYSIS
According to the Realtors Association of Maui, condominium sales jumped last month along with the median price.  Single family home sales declined but the median price rose by 5%.

The median price of a single-family home in March was $712,718, an increase of 4.8% from $680,000 in March 2018.  Home sales declined 5% to 96, compared to 101 in March 2018.

Condominium sales jumped 21.3% to 154 sold from 127 sold in March last year. The median price of a condo also jumped by 13% to $508,000 compared to $450,000 last year.

If we look at the first quarter of this year, the median price of a condominium rose 10.2% to $525,000. Single family homes rose 7.7% to $735,000 compared to the first quarter of 2018.

Now l et's take a look at Kahana :

KAHANA SUNSET
STATUS
UNIT
BD
BA
LIST $
LT
SOLD $
CLOSE
Active
E2E
1
1
525,000
Active
C5
2
2
729,000
Escrow
C1
2
2
650,000
KAHANA VILLAGE
STATUS
UNIT
BD
BA
LIST $
LT
SOLD $
CLOSE
Active
2
2
2
898,000
LH
KAHANA OUTRIGGER
STATUS
UNIT
BD
BA
LIST $
LT
SOLD $
CLOSE
no activity

Figures from Realtors Association of Maui
      TRAVEL
There's no doubt about it ... the entry of Southwest Airlines into the Hawaii market, has started a price war amongst the airlines.  According to the booking website Kayak, the "Southwest Effect" has already caused average fares of ALL carriers offering California-Hawaii service to drop 17% year-over-year. As of now Southwest is operating two daily Maui-Oakland flights. Multiple daily flights between Maui to Honolulu will begin next Sunday (April 28th), and daily service between Maui and San Jose will begin May 28th.   The airline has already confirmed future routes will include Lihue, San Diego, and Sacramento.  They've even said that flights between Hawaii and Las Vegas are a possibility.

Hawaiian Airlines is amping up the airlines war.  Apparently Southwest doesn't operate any red-eye flights. So when travelers go from Hawaii to Oakland and want to continue on back East, they have to spend the night and catch a flight the next morning.  Hawaiian has teamed up with JetBlue so that their travelers will connect to a JetBlue flight back east right away.

And not content to leave it there, Hawaiian Airlines completed their first non-stop flight from Honolulu to Boston this month.  It's a 10-hour flight.  The new roundtrip route will operate 5 times a week. Tip:  book early the aircraft has 18 lie-flat seats!
           

TOURISM

There is a new push to start taxing thousands of illegal vacation rentals in Hawaii.  Both the state House and Senate have approved separate bills.  Why would these past this time when they've failed before?  A recent California court ruling said "online platforms for rentals can be forced to give information about their hosts to the government."  Legislators say getting taxes from the thousands of illegal rentals could add up to millions of dollars.

Want to rent out your property, when you're not using it, as a vacation rentals to bring in additional dollars? You're not alone.  A lot of folks try to do it themselves.  I know I did until I realized what a headache it was.  Since then I've placed my personal vacation rentals with   M aui Beachfront Rentals  .  I can enjoy a steady stream of income without all the hassles.  When I have guests coming in I never send them to a hotel.  Why would I, when they can enjoy a fully equipped kitchen, laundry, free parking, and all the amenities of a resort
through  MBR .     Not only will they take all the hassle out of it for you, they'll cover all the bases
including the taxes I was talking about in the previous paragraph. And they market the heck out of your place with extra advertising on sites like VRBO, HomeAway, Flip Key and others ... all at no additional cost.
      MORTGAGES
Dean Rathbun  of  Avis Mortgage  says that mortgage rates have hovered at multi-month lows in recent weeks, but rates inched up last week across the board.  Despite that, Dean says he expects overall borrowing costs to remain low, despite the slight uptick.  He expects mortgage rates to remain low, in line with the low 10-year Treasury yields, boosting home buyer demand in the next few months. 

Dean also wanted to share some good news for those of you who are self-employed, contract workers or those who are part of the so-called gig economy.  It's going to get easier for you to get a mortgage. Verifying income for self-employed borrowers has always been more difficult and time consuming than for borrowers who could prove their income with pay stubs or W-2 forms.  Self-employed tend to write off all their expenses so when you look at their net income, it's low or negative.  

Hawaii has recently rolled out nonqualified mortgage products that allow borrowers to prove their income using bank statements. (Nonqualified mortgages are those that don't meet the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau guidelines for qualified mortgages).  Will this be a game changer?  Probably not, but it is another feature.  

Technology is making a difference to with software like LoanBeam. It can scan pages using optical character recognition in record time compared to how long it takes an underwriter to pore through a self-employed applicant's tax returns.  Even Freddie Mac has jumped onboard.
MAUI HAPPENINGS 
Lei Day

4/27: Maui Kite Festival  lawn next to Lahaina Cannery 10am-2pm
5/4-5: Hawaii Champions Cup Tennis  schedule
5/04: 8th Annual Paddle Imua  details
5/11: Charity Walk Maui  info
5/12: 40th Annual Na Holo Wahine Walk   women only
5/17-25: Maui Matsuri Events  schedule

Aloha Friday Free Movie Night   info  
5/17: Christopher Robin 
6/21: Spiderman: Into the Spider/Verse
7/19: Coco
8/16: Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation

Maui OnStage    Iao Theater    tickets
4/26-5/12: The Boys Next Door
7/12-8/4: Mama Mia

Maui Arts & Cultural Center  
 tickets  
4/27: Observe & Play Family Day
4/28: Maui Choral Arts Spring Concert  "Those Were the Days"
4/28: Tibetan flutist Naawang Khechog, with Keola Beamer  concert & film
5/02: Michael Franti & Spearhead  concert
5/03: Cazimero Lei Day Concert
5/4-5: MAPA Spring Extravaganza  dance
5/18: 11th Annual Maui Brew Fest

Maui Classical Music Festival    details
5/10: A Night in Vienna
5/13: From Paris to Prague
5/15: Hana Community Concert
5/17: Festival Finale

I hope you're enjoying my monthly updates.  If you are, perhaps your fellow owners will find them informative and entertaining too.  Problem is, I don't have everybody's email.  So please feel free to share my updates with your neighbors, and if they like them I can add them to my update list.  And being their friend and already receiving my updates, you can assure them I won't share their information, or flood their inbox with junk mail. 

And if you're looking to add to your real estate portfolio or sell your current property, I would be more than happy to provide you with a free, no obligation, confidential assessment of your property.   As owner of Berkshire Hathaway Maui Properties I have over 30 years experience in the Maui market with sales approaching $2 billion!  We a re 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. 

John
Broker/Owner


If you are currently listed with another Broker, this is not intended to disturb that relationship
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