🌺 Buying or selling investment property on Maui?
Why pay more in taxes than you have to?

🌺 In this episode, we break down how savvy investors are using the often-overlooked 1031 exchange to reinvest smarter, defer capital gains taxes, and build long-term wealth—Maui style. From swapping struggling properties for stronger markets to the nitty-gritty of timelines and tax benefits, we’ve got your 1031 questions covered.

💬 Got questions or comments? Drop them below — I’d love to hear from you.

👍 Like what you heard? Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe so you never miss an update.

Mahalo for watching, and until next time — be well, be happy, and aloha from the greatest island in the world.

Listen with
Apple Podcast 
or 
Spotify

New episodes every Tuesday! If you'd like to see our content from before March 25, 2025, you can find on YouTube with the handle @AlohaGroupMaui

Lee Potts
(808) 276-8776
RB-20663

Keller Williams Realty Maui
RB-21851

Already know the basics of 1031 exchanges? In this follow-up episode, Lahina Lee takes it to the next level—breaking down five key reasons investors choose to make a move. From unlocking equity and upgrading portfolios to helping family and passing on a tax-efficient legacy, this episode is about strategy, timing, and heart—Maui style. 💬 Got questions or comments? Drop them below — I’d love to hear from you. 👍 Like what you heard? Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe so you never miss an update. Mahalo for watching, and until next time — be well, be happy, and aloha from the greatest island in the world. **If you'd like to see our content from before March 25, 2025, you can find on YouTube with the handle @AlohaGroupMaui

Watch on

Apple Podcast

or

Spotify

Lee Potts RB-20663 (808) 276-8776

Keller Williams Realty Maui RB-21851

All about leasehold and fee simple land tenure in Hawaii.

New episodes every Tuesday!

If you'd like to see our content from before March 25, 2025, you can find on YouTube with the handle @AlohaGroupMaui

4 PART SERIES of 4 things you need to know about owning a condo on Maui:

1. Condo Associations (AKA HOAs or AOAOs) on Maui

2. Rental Company Management Agreements

3. Form of land tenure – leasehold vs. fee simple

4. **THIS EPISODE Limits to financing condo purchases on Maui

Lee Potts RB-20663 (808) 276-8776

Keller Williams Realty Maui RB-21851

Other Ways to Listen:

Apple Podcasts

or

Spotify

🌺 Aloha from Maui! It’s Lahaina Lee with your April 2025 Maui Real Estate Advisor Update 🌺

Welcome to this month’s edition where we break down the latest on Maui’s real estate market, visitor trends, and economic insights — with a splash of straight talk and local heart.

🏠 In this episode, we cover: The uneven recovery of Lahaina and Maui’s construction progress

Eye-opening visitor stats: down in numbers, up in spending?

Struggles of local businesses and vacation rental owners

Condo and single-family home sales, inventory, and pricing trends

Why it’s officially a buyer’s market in many parts of Maui Practical advice for sellers and buyers navigating today’s market

📊 Whether you're a homeowner, buyer, investor, or just curious about what's happening on the island, this update gives you the real deal — no sugar-coating, just insight and aloha.

Listen on Apple Podcasts

or

Spotify

Get more information and details

To get more information on property and trends, you can search all properties listed for sale at www.AlohaGroupMaui.com.  If you can’t find what you’re looking for there, send us an email to lee@alohapotts.com, and we’ll do our best to get an answer for you.  As we get more requests for information, we’ll add new sections to the website, newsletter or both.

______________________________________

About Aloha Group Maui

Aloha Group Maui was founded by L. Lee Potts, MBA, REALTOR® R(B) and Barbara S. Potts, MBA, REALTOR® R(B) and former California CPA. Our team consists of talented professionals; Cheri Miller R(S), Anthony Freda R(S), Kathy Becklin, R(B), Becky Sparling, R(S), and Tony Brown R(B). We are businesspeople, and we treat our clients with the same care and service attitude that we would like to receive when we do business.  We are in business for pleasure and profit.  We expect that most of our clients will enjoy the property they own in Maui (pleasure), and it would be nice for everyone if your property performs well for you (profit).  Real estate can be highly speculative, and profits are never guaranteed.  So if you are buying property in Maui, it’s a good idea to surround yourself with a professional team.

Lee Potts is the former President of an international software company and former Marketing VP of a publicly traded franchise organization.  Lee and Barbara are both licensed under Keller Williams Realty Maui.  

All about leasehold and fee simple land tenure in Hawaii.

New episodes every Tuesday!

