You can catch a sneak peak of the premiere episode of the new Hawaii 5-0 before it airs nationally next week.

The remake of the popular television series will be shown at Waikiki’s “Sunset on the Beach” Monday night.

The stars of the new Hawaii 5-0 will be there too, including Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park, Scott Caan, and Alex O’Loughlin.

(Maui news, Khon, Karen Leach, Donna Hansen)

The median price of a single-family home on Oahu rose for a fourth straight month in August, though sales volumes declined.The median price for homes in Honolulu jumped 15.2 percent to $645,239 last month, the Honolulu Board of Realtors said Wednesday. The gains followed a 1.7 percent rise in July and a slight increase in June.

Sales volume dropped, however, with 224 homes changing hands during the month compared to 239 a year earlier and 269 in July.

Brian Benton, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors, said the rising median price was a good sign for the market.

”We anticipated the slowdown in sales with the end of the federal tax credit, but the increases in median prices are a sign that the Honolulu market continues to strengthen,” Benton said in a news release.

Benton referred to the federal law that allowed some buyers to claim tax credits of up to $8,000 when buying a home.

The credit boosted sales earlier this year, but sales began to drop as it expired.

Buyers had until April 30 to get a signed sales contract and until June 30 to complete the sale to qualify for the credit. Congress later extended the deadline for closing on a buy to the end of September.

Oahu condominium sales showed a similar results. The median sales price rose 6 percent to $307,500 in August but sales volume plunged 17 percent.

Properties spent fewer days on the market in the month.

Single-family homes were sold an average of 32 days after they were listed, down from 49 days in August last year. Among condominiums, properties remained on the market for an average of 33 days, down from 53 days.

(Maui News, Karen Leach, Khon2)

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 Labor day typically marks the unofficial end of summer with many hitting the road for a final get-a-way.

Here at home, the holiday weekend is offering a much needed boost for Hawaii’s economy with many crossing their fingers the trend will continue.

The labor day weekend is proving to be a strong finish for summer tourism numbers.

Tina Oday, who’s visiting from Guam says, “I am a little surprised at how busy the hotels are and how full they are and the events.”

Waikiki hotel officials say most are seeing occupancy rates close to 100%. “It is a good thing everyone should come to Hawaii, ” adds Oday.

Oday says she’s seen the boom in visitors compared to last year.”And it seems I would say the first time we came about a year and a half ago it was sluggish at best and now it just seems like everybody is back on track for vacation.”

According to AAA around 31 million Americans are traveling this holiday weekend, that’s a 10% increase from last year and Hawaii is reaping the benefits.

“Its been really crazy, for you five to six hours straight a night we’ve had customers all around lining up inside and outside, there was a lot of business going on,” said Leah Marie Rehfeldt, Lappert’s Ice Cream& Coffee.

The most recent Hawaii Tourism Authority visitor report shows visitor spending and arrivals is up for the eighth consecutive month, and its hoped the trend continues.

Travel industry experts credit the rebounding global economy for the up-tick in travel, but some say even though the visitors are up not everyone is spending.

The owner of the Bonita Kiosk at the Hilton Hawaiian Village says typically the winter season brings big spenders who tend to shop a little more.

“There was a lot of people walking around a lot of people and it was ok not a lot of people was buying but we had some a lot of traffic going around,” says Vardit Hacmon, Bonita.

KHON2 news

 As expected, the Maui County Council approved Friday a compromise bill aimed at getting condominium owners to pay the correct tax rate on their units.Council Member Jo Anne Johnson voted against the measure and reiterated her opposition, saying it’s “a very divisive thing” that would not get the outcome sought by the county.

Bill 53, passed with a 7-1 vote Friday, requires condominium associations to file an annual report listing how owners are using their units – whether as a personal residence or a long- or short-term rental. Originally, the bill would have required condo owners to pay taxes according to the “highest and best use” of their properties, based on zoning, as other landowners do now.

After owners complained and condo associations offered up a compromise to file the required annual lists with reports of how units are used, the revised bill was drafted. The measure will be sent to Mayor Charmaine Tavares for final action.

On Friday, the only testimony provided on the condominium tax issue came from Francis Michael Patrick Lydon, the owner of a condo unit at Maalaea Banyans on Hauoli Street.

Lydon provided written testimony on 13 reasons he opposed the bill. In oral testimony, he expressed his concern that the measure would cause a “logistical nightmare” for condo associations and “destroy the willingness” of residents to serve on boards of directors.

“They will view the added burden this law imposes as ‘ratting out owners,’ some being longtime friends,” he said. “Owners will view this as snooping or spying.”

As for filing reports, Lydon said Maalaea Banyans would have logistical problems in providing information. According to Lydon, some of the 79 Maalaea Banyans units are owned by huis with three, four, six and even 12 different owners. Additionally, many of the units are not rented by the same renters or for the same rental periods year to year.

Lydon unsuccessfully appealed to council members to defer their vote until more information could be sought on the consequences of the bill.

As amended, Bill 53 states that after receiving reports from condo associations, the county finance director “may, after investigation, reclassify and reassess any unit in a condominium association to be in violation of the owner’s certification of actual use.”

Johnson said she continued to believe the county would be overreaching its authority in obtaining such reports from condo associations. A condo owner herself, Johnson said she’s been receiving feedback that various condo boards may not be able to obtain the information required in the bill and even if the boards did, some members of the condo boards have expressed reservations about giving out the data.

Council Member Bill Medeiros, who stepped out of the Council Chambers at the time of the vote, was excused Friday. Those voting in favor of the measure were Council Chairman Danny Mateo, Vice Chairman Mike Molina and council members Gladys Baisa, Sol Kaho’ohalahala, Wayne Nishiki, Joe Pontanilla and Mike Victorino.

The bill, when drafted, was meant to close a loophole that allows condo owners to declare how their property should be classified for tax purposes. All other county landowners automatically pay taxes according to the highest use allowed under their respective property’s zoning.

But condo owners complained that units in areas zoned as hotel unfairly would be paying higher rates of taxation.

The bill also consolidates the current “improved residential” and “unimproved residential” property tax categories into a single “residential rate.”

In previous public meetings, council members supporting the bill had said they believed the bill would ensure as much as possible that the correct condo taxes would be paid.

County Finance Director Kalbert Young reported that the county would have generated approximately $8.5 million in real property tax revenue if all condo units were assessed at their highest and best use.

In other council action, members approved:

Granting Janice Welsh a conditional-permit time extension for an office in the residential district at 2241 Vineyard St. in Wailuku.

Amending the Paia-Haiku Community Plan and land-use map from single-family to public/quasi-public for the expansion of the Doris Todd Memorial Christian School in Paia. A bill to amend the state land use classification from agricultural to urban and an ordinance to establish public/quasi-public district zoning also were approved.

The council also gave initial approval for:

Habitat for Humanity Maui’s Kahawai Project to receive $693,000 from the county’s Affordable Housing Fund. The money is earmarked to build 16 one- and two-bedroom condominium units in Wailuku.

The county to issue Hana Community Plan road-improvement bonds totaling $1.8 million: $700,000 for the Kaholopoo Bridge replacement project, and $1.1 million for the Papahawahawa Bridge replacement project.