Real Estate

In an ongoing effort to manage tourism, the Maui County Council passed Bill 159 Friday with a series of amendments that effectively caps transient accommodations and regulates camper van rentals on public property.

“Those are wonderful prices. Whoever wins the lottery on these 60 homes is going to truly win the lottery, so that better damn well be a fair lottery,” King said with a laugh. “I’m a little bit worried about the future asks, but I’m going to support this,” said Councilmember Kelly King. While the price is right for homes being built at Pulelehua, questions are raised about fair practices and proper prescedent.

Maui’s most expensive active listings include: a $41.9 million home at 9 Bay Drive at Hāwea Point in Kapalua; and a $35M property located at 4572 Mākena Road along Maui’s south shore.

2022 sales price guidelines estimate that a family making $60,000 annually could pay $289,100 for a 3-bedroom home. The new sales price guidelines would bring the price of a 3-bedroom home closer to $157,000 for the same family, according to the Mayor’s announcement.

Overall, the total dollar volume of residential homes sold in the third quarter fell $1.428B, a 23% decrease compared to the third quarter of 2021. The previously total dollar volume was $1.841B.

Phase 1A will offer 100 townhouses, for purchase at 60%-120% area median income, meaning a family or individual earning between $60,660- $121,320 will be eligible to purchase a home in Pulelehua.

The Land Use Commission unanimously approved Waikapū Properties’ petition to amend conditions now covered by a public-private partnership between the County of Maui and the developer.

Kaulana Mahina expects to begin delivering homes in the late summer of 2023, with a lottery process opening in the months prior.

Fine Island Properties, LLC Owner and Principal Broker Gina Duncan was honored as the 2022 Realtor Broker of the Year by the Realtors Association of Maui during RAM’s annual installation banquet on Friday, Sept. 23.

Maui’s median sales price for single family homes sold in September rose to $1,025,000, up 3.0% from the year prior, according to the latest data released by the Realtors Association of Maui.

The Public is invited to community meetings this weekend to learn more about the new Koa Waena affordable housing project by developer Peter Savio in Kīhei. Savio plans to break ground on the project later this year.

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has published a final Environmental Assessment with a Finding of No Significant Impact for a 500,000-gallon concrete water storage tank and related improvements in Waikapū, Maui.

Koa Waena will be available to current Maui Residents only, with no outside investors allowed. Savio is selling at cost with a limit of developers profit of no more than 5%.

Despite objections from local for-sale affordable housing developers and Maui County’s administration, rules that establish new affordable housing sales price guidelines narrowly passed second and final reading Tuesday at Maui County Council. When asked whether Mayor Michael Victorino will sign or veto Bill 107, a Mayor’s Office spokesperson declined to answer.

Lahaina Crossroads renters Etina Hingano and her husband work three jobs to make ends meet. After hearing that her apartment building may be purchased by the county to stay in workforce housing, Hingano breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh wow,” she told Maui Now on Tuesday. “My reaction is really good because then it’s going to stay for the people of Lahaina.”

After a marathon contested case, Maui Planning Commission today gave a green light to the next phase of long-debated Honuaʻula, a master planned community with more than 1,000 homes slated for 670 acres mauka of Wailea. Honuaʻula would include 515 single-family residential units, 346 multifamily residential units and 288 workforce housing units, along with 24 acres of village mixed use and 103 acres of recreation and open space. A quarter of the total project area would be dedicated to permanent preservation. Also, Pi’ilani Highway will be widened from two to four lanes from Maui Meadows Mapu Place / Kilohana.

After longtime residents, including kupuna on fixed incomes, spoke out about looming evictions at one of the last affordable apartment rentals left in Lahaina, county leaders are making moves to purchase the 20-unit Lahaina Crossroads building blocks away from Front Street.

Calling it “innovative” and unique, a Maui County Council committee on Tuesday recommended approval for a 100% workforce neighborhood in Wailuku, which would include 202 diverse houses for sale — from tiny homes to live-work townhomes. Maui County Council’s Affordable Housing Committee voted 9-0 to recommend approval with modifications for Kuikahi Village, a project by Alaula Builders set for 14 acres mauka of Honoapi’ilani Highway and adjacent to Kuikahi Drive. 

The median sales price for single-family homes dropped below $1 million — to $983,575 — for the first time this year. However, the median sales price for Maui County condominiums spiked last month to a new record high of $820,000, partly driven by luxury condo sales in Wailea/Mākena, Kapalua and Kāʻanapali.

Despite opposition from developers, a plan that promises to make affordable homes more affordable moved one step closer to reality at Maui County Council recently.