If you'd like to see our content from before March 25, 2025, you can find on YouTube with the handle @AlohaGroupMaui

4 PART SERIES of 4 things you need to know about owning a condo on Maui:

1. Condo Associations (AKA HOAs or AOAOs) on Maui

2. Rental Company Management Agreements

3. **THIS EPISODE Form of land tenure – leasehold vs. fee simple

4. Limits to financing condo purchases on Maui

Lee Potts RB-20663 (808) 276-8776

Keller Williams Realty Maui RB-21851

Other Ways to Listen:

Apple Podcasts

or

Spotify

What to look out for with condo associations on Maui, Hawaii.

New episodes every Tuesday!

If you'd like to see our content from before March 25, 2025, you can find on YouTube with the handle @AlohaGroupMaui

4 PART SERIES of 4 things you need to know about owning a condo on Maui:

1. Condo Associations (AKA HOAs or AOAOs) on Maui

2. **THIS EPISODE Rental Company Management Agreements

3. Form of land tenure – leasehold vs. fee simple

4. Limits to financing condo purchases on Maui

Lee Potts RB-20663 (808) 276-8776

Keller Williams Realty Maui RB-21851

Other Ways to Listen:

Apple Podcasts

or

Spotify

What to look out for with condo associations on Maui, Hawaii.

New episodes every Tuesday!

If you'd like to see our content from before March 25, 2025, you can find on YouTube with the handle @AlohaGroupMaui

4 PART SERIES of 4 things you need to know about owning a condo on Maui:

1. *THIS EPISODE* Condo Associations (AKA HOAs or AOAOs) on Maui

2. Rental Company Management Agreements

3. Form of land tenure – leasehold vs. fee simple

4. Limits to financing condo purchases on Maui

Lee Potts RB-20663 (808) 276-8776

Keller Williams Realty Maui RB-21851

Other Ways to Listen:

Apple Podcasts

or

Spotify

Welcome to Lahaina Lee's first podcast! 

Aloha, and say hello to a buyers' market. In this month's newsletter, we are going to dig into some of the details about what's hot and what's not in Maui's real estate market. We'll also do a quick update on the Lahaina recovery - there's progress, but it's still not where we want it to be. And, we have a little good news about Maui's visitor industry. 

In Hawaii, in Governor Green's latest declaration, it was announced that properties mauka (mountain side) of Front Street that are also outside the erosion zone are being exempted from the SMA (Special Management Area) permitting process. And just in case you are wondering, most of Front Street north of Dickenson - including Fleetwood's, the old Longhi's, the Tommy Bahama's Marlin Grill, and the art galleries - are all in the erosion zone. 

Was that really the intent?

This still leaves landowners on both the makai (oceanside) and mauka sides of Front Street in a state of confusion. Many of those property and business owners, including those at Front Street Recovery, want to rebuild. This is a National Historic Site. So, what will happen to all of these landmarks and places we love, like the Pioneer Inn, the Lahaina Yacht Club, and many others? That remains uncertain. 

This is still a big deal because getting through the SMA process typically takes one year or longer based on personal experience and conversations with others who have gone through it. This exemption should mean that those planning to rebuild can start sooner. According to a release from Maui's Mayor Bissen, the exemption will affect 103 commercial properties and 533 residential properties, totaling 636 parcels.

Tourism Update

Again, good news, but we are still short of "normal." Tourism isn't fully back, but it is improving. Major short-term vacation rental management companies, including Aston, Kaanapali Shores, Maui Paradise Properties, and My Perfect Stays, are all reporting February occupancy levels in the mid-to-high 80% range. Lower rates, increased marketing, and record-cold temperatures on the mainland probably have something to do with our visitors arriving. 

The number of visitors arriving in Maui in January was up 15.8% over January 2024. However, it is still down 13% from our last normal year, 2019.

Real Estate: It Ain't Nothing but Slow

How slow is it? Let's do the numbers.

Condos

It seems like supply and demand is always the story in Maui's real estate market. For condos, we've been in a buyer's market for a few months now.

Sales

Every month, we slide deeper into this buyer's market. In the last month, 50 condos were sold. Since October, we have reached 60 sales in only one month - back in November. In December, there were only 48 sales. We typically think of January through April as our high season. In January 2024, there were 92 condos sold. So, seeing just 50 sales close in February is a real indicator of how slowly this market is moving. 

Inventory

The supply side of our equation has doubled in the last year. February 2024 ended with 408 condos for sale. At the beginning of this month, we had 839 condos for sale. The combined effect is that we have almost 17 months of inventory. We haven't seen anything like this since the Great Recession.

