Looking at our blog of late, there have been more pictures of graphs than Maui scenery. This weekend, Billy and I were out in Hana with the family. With few places more photogenic than Hana, I thought this might be a good time to add some color to the blog.

The weekend weather was actually pretty stormy. Gusty trade winds brought intermittent showers and whipped up the seas on east facing coastlines. It made for some dramatic scenery when waves met the rugged Hana coastline.

The waves were even bigger by Monday morning creating truly dramatic seas.

The showers held off on Monday for our visit to the Kipahulu section of Haleakala National Park. The “seven sacred pools” were closed due to high waters, but it was a great day to hike the Pipiwai trail!

I love doing the full loop around Haleakala when visiting Maui. It shows you the full gamut of Maui climate zones. Here we are entering the drier zones past Kaupo looking towards the rainy areas of East Maui.

The backside of Haleakala makes for truly dramatic scenery.

Just to keep this real estate related, here is a link to the current inventory of Hana Homes for Sale.

The highest priced listing on Maui over the last four years has been the Hana Ranch. This 4,500 acre property located in East Maui was originally listed at $65,000,000 and is currently listed for $55,000,000. This is a legacy property that required a pretty unique buyer with A LOT of capital. While Hana is a magical part of the island, the seclusion and the unique character of the area made it a poor match for those that are looking for acreage for development opportunities. For that matter, the sellers were hoping to attract a buyer who would be more inclined to preserve the area. While there is an active agricultural component to the property, it isn’t exactly a cash cow. Ranching operations were cash flow negative. For such a big price tag, this property doesn’t pencil out for most who are looking for business opportunities. That being said, it appears as if the right buyer may have come along. As noted in last Thursday’s Maui News, Bio-Logical Capital is under contract to purchase Hana Ranch. While terms of the contract and a closing date have not been disclosed, Bio-Logical Capital has made its intentions with the Ranch known. They hope to preserve and potentially expand existing cattle ranching operations. They also hope to do additional sustainable agriculture on the property. Indications are that they are sensitive to the rural character of the community. On paper, things sound promising that Bio-Logical Capital will be good stewards of the land. We will provide additional details on the Hana Ranch sale as they become available.

The contract to purchase Hana Ranch cast the spotlight on East Maui Real Estate last week. It is the marquis sale or potential sale in what has been a year of renewed interest in Hana properties. Hana’s real estate market languished last year. During the first half of 2011, only one home and one parcel of land sold. There were only six properties sold in all of East Maui last year. There has been a positive uptick to the market through the first half of 2012. Here are the numbers.

There were seven homes sold in the first six months of 2012 with a median price of $349,900. There were 2 condos sold at the Hotel Hana with a median price of $475,000. There were three lots sold at a median price of $335,000. While we are dealing with small sample sizes, this is a 600% increase in activity over the first six months of last year.

Here were a few other things that I found notable about the Hana real estate numbers for the first six months of 2012.

• Three of the twelve properties included above are in the community of Nahiku.
• Two of the sales in Hana and East Maui were bank owned properties.
• There were no sales in the East Maui Communities of Kaupo or Kipahulu. That being said, inventory has been pretty limited in both communities
• The highest sale was $720,000 for a home on 5.4 acres in the Hana Ag Park. This property was listed by The Maui Real Estate Team.
• The lowest sale was $225,000 for a property with multiple structures of questionable permitting in Nahiku.
• Hana sellers have had to show a little more flexibility on pricing. Only one property sold for full asking price. Many of the properties sold for significantly less than original asking.

The Hana market is showing sings of life after what can only be described as a pretty dismal 2011. One factor in the resuscitation is addressed in my last bullet point directly above. Sellers have become more flexible on pricing and buyers have been responding to the values. This isn’t rocket science, but it is a clear theme coming up with all of my other midyear market updates. Buyers in this market are value sensitive and well priced properties are moving.

With a better first half of 2012, what can we expect for the rest of the year in Hana and East Maui? There is still a sizable inventory in Hana. There are twenty homes listed with three pending. That suggests a pretty good variety of properties for buyers. The pool of Hana buyers isn’t all that deep due to its relative seclusion. This means Hana home sellers are going to need to keep their pencils sharp. The land market is also pretty flush with listings. At this time, three of the twenty-seven land listings are under contract including the Hana Ranch. This is another market segment where motivated sellers will need to keep sharp on pricing to draw interest from the smaller pool of buyers. The Hana Ranch transaction could be an X factor in the Hana Real Estate market for the rest of the year. There have been other examples where high profile closes have drawn attention to a community and bumped real estate activity. It will be interesting to see if that happens with Hana if and when Hana Ranch closes.

If you are interested in the Hana Real Estate market, you can browse the current inventory of East Maui Homes for Sale on MauiRealEstate.com. Feel free to contact The Maui Real Estate Team if you are interested in selling or buying Hana Properties.

As I posted yesterday, I had the opportunity to participate in Hana caravan last week. Our listing at 75 Alalele Road was one of the featured properties. After spending most of the morning holding open house, I hit the road to see some of the other properties. Here is an assortment of pictures from the rest of my Hana caravan excursion.

It is hard not to stop and take in the scenery when driving the road to Hana. A recent article in Sunset Magazine extolled the virtues of taking your time to enjoy the scenery and ideally spending time overnight to take in this truly stunning corner of Hawaii. I pulled off the shoulder of the road to stretch my legs and take a picture of where the rain forest meets the ocean at Honamanu Bay.

The photo above is from the first home I saw on Hana caravan. Needless to say, views are a major selling point for this oceanfront getaway. The property is situated in the Pu’uiki area of Hana which is south of Hamoa Beach. The property is just over 1.1 acres of land with a three bedroom/four bath home. It is pretty easy to envision sitting on the back porch watching the waves crash against the rugged lava rock shoreline. This Hana Oceanfront Home is offered through Island Sotheby’s International Realty for $2,500,000. The Maui Real Estate Team may represent you as buyer’s agents.

Having kept my house open for a longer period of time, I missed a number of the properties on caravan. I was able to dash in and out of one more nice home in Pu’uiki and beautiful property in Kipahulu before I stopped at the last house scheduled for the day.

The picture above is taken from the shower of the Kaupo listing. It is arguably one of the best shower views I have seen as a real estate agent. I know in real estate we use the term one of kind all too frequently. With the heterogeneity of Maui’s Real Estate inventory, I am a big offender of using this term. That being said, that is a very appropriate description for this home. I mean that in the best way. This home offers a fantastic blend of modern architecture with landscaping that harkens to prehistoric Hawaii. Lava rock walls and stone features mesh seamlessly with the corrugated metal construction and other modern design features of the home. This Kaupo Oceanfront Estate is offered for $1,750,000 through Coldwell Banker Island Properties. The Maui Real Estate Team may represent you as buyer’s agents.

As much as the Hana area beckoned me to stay a little longer, I had to get back on the road to get back to the office. As I drove through Kaupo, the shift from tropical to arid came quickly. The arid slopes were green from winter rains and bade me to pull over one more time to take this picture looking back towards the Kaupo Gap. I love driving the full loop of the road to Hana as it takes you through so many of Maui’s varied climate zones.

I hope you enjoyed my quick little photo journey around East Maui. You can check out the current inventory of Hana Real Estate listings on MauiRealEstate.com. Feel free to Contact The Maui Real Estate Team for assistance buying or selling Hana and East Maui properties.