Hotel Hana-Maui becomes Travaasa Hana in June

The property will also feature all-inclusive rates that cover lodging and food

By Star-Advertiser staff
Article from: Star-Advertiser

The owner of the Hotel Hana-Maui is renaming the property and changing to an all-inclusive pricing model that covers accommodations, meals, spa services and activities for its guests.

Starting in June, the hotel will be known as the Tra­vaasa Hana, one of two “Tra­vaasa Destination” properties operated by Denver-based Green Tea LLC. The other hotel is the Tra­vaasa Austin, which opened April 14 near Austin, Texas.

Green Tea, a unit of privately held Amstar Group, said it plans to add additional properties to the Tra­vaasa brand in “desirable ocean, desert, rainforest and mountain locales.”

Amstar Group, a real estate investment and development company, bought the Hotel Hana-Maui a year ago, becoming the third owner of the hotel in a year and a half.

All-inclusive rates at Tra­vaasa Hana will start at $595 per person. Under the current pricing structure, room rates start at $325 for double occupancy. The 70-room hotel is on 69 acres along the East Maui coastline, with accommodations in bungalows and cottages.

Amstar bought the hotel in April 2010 from the Ohana Hotel Co. LLC. Ohana had acquired the property in 2009 from California-based Passport Resorts. Passport had owned the hotel since 2001.

Awww… Olinda

This is a huge, heritage property in prestigious Olinda. The land boasts the most fabulous ocean and three island view with ultimate privacy and beauty. The land is currently assessed as cattle grazing land but the county assessor say that the true value is about $4,480,000.

There are two building sites that sit on a knoll with panoramic views. One important factor is that it has a county water meter. This property must be seen to fully appreciate.

Contact Bob Hansen, BROKER, 808-283-9456 or

Donna D. Hansen, Realtor (S) 808-280-1650

Lower prices drive rebound in resort home sales

Higher demand and improved buyer confidence also helped the boost

By Andrew Gomes
Article from: Star-Advertiser
Buyer demand for Hawaii homes broadly rebounded last year, and a new report shows that the same was true for one segment of the state’s housing market: resort residences.

Sales of condominiums and single-family homes — new and previously owned — as well as house lots at master-planned resorts such as Wailea on Maui, Mauna Lani on Hawaii island and Princeville on Kauai ended a four-year slide with a 42 percent surge to 1,473 properties last year from 1,040 the year before.

The surge was in line with home sale increases for all homes on the neighbor islands, where gains last year ranged roughly from 20 percent to 60 percent. Most resort home sales were on the neighbor islands as opposed to Oahu, where the rebound for all home sales last year was closer to 10 percent.

The report by local market researcher Ricky Cassiday of Data@Work said the rebound in resort home sales was aided by improved confidence among buyers and the slow economic recovery, though the big driver appeared to be lower prices.

“No way around it,” Cassiday said in the report. “This strong rebound in activity is thanks to dramatically falling prices.”

The average sale price was $1.1 million last year, down 14 percent from nearly $1.3 million the year before.

Cassiday’s report said the average peaked in 2008 at nearly $1.6 million, which put the cumulative decline since then at 29 percent.

It’s uncertain whether prices will rebound this year. The 2009-10 price decline was a record. The previous record drop for resort home average prices in Hawaii occurred in a single year, 1977, when the average fell 27 percent, according to Cassiday.

Cassiday said Hawaii’s resort home market this year likely will either see prices stabilize, which could slow sales, or further price drops that would help sales continue rising. He said he’s betting more on prices rising slightly.

Last year, many resort home sellers were dropping prices. In other cases, lenders were pricing property attractively after foreclosure.

Cassiday’s report said 9 percent of resort home sales last year were foreclosures that sold for an average $737,343 compared with an average $1.35 million for nonforeclosure resort home sales. A report by RealtyTrac released earlier this year said 11 percent of all home sales in Hawaii were foreclosures last year.

Another factor in the average price decline has been developers cutting back on building high-end homes amid the economic downturn.

Developers sold 371 new resort homes last year, an 11 percent decline from the year before, the report said.

The divergence helped pull down the average sale price for all resort homes last year, as the average new home sold for $1.5 million compared with $971,277 for the average previously owned home.

Cassiday expects developers will have a smaller share of resort home sales this year if buyer demand grows ahead of home production by cautious developers slowly resuming construction.

In some cases, developers are offering incentives to spur sales.

Earlier this year, Castle & Cooke tried auctioning all its unsold inventory of resort property on Lanai. The company offered 11 homes and three lots, and ended up selling five condos at Manele Resort for close to $1.2 million each on average, or about 80 percent of the price for the most recent previous sale at Manele last year.

Last month, Brookfield Homes Hawaii publicized efforts to sell three golf course homes in its KaMilo subdivision at Mauna Lani with prices starting at $799,000. Last week, Brookfield announced an incentive of up to $50,000 in free designer furnishings for buying select KaMilo homes before May 15.

According to Cassiday’s report, there were 386 sales last year at the least expensive end of the market, between $250,000 and $499,000. At the high end, there were 358 sales for properties of more than $1 million.

Near the height of the market in 2006 and 2007, there were about 150 sales under $500,000 in each year compared with about 800 sales over $1 million.

$1.1 million. The Valley Island has held the top spot since at least 2006. The average on the Big Island was $704,328, followed by $465,369 on Oahu and $428,690 on Kauai.

Maui also had the most sales at 562. Hawaii island was next at 401, followed by Kauai at 345 and Oahu at 162.

If you live in Hawaii, try to keep your feet in the water and off of the gas pedal. As gas prices continue to increase throughout the country, the state of Hawaii is breaking records with its gas price at $4.51 a gallon for unleaded.

But, other states such as Alaska, Connecticut, Illinois, New York and the District of Columbia are also charging customers over four dollars for a gallon of gas. Trailing just a few cents away from four dollars per gallon are Indiana, Michigan, Nevada and Washington.

Hawaii residents have hit a high gas price before. In 2008, gas prices rose to $4.50/gallon. As gas prices throughout the country continue to rise, there will be less vehicular travel and more walking or transit transportation.

Having a vehicle that eats up your gas isn’t always a necessity. You could trade it in and purchase a more budget-friendly vehicle during the rising gas price period, or find alternative methods of transportation on and between our eight beautiful islands. Many people are investing in hybrid vehicles, like the Toyota Prius and all electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf. With the federal and state tax credits for 2011, the Nissan Leaf is extremely affordable.

Another popular move in Hawaii is to install a solar system on your home to reduce or eliminate your electric bill. The payback period in Hawaii is very fast when compared to the other 49 states. Solar also has a healthy federal and state tax credit for 2011. Whether the state tax credit will be extended for 2012 or not, is currently up in the air.

Spectacular Views!

Tucked away at the end of the cul-de-sac you will find this very loved single level home with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, a den, and large living room overlooking great views.

Lots of storage. Two car carport. Easy to view with a little notice. Convenient location!

 Contact Bob Hansen, BROKER, 808-283-9456 or

Donna D. Hansen, Realtor (S) 808-280-1650 for a showing today!