South Kihei, Wailea and Makena’s real estate market has been quite good for the first half of March.  My open houses are busy and showing property has been a little challenging but still fun.  One thing that I’ve noticed is the fact that as new properties come to market, in some cases they are coming to market at higher prices than what current inventory is priced.  This may be an indicator that our market is in the early stages of rebounding.

South Kihei, Wailea and Makena Sales Information

The above Excel sheet shows what has sold since the first of March.  As you can see, sales prices run the gambit from a two bedroom, vacation rentable condo at Pacific Shores for $215,000.  All the way up to the epitome of luxury for a double unit at Wailea Point for $5,300,000.

There are still great opportunities out there in South Maui’s real estate market.  Being able to find the best deals is not an easy thing but when one comes along you have to be able to act fast.  For example, I’m sitting open house at a new listing that’s priced to sell.  It is a one bedroom, one bath unit listed at Koa Lagoon for $389,000.  This unit has been used as a second home so there isn’t any rental history but it does have great views.

Koa Lagoon 505 View

Koa Lagoon 505 is listed with Coldwell Banker Island Properties, I can represent you as a Buyer’s representative but keep in mind that a dual agency situation will exist.  If you are in the area, I will be sitting open house there on a regular basis.  Stop by and say hello.

This post was published by Ken K.K. Wong REALTOR(S) an agent with Coldwell Banker Island Properties on March 18, 2012.

South Maui Real Estate Statistics

Now that leap year has come and gone, I’ve had the chance to research South Maui’s real estate market.  This is what happend in the past 29 days:

New Properties On Market: 69 with three properties being potential short sales and seven being bank owned properties.

Properties With Price Adjustments: 83

Properties Sold: 72 with twelve properties being short sales and twelve properties being bank owned propertis.

Properties Under Contract:

63 South Maui Condominiums went under contract.  38 are priced for $300,000 or less, 23 are priced between $300,000 and $1,000,000 and 2 are priced at $1,000,000 or more.

32 South Maui Homes went under contract.  17 homes are priced at $500,000 or less, 6 homes are priced between $500,000 and $1,000,000, 8 homes are priced at $1,000,000 or more.

Based on the statistics above, it does not matter whether you are looking for Kihei homes, Wailea ocean front condominiums or distressed properties, South Maui real estate is hot.  There is almost a property for anyone’s budget.  It’s just a matter of finding the right property and being able to act quickly.

This post was published by Ken K.K. Wong REALTOR(S) an agent with Coldwell Banker Island Properties on March 1, 2012.

Hokulani Golf Villas Selling Like Hotcakes!

South Maui’s real estate market is off to an outstanding start.  Since the first of the year 146 properties have gone under contract here in Kihei, Wailea and Makena.  The restaurants, beaches, hotels and condominiums are full of part time residents and vacationers alike.  Maui is experiencing its highest visitor count since 2006.  I even met a Canadian visitor from Newfoundland.  For those of you who don’t know, that’s way on the east coast of Canada.  It takes three plane rides and at least a day to get to Maui.  Needless to say, I don’t meet too many people from back east.  South Maui’s real estate market feels like it is turning for the better.  Offers are being written.  Listings are getting multiple offers.  New properties coming to market are priced a tad bit higher than units currently on the market.  Keep in mind that each condominium complex/neighborhood is different.  In short, the Canadians are here buying.

This post was published by Ken K.K. Wong REALTOR(S) an agent with Coldwell Banker Island Properties on February 27, 2012.

Maui Banyan H514 List Price: $345,000 1bd/2ba

Maui Banyan H514 View

Maui Banyan is one of South Kihei’s popular vacation rental destinations.  The resort is located right across the street from Kamaole Beach Park II and within walking distance to some great restaurants.  Why is unit H15 a great opportunity?

You can see from the photo above that H514 has a decent ocean view and is just high enough in elevation so when people are parking their cars, they do not look directly into the unit.  This unit was in a rental program and was one of the more popular rentals. The list price is $345,000 and it is being represented by Coldwell Banker Island Properties.  I can represent you as a buyer’s agent, contact me for more information.

This post was published by Ken K.K. Wong REALTOR(S) an agent with Coldwell Banker Island Properties on October 23, 2011.

The two photos in the gallery above is of the same kitchen at a unit in the Maui Banyan Resort.  It just closed yesterday for $455,000 and was on the market for almost a year at 300 days on market.  The seller bought the unit in August of 2009 for $365,000 and as you can see just from the kitchen photos, put alot of time and effort into this flip.  Another example of flipping is occurring at Pacific Shores.  A unit there was purchased this past July for $163,080 and it just came back to market at $314,900.  That unit is now pending continue to show and has only been on the market for 12 days.  The market is very strong at the high end and low end.  As the inventory starts to dry up prices will start to creep up, especially as flipping season gets more healthy.

This post was published by Ken K.K. Wong REALTOR®(S) an agent with Coldwell Banker Island Properties on September 14, 2011.

I want to say thank you to all of the men and women who fight or have died to keep our country safe.  With all of the memorials and thoughts of gratitude going on today it got me thinking about the past and how was Maui’s real estate market in 2001.  Since a majority of my sales have been in the condominium market, I’ve chosen several South Maui condos to compare.

