Housing & Real Estate

Rent prices spiked over the first few months this year, with Maui seeing a 41% surge in asking prices compared with the same time last year, according to a new report from University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization.

A $192 million Kahului plan to develop 300 affordable and market-rate units, along with a civic center for state office space, cleared a hurdle in the approval process.

The proposed 125-unit multi-family complex was floated in place of the proposed Wailuku Hotel concept that was met with community opposition in 2020.

As the third month this year to set a record for Maui County single-family home median sales price, April marked a new all-time high at more than $1.2 million. Meanwhile, inventory last month reached an all-time low and the existing units are selling “fairly quickly,” according to the Realtors Association of Maui report released Wednesday.

With enough water and funding, the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands plans to add 66 agricultural lots — along with a cultural center, gardens, community buildings, an amphitheater, a local small business venue and native forest restoration  — on roughly 70 acres along Kula Highway in Kēōkea.

Saying that a much-needed affordable housing project in North Kihei shouldn’t be held up over county roadway requirements, Maui Planning Commission on Tuesday morning voted to pull the condition, allowing Hale Kaiola to move full-steam ahead. Hale Kaiola is a 100% workforce housing project with 20 duplexes containing 40 homes at the corner of Kaiola Place and ʻOhukai Road. Recently 40 local families were chosen via lottery of 117 applicants. Units will be owner-occupied with no rentals and start at $395,000.

It’s a race to open for five restaurant chains slated to launch along Ho’okele Street in Kahului. Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane’s, Sonic, Taco Bell and Teddy’s Bigger Burgers have each announced plans to open this year.

that the state has some of the most restrictive housing regulations in the nation, with Maui as the second most restrictive county in the state. Government regulations that limit the availability of the housing market to create new units is one piece of the puzzle that may explain Hawaiʻi’s home prices.

Homes and Land Magazine along with several invited sponsors, honored 2022 Maui’s Top 3% REALTORS (based on 2021 production). With over 1,900 agents, 58 of Maui’s top producing agents were gathered in the first person event since the in person restrictions due to the Covid mandates set by the County.

Fueled by dwindling inventory, Maui County last month set historic highs for both residential single-family and condominium home median sales prices, according to data released today by Realtors Association of Maui. Single-family home median sales price rose 19.5% year over year to $1,177,500. For condos, the median sales price shot up nearly 28% year over year to $820,000.

An $18.5 million South Maui home sale Wednesday became Maui’s most expensive one so far this year, according to Island Sotheby’s International Realty. Originally listed at $19.9 million, the six-bedroom, seven-bathroom home on about an acre in Wailea-Mākena saw high interest and sold in about three weeks.

Maui County Council is considering whether to pursue an investigation into the administration’s handling of a large home in Nāpili, which has been called “monstrous” and “illegal” by neighboring residents. The unfinished, eight-bedroom home came under fire last year when it climbed toward 45 feet tall. Some residents have been questioning how the county signed off on the plans without community input.

Long-anticipated Waikapū Country Town — the island’s largest residential project in recent history — could move faster if a public-private partnership that trades infrastructure for more affordable homes gets approved, project officials said Thursday. “If all goes well, we would hope that we could have the first set of homes ready in about three years,” project attorney Jeffrey Ueoka told Maui Now. 

Councilmember Kelly Takaya King hosts an in-person town hall on March 22 at 6 p.m. at the Malcolm Center, 1305 N. Holopono St., to discuss affordable housing and address residents’ questions on affordable housing.

BlackSand Capital has entered into a three-year commitment of $300,000 to House Maui, a Hawaiʻi Community Foundation initiative working to create a sustainable housing market for local families on Maui.

Leaving property taxes at the lowest in the nation could actually spur investment home buys in Maui County, according to a presentation Monday afternoon at council’s Affordable Housing Committee. About 70% of purchases in 2020 were non-owner occupied, second homes, Hawaiʻi Information Service said. Meanwhile, Hawaiʻi this year ranked lowest in the nation for property taxes by state, according to a WalletHub study published this month.

State owners of a major Lahaina development called Villages of Leialiʻi recently offered to transfer for free about 400 acres of the project’s land to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. Although transfer approval and future plans for the land will have to be ironed out by DHHL, the proposal was praised Thursday during a Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. meeting.

Alaula Builders shared they will be presenting two more 100% workforce housing neighborhoods before the Maui County Council in April to address the pressing need for local housing on the island.

After testifiers debated whether adding 53 luxury homes in a hotel area would help or hurt Maui’s housing crisis, Maui Planning Commission cleared a key hurdle today for the project planned on 28 acres in Mākena. Public testifiers said the project will help keep wealthy, out-of-state homebuyers in hotel areas and reduce demand on residential communities. Other residents voiced strong opposition, saying that affordable homes – not luxury homes – should be prioritized.   

More Maui County homes were purchased by out-of-state buyers last year than in recent years, according to new state data.