Pete Jalbert R(S)

The Maui News had a front page article on Maui Realtor Mike Spalding this morning. Spalding is an elite distance swimmer who was trying to join the very select ranks of swimmers who have crossed the wild and woolly Alenuihaha channel between the Big Island and Maui. The channel crossing is almost 30 miles in length! To date only two other swimmers have made this crossing successfully. Mike was trying to do it at the ripe old age of 61. Pretty impressive to say the least. According to the Maui News, Spalding was 11 miles into the swim when he felt a sharp pain in his sternum followed by a sharp pain in his calf. A support kayak came to his aid when they heard Spalding cry out in pain. Inspection of the wounds when he was on the support kayak revealed two small bites. The wounds were not life threatening, but more than enough to put an end to his crossing attempt. Spalding suspects that the perpetrator was a cookie cutter shark.

Cookie Cutter sharks are a species that usually targets open ocean pelagic fish like Tuna. They stay in the depths of the ocean during the day rising to the surface to hunt at night. When I looked the fish up on Wikipedia, to date the only documented negative human interaction with cookie cutters has been when the shark has damaged American military underwater sonar equipment. There was no mention of any attacks on humans.

Judging by the article in the paper, Mike wasn't phased at all by the shark bites. Instead, he was dissapointed that he had to abort what to that point had been a very good swim. I have had the opportunity to show some of Mike's listings before. He is quite a character. I wish him a speedy recovery. I have no doubt he will be back in the water soon training to cross the channel.

The Hawaiian Islands are located farther from a continental land mass than any other island chain in the world. It is an important point to consider as we continue to rely on imported fossil fuels and imported food for our day to day living. Island home owners can make choices that will improve our self sufficiency and reduce our carbon footprint. The native Hawaiians were able to sustain a large population through the local environment. It is time that current residents start the steady shift back to this model of living.

Here are a few options that homeowners could take to make their island lifestyles more sustainable:

1) Improve your water heater. Electric water heaters are energy hogs plain and simple. Consider a solar water heater or an on demand water heater. The high cost of utilities on the island speeds the return on investement when installing any sort of device that improves your efficiency. It of course also means less demand for fossil fuels through the utility companies.

2) Power your house through a complete photovoltaic system or a wind turbine. Maui and Hawaii in general offer copious amounts of sun and wind. As with solar water heaters, return on investment for these upgrades is shorter due to high utility prices. Hawaii utility prices are quick to rise and slow to decrease. Until we reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, that is unlikely to change.

3) Plant a garden. Maui offers a year round growing season making your backyard an ideal spot for a veggie garden. If you have a little less space, a container garden will grow well even on the lanai of a condo. If you have a little more space, consider planting some fruit trees. Citrus, banana, avocado, papaya and mango all grow well throughout much of our beautiful island. If you really want to take the next step, consider a small chicken coop or some goats. They provide protein and manure to fertilize your garden. If you are looking for inspiration, the Dervaes family urban homestead in Pasadena shows how much you can do in even a small space. Growing your own food decreases our dependence on imported food, and it reduces your bill when you go to the grocery store. Imported fruits and veggies can be expensive!

The one area where this list is lacking is when it comes to new construction. While there are a few companies like Bamboo Technologies that have addressed green home construction on Maui, there is still considerable work to be done. While I have seen a few high end homes earn LEED status on Maui, sustainable design has been lacking on the low end. This is where the designs of Brad Pitt and the Make it Right Foundation would be a boon to a community like Maui. Maui developers are scheduled to build a significant number of affordable housing units on island over the next few years. Wouldn't it be nice if these homes were green and affordable? The designs would need little or no modification as our sub tropical climate is somewhat similar to New Orleans. The New Orleans homes are built on stilts, but it appears that they could be modified pretty quickly to be post and pier construction which is predominant throughout much of Hawaii. Were the Make it Right Foundation to sell these designs to Maui developers, the proceeds would help underwrite the cost of construction in the 9th Ward. It could be a true win win for all parties.

It is time for Maui and Hawaii to embrace green. Not only does it hold the opportunity to help the environment, over the long run it may very well save island home owners money.

My sister in law was recently over on a beach in West Maui when she came upon this Hawaiian Monk Seal enjoying a lazy day on the sand.

