Maui News and Notes

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I haven’t been able to blog as much as I would like this month. Honestly, I have been too busy showing property. That’s not a bad predicament. That being said, I thought I would touch base with a quick post on some of the recent Maui real estate related news and general news.

As I mentioned above, Billy and I have been very busy this month. I have talked to a few other agents on island who are in a similar position. Typically, October is one of our slowest month’s for business in the year as it is one of the quietest months for island visitors. We saw a surge in real estate activity in September and for the most part that activity level has sustained itself into October. A good portion of the September surge involved first time home buyers trying to get under contract so they could close before the expiration of tax credits. It would be hard to attribute all of the October activity to first time home buyers. We are seeing healthier levels of activity in a lot of different segments of the market. We are still well below peak market volume, but it is encouraging to see an increase in activity.

I mentioned the expiration of the first time home buyer tax credit above. Prospective buyers will need to close by November 30th to take advantage of the credit. If a first time home buyer isn’t under contract on a property at this point, it will be an extremely difficult challenge to make the deadline. There has been considerable discussion of a continuation of the credit, but we haven’t heard anything definitive coming out of congress. In the meantime, the county of Maui is stepping up with a small scale program aimed at aiding first time home buyers. Check out this article from the Maui News for additional details on how buyers can apply for the credit and information on some of the restrictions.

This bit of news is a little over a week old, but I thought it might be worth passing along to off island readers. Once again, Maui was selected as the Top Island in the World by readers of Conde Nast Magazine. This is the 15th time the island has received this distinction. Maui County resorts also fared well taking four of the five top spots in the category of Hawaii Resorts. The Four Seasons Maui was first on the list. It was joined by the two Four Seasons Resorts on Lanai and the Hotel Hana Maui.

Just as I am finishing up this post, The Phillies have won the first game of the World Series. I am somewhat surprised that I didn’t hear some shouts from the streets on the third out. The Phillies have a pretty big cheering section on Maui with local boy Shane Victorino playing Center Field for the defending world champs. Maui always takes a lot of pride in its island athletes. This is particularly the case with Shane. I saw a few “flyin’ Hawaiian” jerseys around town today while I was out showing property. I personally can’t say I am much of Phillies fan, but I wish Shane the best of luck in the World Series.

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