Category: New Maui Developments

The only thing we can expect at this point is the unexpected. True words when it comes to the state of the world. While Maui is a lot less turbulent than much of the world, these words resonate as I comb through the data from the latest seven day tracking period. Weekly new pending sales were the highest since the start of Covid-19. Closed transactions were again surprisingly lower. New listings are down a little from the week prior. Keep reading for more details on this week’s numbers.

This Week’s New Pending Sales

Maui Realtors reported 67 new pending sales over the seven day period between September 23rd and September 29th. That is 16% increase over the previous seven days. That is 29% higher than the same seven day period of 2019. After a month of pretty consistent activity between 52 and 60 pending sales, this is a pretty healthy bump in activity. Late September isn’t the time of year when you would expect the busiest week for new transactions over the last six months.

Notable Numbers from This Week’s Pending Sales

• The 67 pending sales included 25 homes, 37 condos and 5 lots.
• The 37 pending condo sales is the highest weekly total since I started tracking activity during Covid-19. I have to say that the bump in condo activity is unexpected. I know there is some anticipation among Realtors that vacation rental condo activity might pick up when tourism starts to reopen on October 15th.
• Of the 37 pending condo sales, 19 are located in developments that allow vacation rentals. This means that the stronger pending sales are almost equal parts non-vacation rental and vacation rental condos.
• Demand for land is pretty steady albeit a couple pending sales a week slower than what we saw in late July and August.
• The luxury market continues to see strong activity. This week 5 homes and 3 condos priced for more than $2,000,000 went under contract.

This Week’s Sales Activity

Maui Realtors reported 42 sales over the seven day period between September 23rd and September 29th. That is a 13.5% increase over the 7 days prior. It is 28% lower than the same seven day period of 2019. This is the second week in a row of quieter sales. These two weeks remain something of anomaly with no significant dip in pending sales over the last two months to drive the lower sales. It is worth noting that there was a pretty healthy bump in closed transaction right after this tracking period on September 30th and October 1st. Expect higher sales in the next update.

This Week’s Volume of New Inventory

Maui Realtors brought 79 properties to market in the seven day period between September 23rd and September 29th. That is a 5% decrease from the seven days prior. It is 7% lower than the same seven day period of 2019.

Once again, condos comprised the greatest portion of the new listings to come to market. There were 43 new condo listings over this seven day period. While pending sales were up over this period, this marks another net increase in active condo inventory.

While new home inventory is down from last week, it is still the second biggest week for new home listings since July. This is also the second week in a row where new listings exceeded pending sales resulting in a net increase in inventory. As with last week, buyers looking at lower price points may not have noticed the increase. The median price of new home listings is over $1,000,000 and the average price is over $2,000,000. In the scheme of things, the slight increase in inventory over the last two weeks is pretty negligible in the scheme of things. The overall supply of single family homes for sale remains limited.

There was another modest uptick in land inventory this week. With inventory still relatively tight, I can’t see any big changes in the land market forthcoming.

Contact The Maui Real Estate Team

Market conditions remain surprisingly resilient. Personally, buyers I represented were in a couple of bidding wars for homes over the last ten days. While that isn’t uncommon with properties around and below the island’s median sales price, these multi offer situations were at higher price points. That marks a shift.

There is still variability in market conditions by location, property type and price point. Under these circumstances, quality representation and market knowledge is important. Contact The Maui Real Estate Team if you are considering buying or selling property on Maui. We look forward to learning about your real estate needs and offering our assistance and expertise.

This week Honua Kai Resort in Ka’anapali just announced big price adjustments on their remaining inventory of condos for sale. Honua Kai is the first new beachfront fee simple whole ownership development in the Ka’anapali area for over 20 years. Located along North or Airport beach, It was well received by buyers with the initial pre-construction offerings selling out within hours. The high volume of closes at the complex have helped to buoy condo sales figures over the last couple of years. This is a phenomenon that we dubbed the Honua Kai effect. It is easy to see why buyers have gravitated toward Honua Kai. Amenities include three pools, a fitness center, kids camps, concierge services, a well regarded restaurant in Duke’s Maui and a great stretch of beach along the beautiful waters of the Pacific.

