Upcountry Strong: We’re Stronger Together
Aloha friends! The holiday season is upon us, and Maui International is here to help you celebrate the season with plenty of good news coming out of the real estate community and the island at-large—starting with some very exciting updates around Upcountry Strong, Maui International’s 501(c)3-registered charity!
Offering Hope to the Community
Offering Hope to the Community
A big mahalo nui loa to all our community partners who have helped make Upcountry Strong a smashing success during our second year of operation in 2021. It’s been tremendous to see such a generous and passionate group of people coming together for the community, giving malama to the most-vulnerable members of our island ‘ohana and helping to ease the burdens being suffered by so many—by far too many—on our island.
Just how successful have our food distribution events been?
In 2021 well over 40,000 pounds of food has been provided to residents in need – that’s over twenty tons! We’re so grateful to provide assistance to over 200+ families so that they don’t go hungry, and look forward to helping many more in the coming year.
There are many individuals, groups, and local businesses who have helped us along the way to make Upcountry Strong a success. Without all of our community partners, these past 18 months would simply not have been possible. Food is an essential right for every human being, and food insecurity threatens the dignity, health, and well-being of far too many of our fellow citizens.
To read more about the Upcountry Strong movement check out this recent article published by Maui Now in late October. Shout out to Megan Nakashima, who summarized things well:
“I think the part that makes this movement special is that it is community driven. We asked for donations in whatever form people could provide. Some of it was canned goods, some was monetary, and some were products from other businesses. We then put it right back into the community for their benefit.”
October Numbers and Analysis
No Maui International blog would be complete without a glance at the latest facts and figures released by the REALTORS® Association of Maui! To wit, in the month of November, the median sales price for single-family homes in Maui County (which comprises the islands of Maui, Lana’i, Moloka’i, and uninhabited Kaho’olawe) came in at $932,500 for the month of October—the most-recent monthly stats available at the time of this writing. That’s up 7.5% from October of 2020, while condos sported a median sales price of $672,500—a 13.2% increase over last year.
If you think that’s something, then wait until you hear this…
According to stats compiled by Fidelity National Title & Escrow of Hawai’i, residential and single-family homes have sold for a total dollar value of over $1.97 billion so far in 2021, with condos selling for nearly as much ($1.91 billion) through October! That means total home sales are up a whopping 111% so far this year per total dollar volume from 2020, while condo sales are up 107% per the same measure from last year.
Just how high will Maui’s totals go before 2021 comes to a close? Be sure to check back in with us next month for a look at November’s numbers!
And if you’re looking to make some major moves this holiday season in the Valley Isle’s ultra-competitive real estate marketplace, then make sure you call Maui’s only realty team with the knowledge, the expertise, and the linguistic skills (seven languages!) to make your dreams come true. Aloha!