In total 688 condominiums were sold in South Maui for $173,729,878 with an average price of $252,514 in 2001.  Compare that to today’s sales since January 2011 of 417 condos for $236,983,039 with the average price being $568,304.

Average Sales Price:

Kamaole Sands:  2001: $234,676  2011: $339,800

Keonekai Villages:  2001: $141,836  2011: $162,500

Palms at Wailea:  2001: $485,181  2011: $912,500

Makena Surf:  2001: $1,329,714  2011: $1,950,000

Maui Banyan:  2001: $214,777  2011: $338,333

Wailea Ekolu:  2001: $445,277  2011: $590,000

The past ten years has been a wild ride for South Maui’s condo market.  In more recent history, condominium sales are on the rise and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.  If anything, I think we will start to see units that were recently sold come back to market all fixed up.  There is still a chance for you to find your opportunity to buy Maui at reasonable prices.

This post was published by Ken K.K. Wong REALTOR (S) an agent with Coldwell Banker Island Properties on September 11, 2011.

The Chinese are coming?

It has been about a month since direct flights from Shanghi China to Honolulu first started.  The flights arrive on Tuesdays and Fridays and are projected to bring in about $60,000,000 in revenue to the state.  How will this affect the Maui real estate market?  It is in my opinion that it will not have any major affect on our market.  From first hand experience, I know that Chinese people always want to have a little bit of Chinese culture around and places where they can congregate and hang out with friends.  In larger cities, this place is called Chinatown.  Just before Hong Kong went back to Chinese control, the city of Vancouver had a small Chinatown.  Now, Vancouver’s Chinatown is one of the nicest in Canada and second only to San Francisco.  So, if Maui wants to take advantage of several million new millionaires, we’d better build that Chinatown fast.  I’m sure home sales and condos sales would increase.  Besides, Maui could use some good Chinese food.

This post was published by Ken K.K. Wong REALTOR®(S) an agent with Coldwell Banker Island Properties on September 7, 2011.

Wailea Beach Villas

The high end, luxury South Maui real estate market is on fire this year.  People with considerable amounts of money are buying up multi million dollar estates here in Wailea & Makena.  Currently, there are 12 properties under contract with a list price of $2,000,000 or more.  Half of those properties are listed for $5,000,000 or more.  The sales figures since the first of January are just as amazing for South Maui’s luxury market.  37 properties sold for $2,000,000 or more and 9 of those properties sold for $5,000,000 or more.  The highest being a Makena, four bedroom/five and a half, ocean front estate selling for $27,000,000.  Want to know another interesting bit of information?  8 out of 9 sales over $5,000,000 were cash sales.  Just because the high end market has very little inventory at this time does not mean that there aren’t other deals to be made.  Contact me to find out South Maui’s other great opportunities.

Kihei Kai Nani is a medium sized resort with 180 units spread out over 5.19 acres.  It is located right across the street from Kamaole Beach Park II and within walking distance to several shopping areas and restaurants.  The resort features a pavilion deck, which is great for parties, a large 60′x30′ swimming pool, shuffle board and several BBQ areas for those sunset cookouts.

Unit 174 is towards the back of the resort, away from the noise of South Kihei Road and the very popular Fred’s Mexican Restaurant.  This unit has not been in the vacation rental pool and has been owner occupied or rented long term the past couple of years.  If you are thinking about making this unit a vacation rental, Kihei Kai Nani has an onsite property management company which charges between $85 to $139 per night depending on the time of year and upgrades to the unit.  Questions concerning vacation rentals should be directed to John Longmire of Kihei Kai Nani Rentals at www.kiheikainani.com.  Unit 174 is wheel chair friendly with parking close to the unit.  There are no stairs required to climb to get to the unit.  The unit features tile flooring, a tankless water heater, extra storage on the lanai, and it has a washer and dryer in the unit.  Many of the units have to use the onsite laundry facilities.  The unit is being sold unfurnished and is ready for you to add your own personal touches.  Owning a vacation rentable condominium allows you visit Maui on your own terms.  Why not make this condo be the one.

This post was published by Ken K.K. Wong REALTOR®(S) an agent with Coldwell Banker Island Properties on July 21 at 5:46 pm.

Renaissance Wailea To Become Andaz Wailea Resort & Residences

One of my favorite restaurants used to be “The Maui Onion” at the old Renaissance Wailea Resort.  A visitor to my open house inquired about what is going to happen to the property since Bacarrat did not develop the property.  After a bit of research, here’s what information I came up with.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation and an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group have agreed to do a joint venture and redevelop the old Renaissance into Andaz Wailea Resort and Residences.  Andaz is a division of Hyatt Hotels which specializes in providing attentive, uncomplicated services to their guests while reflecting the spirit of the individual hotel’s location, and are dedicated to creating natural and vibrant living spaces.  Andaz Wailea is projected to be a resort featuring 255 rooms and 35 suites ranging in square footage from 456 to 2,321 and six four bedroom villas averaging about 3,500 square feet.  Of course all the amenities will be there too.  The resort is being designed by  an internationally acclaimed architect and designer David Rockwell of Rockwell Group.  The hotel is slated to open in the fourth quarter of 2012.

This post was published by Ken K.K. Wong REALTOR®(S) an agent with Coldwell Banker Island Properties on April 10, 2011.