A number of the remaining condos for sale are now discounted well below initial developer pricing. One and two bedroom units in the Hokulani tower appear to be some of the better values with pricing as much as 40% below roll out pricing. There are other floor plans where prices are actually a little higher than the original roll out prices. While the developer does not go into the specific reasons behind the adjustments, this appears to be a classic case of supply and demand. Units that have and continue to garner the most interest have been adjusted upwards. Units where sales have lagged have been adjusted down. You can check out the Honua Kai Updated Price List for specific prices and floor plans available. These new developer offerings at Honua Kai are offered through Playground Destination Property, Inc. The Maui Real Estate Team may represent you as buyer’s agents. Contact us for questions about Honua Kai or for assistance with representation. We look forward to being of service.

There was big news yesterday on the Maui new development front when various media outlets reported that Wells Fargo was putting the Makena Resort into foreclosure. The resort was purchased in 2007 by Maui Developer Everett Dowling and Morgan Stanley for a sum of $575 million. The investors are in default on a loan of $192.5 million. The resort was the subject of a heated debate in 2008 when the developers applied to the county for the rezoning necessary to develop the 1800 acre site. The rezoning allowed for 1,100 luxury homes and condominiums. The debate pitted those who advocated the development for the jobs it would create vs. those who wanted to protect the natural and cultural resources of Makena. After passionate testimony from both sides, the county council passed the rezoning on a close vote.

What does this the foreclosure mean for future development in Makena?

• This will likely stall, but not completely stop future development in Makena. The development was likely to be slow to get off the ground prior to the foreclosure due to current market conditions.
• The bank will be looking for investors to continue with the development so they can maximize the resort’s sales price.
• Any new development will be subject to the same terms and conditions that the county requested as a part of the rezoning agreement.
• Everett Dowling would like to be a part of the ongoing development, but that is not a foregone conclusion at this point in time.
• Dowling’s Maluaka project in Makena will continue. This luxury development was already scaled down from a luxury condo project into a smaller development of 13 luxury home sites with an associated club house. This project was meant to be phase one of the broader Makena development.
• The Makena Golf Courses and Maui Prince Hotel which are part of the Makena Resort plan to continue operations.

We will continue to provide information on the Makena Resort foreclosure as it becomes available. In the interim, you can check out articles from the Pacific Business News, yesterday’s Maui News and today’s Maui News for additional information.

Between 2006-2008, I posted fairly regularly on new development news on the island. A lot of this news was focused on the luxury segment as there were four major luxury condominium developments that were planned for Maui. If you read the blog on a regular basis, you may have noticed that my new development posts have been a lot less frequent over the last year. The global financial challenges and tight credit markets put the brakes on many of the island’s proposed luxury projects. Today’s Maui News has an article providing an update on various projects including Maluaka in Makena, Baccarat Wailea and the Villas at Royal Lahaina. Maluaka is being scaled down drastically from a 71 unit condo development to 13 luxury home sites. Royal Lahaina currently has its new luxury project on hold until economic conditions improve. The Baccarat project has been canceled with the future of the project site unknown at this time.

The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences is the one luxury condo development that was actually able to finish construction. The newest luxury offering in Kapalua opened officially at the end of May. This luxury property offers 62 time share residences and 84 whole ownership condominiums. This were the furthest along in the construction process when the worst of the financial crisis hit. Despite having construction almost completed, the developers had their share of anxious moments. The now defunct Lehman Brothers provided the resort with their lending and they were left scrambling to find the financing necessary to complete the project. Now that they have completed construction, they find a sales environment with fewer potential buyers, but a lot less competition than what they would have faced.