Hawaiian Monk Seals are endangered species. Every once in a while they will camp out on a more popular beach for a few days at a time. Due to its limited numbers, humans are asked not to disturb these cute pinnipeds. To limit human seal interaction, wildlife officers and/or county lifeguards will occasionally rope off the areas where a seal is lounging. I have seen a few on the beach myself and seen a couple out in the lineup while surfing. I feel pretty lucky to have had the opportunity to encounter these beautiful animals.

With president elect Barack Obama back on Oahu for vacation, there has been increased media focus on Obama and his relationship to Hawaii. In the last couple of days I read two very different articles on Obama and Hawaii that I thought were worth sharing. The first was a piece in the New York Times that looked at how Obama's Hawaii Upbringing helped contribute to his cool temperament. It also talks about how the multi-culturalism of Hawaii may have had an impact on his willingness to consider and accept a diversity of viewpoints.

Photo courtesy of Obama-Biden Transition Project via Creative Commons

The second article looked at how members of Hawaii's surfing community wanted to give Obama a keepsake to remember his island roots. While Obama is known to enjoy bodysurfing, he is not believed to be a surfer. That being said an Oahu surfboard shaper collaborated with a talented airbrush artist to create a board that they hope to have delivered to Obama to keep in the white house. The board is meant more for display than catching waves.

While Hawaii is part of the United States, there is no denying its unique and rich culture. The islands draw traditions from Polynesia, Asia and Europe. This multi-culturalism has an impact on all of Hawaii's residents including its most famous former inhabitants like the president elect.

Last month, I posted on some interesting happenings in the Maui Condo market. The September median of $388,500 was significantly lower than the August median of $625,000. Our October Maui Real Estate Statistics proved September wasn't an anomaly when the median came in at $402,500. So what gives? Has the bottom dropped out? Are we seeing plumeting prices? I will try to answer these questions and provide a few other observations on last month's condo sales below.

It is clear that we are seeing price adjustments throughout the condo market. That being said, the big drop off in median condo prices is not a reflection of the actual changes in value in the Maui condos. Condos did not depreciate 38% between August and September. In my post on September condo stats, I argued that the big drop in medians may be a sign of shifting market activity. The luxury condo market on Maui remained resilient throughout 2007 and the first half of 2008. The volume of activity at the high end was pushing up the median prices while most of the condo market were seeing modest downward price adjustment. This appears to have shifted in the last couple of months with volume of sales dipping sharply in the high end and volume of sales increasing on the low end of the market. This is the cause of the big drop in median prices more so than depreciation.

The numbers provide clear support to a shift in market activity.I took a look at the percentage of the total monthly sales volume that was occuring at the high end of the market and what percent was occuring at the low end of the market. I did this for the months of January, August and October. I designated prices of >$800,000 as the high end and <$300,000 as the low end of the market. Here is how they stacked up.

• For January, the percentage of the total volume of sales >$800,000 =37%. The percentage of the total volume of sales < $300,000 =13%
• For August, the percentage of the total volume of sales >$800,000=41%. The percentage of the total volume of sales <$300,000=14%
• For October, the percentage of the total volume of sales >$800,000=17%. Ther percentage of the total volume of sales <$300,000=26%

It is likely that the cooling in the high end market, may have started even earlier than the numbers would indicate. Our August numbers were bolstered by a significant number of new project closes. Just over 27% of the total sales volume for October were high end new project closes. Most of these were based on contracts that were drafted a couple of years back.

In addition to the trend in median prices, we are seeing a clear trend in diminished volume of sales. We have been under 60 sales per month since June with one exception. Fall is traditionally our slowest time of year for sales volume. It will be intereting to see if we have a jump towards the start of 2009. The winter months traditionally represent peak buyer season as we see more off island visitors.

With price adjustments and less competition, there are some opportunities out there for buyers. I have talked to a number of buyers who are waiting to see greater decreases on list prices. That being said, some buyers are being rewarded by making lower offers. List prices aren't always the best indication of seller motivation. Browsing through October's sales, I noted sales prices 14%, 17% and 19% below list price. The highest priced sale for the month was a beautiful luxury condo at Wailea Beach Villas that closed at $7,800,000. It was a wopping 28% below list price. Another savy buyer bought three condos as a bulk sale at the Kai Makani development in Kihei. One of the three units closed for 34% below list price. This supports the old real estate adage that it never hurts to make offers.

Contact me for additional information on the Maui Condo market and Maui Condos for Sale. You can browse through the current Maui MLS listings for Condos or do a custom search or Maui inventory.