Wailea & Makena Homes

GLAD TO BE ON MAUI?

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:21:33 +0000

JANUARY RESULTS

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:10:23 +0000

The activity level in January in Wailea and Makena improved somewhat from a year ago. In January 2009 three condominiums and one single family home sold. In 2010 six condominiums and three single family homes sold. Pricing has clearly retreated but with so few data points comparisons aren't reliable.

For more details contact us!

WHAT CHANGED ON MAUI IN 2009

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:44:56 +0000

One of the significant developments in Maui real estate we ascertained over the last eighteen months or so is how flexible buyers have become. It used to be there were (using shorthand) Wailea people and Kapalua ™ people and North Shore people etc. Folks had already focused on a specific part of the island or a specific neighborhood or complex and wouldn't consider buying outside it. That point of view has really changed. More and more in 2009 and today potential buyers are seeking value first and are showing more flexibility the neighborhood or area they will consider. In our vernacular, buyers have become "deal hounds." For sellers this means your property is no longer just competing with the one down the street. Now you are competing with other parts of the island as well and must show a value in that context to obtain significant interest. For buyers this means your Realtors must have broader knowledge than ever before.

FOURTH QUARTER GDP

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:36:39 +0000

The first report on fourth quarter GDP came in at a robust 5.7%.

The increase in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from
private inventory investment, exports, and personal consumption expenditures (PCE). Imports, which
are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased. The acceleration in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected an acceleration in private
inventory investment, a deceleration in imports, and an upturn in nonresidential fixed investment that
were partly offset by decelerations in federal government spending and in PCE.

So why didn't the financial markets respond more positively? Because 3.4% was due to declining inventories, viewed as a one time event. So most think the more useful GDP number is the 2.3% after the inventory adjustment. Not a great growth rate, but far better than earlier 2009 results.

What is the impact on Maui real estate? Not much directly, but economic growth is always good news.

RECENT NATIONAL DATA

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:55:46 +0000

There have been a couple recent reports regarding national home sales.

Existing Homes Sales declined significantly from November to December as the Federal Tax Incentive ended

Compared to December 2008, national home sales increased 15%.
Sale prices increased 1.5% from last December

Standard and Poors released their Case Shiller Index for November

The attached chart shows that pricing seem to be stabilizing
Nationally prices are now at late 2003 levels

In our view, most of this news is modestly positive. For details, contact us.

LIVING IN OLD HAWAII

admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:33:39 +0000

In today's Wall Street Journal a wonderful article about Maui's Rice family and the ranchland they own.

Hundreds of years ago, Hawaiian kings would hand out to subordinate rulers thin slivers of land that stretched from volcano to sea. The system of rule via these plots, called ahupua'a, was abolished in the 19th century, and much of the land was split up and sold as the value of Hawaiian real estate skyrocketed. Henry Rice, a fifth-generation Hawaii native and banking dropout, lives with his wife Sandy on what real-estate agents and the Department of Land and Natural Resources say is one of the few nearly intact ahupua'a left in the islands: 10,000 acres of ranchland stretching continuously from the top of Mount Haleakala down towards the sunny beaches of Maui's south shore. Even though the Rices have sold off their beachfront lots over the years, appraisers say their ranch, named Ka'ono'ulu, is likely worth close to $50 million.

Where else but Maui do we get so lucky?

WHAT HAVE SELLERS OBTAINED?

admin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:02:42 +0000

This chart shows the percentage of the listing price sellers in Wailea and Makena have actually obtained in each of the last eight years. The blue line is the percentage of the initial listing price of the property and the red line is the percentage of the listing price of the property at the time of the sale. So in 2009, sellers obtained 78% of their initial sales price and 86% of their list price at the time of the sale.

Another way to express this is to say sellers took, on average, a price approximately a 15% below the listing price at the time of the sale. On average, prior to that, sellers had already reduced their listing price by eight percentage points. As one can see, when the market was a seller's market in the 2004-2006 time frames sellers were obtaining approximately 95% of their asking price.

Going forward, our expectation is that these percentages will begin to rise again as the Wailea and Makena market continues to show signs of stabilizing. If you have questions, please contact us!

THE BEST DEALS

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:00:06 +0000

In today's market, whether one is seeking a vacation rental condominium, a beachfront house or a piece of vacant land on which to build one's dream house? There are opportunities in each category that leap out from the pack. Want to know what those are? Contact us!

ANOTHER TOM AND SEAN CLOSING

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:00:05 +0000

We are pleased to announce the closing of 6980 Makena Road. This beachhouse sits on a beautiful stretch of Makena coastline and sold for $3.5 million. The Leading Edge Marketing effort strikes again!

HOMEBUILDERS SEE RECOVERY

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:00:04 +0000

In today's Wall Street Journal an article describes how the attitudes of homebuilders have changed and how they see 2010.

Builders are likely to start construction on 610,000 single-family homes this year, up 38% from last year, according to David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, which is meeting this week for its annual convention. That forecast assumes that the total number of U.S. jobs will start growing again in the second quarter. Housing starts would remain far below the 2005 peak of 1.7 million.

Here is a link to the article.