While the financial crisis has caused a good deal of pain for developers and investors backing the proposed luxury developments, the delay and/or cancellation of Baccarat, Maluaka and Royal Lahaina Villas may ultimately be better for the health of the Maui luxury real estate market. The sheer volume of new luxury condos planned at these three developments threatened to flood the market with inventory and dilute values. As it stands, there is still plenty of new luxury inventory to choose from between the Ritz, resales at the Wailea Beach Villas and resale and new developer offerings at complexes like Ho’olei and Papali Wailea. Contact us today if you are in the market for a luxury condo or home on Maui. We are happy to offer our assistance.

There have been a variety of articles in the Maui News over the last 4 or 5 days related to development on Maui that I thought were worth linking to on the blog. A couple of the articles dealt with broader subject matters that will impact development as a whole on the island while there have been a couple of articles that are development specific. Here is a quick run down on the latest from the Maui News.

The most significant article may have been on the unveiling of the latest draft of the Maui County General Plan. Members of the General Plan Advisory Committee as well as members of the general public were able to see the latest efforts of one of the General Plan subcommittees last Saturday. The plan included recommendations on a number of subdivisions that have been proposed. Some major subdivisions were incorporated in the plan, others were scaled back and some were omitted altogether. The plan is not finalized at this point. There is a deadline of March 1 for the plan to be presented to the Maui County Planning Commission. They will review the plan for six months. At that point, the plan will be forwarded to the county council for their review and approval. The plan is subject to changes throughout this process. The General Plan advisory committee should be posting the plan at some point in the next couple of days on the county website.

The Workforce Housing ordinance is another subject that has the potential to impact new development on Maui. This ordinance was enacted a couple of years back. Essentially, it mandated that proposed residential developments of five homes or more should designate between 40 and 50% of the total units as affordable housing. Those units do not have to be in the same location as the development, but they were to be in the same community area. The Maui News reported that the Maui County Council reviewed the ordinance last week and invited speakers to participate. The speakers included both developers and local government agencies and non-profits that deal with affordable housing issues. The range of opinion was mixed, but many thought the ordinance merited some tweaking if it was going to be truly effective as a means of generating additional affordable housing inventory on island. Developers had issues with the restrictions imposed by the plan. The county council will discuss this issue again at their next meeting to determine if changes are in fact needed.

The state will start reviewing a proposed development in the Waikapu area just South of Wailuku town. Pu’unani would cover over 200 acres and would offer a mix of single family and multi-family housing. The proposed development has submitted a draft environment impact statement for review from the state. It is also subject to planning commission and county council review before it may be approved. It appears to face a hurdle in that it has not been included in recent drafts of the county general plan. Check out the Maui News article for more details on the development.

Today’s article is on a new development in Kihei that received SMA approval. The 25 lot subdivision received approval from the Maui Planning Commission yesterday. It will be located in the Waipuilani Road area of Kihei. The developers of the Sunset Estates subdivision will be creating building ready lots and will not be including home sales in the purchase. The lots will not have a homeowners association, but they will have building guidelines to be followed that were developed as part of the agreement to permit the subdivision.

We will continue to follow new development issues as they emerge on The Maui Real Estate Blog. As always, feel free to contact us with any questions on Maui Real Estate.

For those that are looking for spectacular home sites across the street from the ocean, Papa’anui in Makena is a new development worth your consideration. This small seven lot community is across the street from Makena landing and boasts beautiful views of the outer islands and Makena Bay. Makena Landing is an ocean sports hub. It provides easy access to snorkeling, scuba diving, kayaking and paddle boarding. You are just a short drive from all of the resort amenities and golfing in Wailea.

Lot sizes at Papa’anui range between 15,000 and 23,000 square feet. The community has established architectural guidelines to preserve the community’s sense of place and rural character. All utilities are in place including underground electric, and over sized water meters. Buyers interested in building will find a simplified permitting process as Papa’anui Makena has already gone through significant county approvals. Prices for lots range between $1,500,000 and $2,100,000. The Jalbert brothers may represent you as buyer’s representatives. Contact us for additional information or to arrange a showing. Check out the Papa’anui website for photos and additional information on the lots.