Maui Real Estate

May: 26

Maui Real Estate Guide: Part 1 – Maui Overview

Maui County is the collection of 4 separate islands in the state of Hawaii: Lana’i, Kaho’olawe, Moloka’i, and of course Hawaii’s second largest island Maui. The region is known for stunning landscapes and tropical weather and as such has become one of the top tourist destinations in the United States. Recently, real estate in Maui has begun to see a resurgence and if you’re interested in Maui properties, the Smith Team can give you valuable insight into different regions on the islands.

Hawaii Map

Sub-regions

Maui is divided into several distinct sub-regions that are defined by major geographic features like mountains or valleys. Generally speaking, each region is met with a unique climate and these regions can be broken down crudely as follows:

Windward lowlands
Leeward lowlands
Interior lowlands
Leeward High-altitude mountain slopes
Leeward Low-altitude mountain slopes
High mountains

Climate

As with all the Hawaiian Islands, Maui’s climate is defined by a two season year. Most of the regions throughout Maui will have mild, consistent weather patterns characterized by warm temperatures and high humidity. However, geographical idiosyncrasies in Maui allow for much more variability in weather patterns than other Hawaiian Islands and rainfall, cloud cover, and winds can differ markedly across regions. Indeed, more than any other of the Hawaiian Islands, Maui’s weather is influenced by marine environments. Weather patterns tend to be determined by elevation and the effect of trade winds and because of the rugged topography of Maui weather patterns are highly variable.

Since the climate in Maui is dependant on the geography, we see patterns emerging in each of Maui’s distinct sub-regions. In the windward lowlands, which are generally below 2,000 feet and located on the north and north-east sides of an island, the weather is moderately rainy as the trade winds bring showers. It’s not uncommon to see overcast skies and temperatures tend to be very consistent.

In the leeward lowlands temperatures during the day are slightly higher while evening temperatures are cooler, on average. For the most part, the weather is dry but it is not uncommon to see periodic rain showers that follow the wind patterns. The interior lowlands are marked by more variable weather and this region will share weather patterns with other lowland sub-regions. Strong afternoon showers and hot afternoon weather is quite common.

The highest rainfall averages come in the leeward high-altitude mountain slope regions. Cloud cover is predominant and extensive rainfall is observed year round. The temperature is usually quite mild while humidity is relatively high. On the leeward low-altitude mountain slope side there is also more rainfall but less than on the windward side. Higher temperatures and cloud cover are also common.

Finally, the high mountains of Maui exceed 3,000 feet and as your elevation increases, rainfall decreases quite rapidly. Relative humidity is fairly low but you also see the lowest temperatures in Hawaii. In fact, air temperatures can drop below zero.

Throughout Maui, rainfall is much more common than you would expect. Nevertheless, showers tend to be light and they don’t last long. Thunder and lightening are very rare and during the summer we see dryer weather due to the dominant trade winds.

Maui from space

Economy

In Maui, there are two predominant industries: agriculture and tourism. In recent years, the government has been trying to encourage technology companies to invest in Maui because its business environment is ideal for expansion in such industries. Still, coffee, macadamia nuts, papaya, tropical flowers, pineapple, and sugar are the major exports of Hawaii and this holds true for Maui as well. Maui Land & Pineapple Company and Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company are the major agricultural players in Maui. Some 37,000 acres of sugarcane are produced by Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company making it the largest operation of its kind in Hawaii. In addition, Maui has become an important location for space research and is home to advanced satellite tracking facilities as well as research and development facilities that are world renowned for data collection and communication support.

As of March 2009, the unemployment rate spiked to a staggering 9% due to growing economic concerns throughout the country and the world. However, over the past several months the island has seen dramatic improvements in industry that suggest unemployment rates will start falling very soon.

Tourism

Tourism is obviously one of the leading industries on the island. The major tourist destinations in Maui include Hana, Lahaina, and Haleakala National Park. Maui is blessed with curving roads, soaring mountains, black sand beaches, and luxurious waterfalls making it a dream spot for any tourist. Visitors tend to congregate around West and South Maui and 2004 figures show 2,207,826 people visiting Maui. By far, domestic tourists make up the bulk of visitors to the island but there is also a thriving cruise ship industry.

Maui Landsat satellite photo source: [1]