Honua Kai November 2012 Market Update

In an ongoing effort to share my passion and expertise for the Honua Kai Resort and Spa in Ka’anapali, Maui I would like to share this November 2012 market update. Let’s start with my new listing of Residence #220 at the Hokulani Enclave at Honua Kai.

What’s for Sale at Honua Kai?

My new listing (#220) at the Hokulani enclave has about 250 sq.ft. of covered lanai shown here plus another 900 sq.ft. of open lanai area to enjoy the partial ocean views and panoramic views of the West Maui Mountains. There is high definition video, photos, rental income, and all pertinent details on this 2 bedroom top value here www.Hokulani220.com.

Currently, there are 16 resale units on the market-studios, one bedrooms, two bedrooms, and three bedroom units. Here is a gallery of all the Honua Kai resale units.

There are also roughly 130 developer units still for sale at Honua Kai – most of these units are two bedroom and three bedroom units albeit there are still a couple one bedroom and studio units. In January of this year, I shared my last Honua Kai market update which illustrated the high rate of recent liquidity at the resort. Honua Kai January 2012 Market Update.

Please ask me for the most recent inventory list and my recommendations for best buys in relation to your specific needs and budget. I know the inventory very well, have helped a number of buyer clients find some exceptional properties at great prices (most recently, I helped a buyer client from Vancouver, Canada secure a fantastic 3 bedroom ocean view unit), and am here to help you find what is best for you.

What Has Been Selling at Honua Kai?

For the sake of simplicity and a larger sample set, let’s look at what has closed at Honua Kai since the beginning of 2012.

All but 1 of the 68 closings at Honua Kai in 2012 were original developer units. The one resale was unit #651 at the Konea Tower – a direct oceanfront 3 bedroom/3 bath unit of 2,280 sq.ft. of interior living area originally listed at $3,250,000 spending 608 days on the market and eventually closing at $2,600,000.

Considering that the previous owner paid $3,425,000 for this unit in 2010 and compared to the active comparable inventory that the developer has on the market right now as well as a couple of comparable resales – this buyer got an exceptional deal in my mind.

Developer Sales in 2012

Everything sold in 2012 was lower priced inventory with the high sale being unit Hokulani #748 at $1,199,000, a two bedroom ocean view that I thought was a steal and featured in a previous video blog post on June 22 of 2011: Honua Kai Best Two Bedroom Deals. I am absolutely amazed that the unit lasted that long as I think this was a tremendous long term investment.

I commonly feel that looking at price/sq.ft. is a very poor illustration of solely determining value as I know many agents and buyers like to do – I feel it really lacks the most important component of real estate value – LOCATION.

That’s why I have included a link to a previous blog that I wrote on Honua Kai that has aerial shots of the two buildings and the floor templates, which will help you decipher more desirable locations and also very important, view corridors. This link will open up in a new window so it will be fairly easy to toggle back and forth between the below spreadsheet and the templates here: Honua Kai Real Estate for Sale.

• 2009 Honua Kai Sales – 168 total units sold, all were in the Hokulani enclave
• 2010 Honua Kai Sales – 188 total units sold, 44 in the Hokulani enclave and 144 in the Konea enclave
• 2011 Honua Kai Sales – 70 total units sold, 34 in the Hokulani enclave and 36 in the Konea enclave
• 2012 YTD Honua Kai Sales – 68 total units sold, 37 in the Hokulani enclave and 31 in the Konea enclave

What Are the Best Deals at Honua Kai?

1. Hokulani #220 my listing (MLS# 353980) is a 94 out of a possible 100 on the Hawaii Life Value Score. Generally speaking, anything above a score of 90 represents strong value and is priced to sell.

At the time of listing, this is the lowest priced 2 bedroom unit at Honua Kai by $126,000 (this does include developer inventory as well). See the value score and all the listing details of Hokulani #220 on the listing detail page.

2. Konea 505 (pictured above) is a 2 bed/2 bath true ocean view unit priced at $1,667,000, which is about $100K than what the seller paid for it (MLS# 352549). This unit is rated a 91 on the Hawaii Life Value Score. This is a gorgeous unit and the top value for a two bedroom ocean view unit in the entire resort in my opinion. Here is the high definition video for this unit.

3. There are still some great deals on developer inventory at both the Hokulani and Konea enclaves. Let’s discuss what fits your needs and budget.

My Market Predictions at Honua Kai

The current market absorption rate for the developer inventory at Honua Kai with 67 sold units in 2012 divided by 11 months = about 6 units per month. With 130 units remaining and 6 selling per month = there is about 21 months of inventory left of developer inventory at Honua Kai.

This is, of course, assuming an equal rate of absorption, which I think is unlikely because of the higher price points on the remaining inventory. I am thinking that if the developer does show some motivation and either does another round of price reductions on the remaining inventory like they did when I wrote my blog about in the spring of ’11 – 35% Price Reductions at Honua Kai – that they can probably sell the remaining inventory in 30 months or less.

This will also of course depend on the overall trends of the market and the world economy – from the frenzy of activity that we are seeing on Maui right now, I think we are headed in the right direction.

The current market absorption rate for the resale inventory is one sold unit in 11 months of 2012, so with 16 units on the market = we are looking at about 177 months inventory. I know this sounds ludicrous and it probably is – the fact of the matter is that sellers still need to be real about their prices no matter how nice a property is. For those properties that are priced well and are in desirable locations as well as in good condition (basically everything at Honua Kai) the inventory is moving quickly.

Buying at Honua Kai

I am here to educate Honua Kai buyers – I work in your best interests not the developer or listing agents. I have assisted 4 buyer clients thus far in 2012 with acquiring property at Honua Kai most recently a client from Vancouver B.C. who got a fantastic deal on a 3 bedroom ocean view unit (see above photo) at the Hokulani tower listed at $2,239,000. I can’t share the exactly value that this unit will close at until it actually does so, but if you reach out to me I can give you a good idea on how much the developer came down on this unit and other important considerations of the sale.

For financing options at Honua Kai – be sure to read my post about 25% down payment financing at Honua Kai.

Selling at Honua Kai

No agent or brokerage firm has the combination of passion, knowledge, and international marketing capability of our team and brokerage firm. Please allow me to the opportunity to provide you with a thorough market analysis on your unit as well as our results proven marketing plan that has resulted in 30 properties sold to date in Maui in 2012 with another 10 under contract at this time.

HawaiiLife.com is the #1 trafficked real estate website in the entire state of Hawaii – with about 140,000 visitors to our site per month. Google “Hawaii Real Estate” and see us at the #1 spot on top of the organic searches – think about having your property featured on the most powerful website in the state, in addition to all the other things we do.