HOME SALES The number of homes sold on Maui in February with the median price and percentage change from the same month last year:
HOMES SALES
February 2014 |
60 |
February 2013 |
66 |
Change |
-9.1% |
MEDIAN PRICE
February 2014 |
$560,000 |
February 2013 |
$537,500 |
Change |
4.2% |
CONDOS SALES
February 2014 |
87 |
February 2013 |
101 |
Change |
-13.9% |
MEDIAN PRICE
February 2014 |
$345,000 |
February 2013 |
$360,000 |
Change |
-4.2% |
Source: Realtors Association of Maui
|
Maui housing market softened in February
February was a fairly soft month for Maui’s housing market, as the number of sales declined and median prices stayed close to where they were a year earlier.
The Realtors Association of Maui reported its latest sales data Wednesday showing mainly declines in the market in February compared with the same month last year after strong year-over-year gains in January.
The biggest decline last month occurred in condominium sales volume, which fell 14 percent to 87 units from 101 a year earlier. The median condo sale price slipped 4 percent to $345,000 from $360,000 in the same period.
In the single-family house market, the number of sales declined 9 percent to 60 last month from 66 a year earlier.
February is typically a slow month for home sales, though the volume of sales of single-family houses on Maui last month was the lowest for any February since 59 sales in 2011 when the real estate market was still recovering.
One positive area for Maui’s market last month was the single-family house median sale price, which rose 4 percent to $560,000 from $537,500.
Hawaiian Air moves up L.A.-Maui service
Hawaiian Airlines has moved up the start date for its new daily year-round service between Los Angeles and Maui by a month and will now begin flying on May 2 rather than June 1.
In addition, the airline also will add a second daily flight from June 30 to Sept. 8, adding more than 32,700 seats in both travel markets.
With the new start date for the year-round service and the addition of the second daily flight this summer, a total of more than 175,000 seats will be added to both Los Angeles and Maui’s travel markets this year.
The new daily service will be operated by Hawaiian’s 294-seat Airbus 330-200 aircraft.
More isle residents plan spring break trip
About 54 percent of Hawaii residents plan at least one trip during spring break, according to an AAA Hawaii poll, a 19 percent increase over last year’s 34 percent.
Forty percent of those polled plan multiple spring break trips, defined as a trip of more than 50 miles and requiring an overnight stay during March, April or May.
"Spring break travel has greatly increased this year as our members are feeling more confident about their personal economic situations, and gas prices are lower than this time last year," Liane Sumida, AAA Hawaii general manager, said in a statement.
Hawaii’s top getaway destinations are Las Vegas, chosen by 21 percent of respondents; Hawaii island (18 percent); Los Angeles (17 percent); San Francisco (16 percent); and Oahu (14 percent).
Ten percent plan travel to Maui or Kauai, and 2 percent are planning trips to Molokai or Lanai.
Japan is the top foreign destination, chosen by 11 percent of Hawaii travelers polled.
The 2014 AAA Hawaii Spring Break poll was conducted from March 4 through Monday and surveyed 644 AAA Hawaii members. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
Hawaii women shine in online poker play
New data show that women in Hawaii who play poker in online social casinos spend 6.5 hours per month doing so.
Data gathered by gaming systems technology company International Game Technology shows participation in social casinos by women is on the rise. IGT conducted the study as a follow-up to the ongoing U.S. Social Casino Index project by DoubleDown Casino, which is one of the company’s products. In December, the company reported that Hawaii’s social casino players were 20 percent more likely than the national average to play using a mobile device, versus a desktop.
‘Ohana Road’ show finds home in new time slot on KHKA-AM
Well-known Honolulu gearheads Bill Maloney and Ed Kemper have a new time slot for their "Ohana Road" radio show.
The automotive enthusiasts’ program, sponsored by 76 Hawaii, will air at 9 a.m. Saturdays on KHKA-AM 1500, also known as NBC Sports Radio, and will feature segments on motorsports, car collectors and new car road tests. Prominent guests also will be a regular part of the show and will include Andy Bumatai, hotelier Kelvin Bloom and high-performance driving school leader Bob Bondurant.
The show, which does not focus on automotive repairs, will be rebroadcast at 9 a.m. Sundays on KKEA-AM 1420, ESPN Sports radio.
GM to offer loaner cars, $500 to owners of recalled vehicles
DETROIT » General Motors is offering free loaner cars and $500 toward a new GM vehicle to more than a million owners of compact cars that are being recalled for a deadly ignition switch defect.
But the owners have to ask to get the benefits.
The offers, disclosed in a document posted Wednesday on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website, are effective immediately. Owners will be able to use the loaner cars until parts arrive at dealerships to replace the faulty switches. They are expected around April 7, GM said.
The $500 cash allowance offer runs through April 30.
GM last month announced the recall of 1.6 million older small cars worldwide because faulty ignitions can shut off engines unexpectedly. If the engines shut off, drivers can lose power steering and power brakes, and the air bags may not inflate if there’s a crash.
GM now counts 12 people as having died in crashes linked to the problem. The company said Wednesday that one victim had been double-counted.
ON THE MOVE
Mauna Kea Resort has appointed Vicky Kometani public relations director. She was previously an account executive at Current Events, a strategic communications agency in Kona.
Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa has appointed Isaac Furukawa to director of group sales from senior manager of group sales. Before joining Marriott 13 years ago, Furukawa held managerial positions at Creations in Catering, the Hawaiian Regent Hotel and the Outrigger Canoe Club.
Mid-Pacific Institute has named Brian Dote the school’s chief innovation officer as of Aug. 1. He is currently the technical lead with several startup companies in Hawaii and in Silicon Valley and is the owner-designer-developer of Tapiki. Dote was also a former lead developer at Apple.
Servco Automotive has announced Travis Nishijo is the assistant director of parts for its Servco Auto Parts Center division. He has 30 years of experience in the automotive industry and was previously the parts manager at New City Nissan.