Even a blind man on a desert island can see that with this much supply and this little demand, prices will drop. Right? Wrong again.

Selling Prices

After watching median selling prices drop from $990,000 in September all the way down to $675,000 in January, prices shot up again to $945,000 in February. 

We see a similar trend in average selling prices. It seemed that the average was stabilizing at around $1.1. million, give or take. The average selling price in January was $1,059,000 but then rocketed up to $1.358 million in February.

In February, there were 323 price changes for condos currently for sale. Of these, only 8 increased their asking price. All the rest lowered their prices.

For condos on Maui, there were 197 price changes - 192 of which were reductions. From the asking price at the time of sale, sellers got 94.5% of their asking price. However, from the original asking price, they got 92%

About 60% of the sales were condos that allow short-term rentals. 

West Maui is a little different. There were only 16 sales in February. It has been worse - back in 2009 - but that's still pretty slim pickings.

Only two of those sales were in complexes that do not all short-term rentals. Of the 14 sales in properties that do allow short-term rentals: 

• 10 were in hotel-zoned properties
• 4 were in apartment-zoned properties legally allowed to rent short-term

Pending Sales

Pending condo sales held steady with 87 pendings in February, compared to 89 in January. However, if we look at February last year, there were 179 pendings. Over the year, the number of pending sales has dropped - almost in half.

Single-Family Homes

The single-family home market has somewhat mirrored condominiums

• Sales dropped below 50 houses for the first time since November 2023
• Inventory peaked above 400 homes for the first time since May 2020

On the bright side, pending home sales rose above 100 again in February.

Other good news for sellers:

• The average selling price rose to almost $1.9 million again
• The median selling price also rose to nearly $1.4 million

The district with the most February sales was a bit of a surprise:

• Upcountry had 13 sales, edging out Central Maui, which had 12 sales
• The lowest median selling price was still in Central Maui, but there were also some good buys in Makawao

Surprisingly, the fewest home sales were in:

• South Maui - 5 sales (median price: $1.33 million)
• West Maui - 6 sales (median price: $3.4 million)

Conclusion

Most national real estate analysts predict a continued slow market. Interest rates are expected to remain in the high sixes to low sevens, so there is no relief there.

I believe condo prices will continue to decline, while home prices will likely remain stable - but at levels unaffordable for most full-time Maui residents.

What's the Solution? 

• Invest in infrastructure
• Let builders build homes
• Encourage development
• Bring back visitors (AKA tourists)

That's my take on Maui, Lahaina, and the real estate market here on the greatest island in the world. 

Get more information and details

To get more information on property and trends, you can search all properties listed for sale at www.AlohaGroupMaui.com.  If you can’t find what you’re looking for there, send us an email to lee@alohapotts.com, and we’ll do our best to get an answer for you.  As we get more requests for information, we’ll add new sections to the website, newsletter or both.

______________________________________

About Aloha Group Maui

Aloha Group Maui was founded by L. Lee Potts, MBA, REALTOR® R(B) and Barbara S. Potts, MBA, REALTOR® R(B) and former California CPA. Our team consists of talented professionals; Cheri Miller R(S), Anthony Freda R(S), Kathy Becklin, R(B), Becky Sparling, R(S), and Tony Brown R(B). We are businesspeople, and we treat our clients with the same care and service attitude that we would like to receive when we do business.  We are in business for pleasure and profit.  We expect that most of our clients will enjoy the property they own in Maui (pleasure), and it would be nice for everyone if your property performs well for you (profit).  Real estate can be highly speculative, and profits are never guaranteed.  So if you are buying property in Maui, it’s a good idea to surround yourself with a professional team.

Lee Potts is the former President of an international software company and former Marketing VP of a publicly traded franchise organization.  Lee and Barbara are both licensed under Keller Williams Realty Maui.  

Barbara Potts was a CPA with Ernst and Young before joining Apple Computer back when both Steve’s were there (Jobs and Woz).  She was also Director of Strategic Marketing for Grass Valley Group, a division of Tektronix, and a business broker in California.

Copyright 2025 L. Lee Potts

Statistical information in this newsletter is based on actual sales information reported to the Realtors Association of Maui, Inc.  While this information is deemed reliable, it is not guaranteed.  This newsletter is for informational purposes only and not intended as advice for investment or any other purposes.  Real estate is considered to be highly volatile, and purchasers and sellers of real estate should always seek expert outside advice before investing.