The Labor Department's final calculations show that Gross Domestic Product, the broadest gauge of economic activity, increased 2.5% in the fourth quarter.

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We, or our colleague Roger Pleski, will be sitting open house at our wonderful listing at unit 2108 until April 3. This one-bedroom is in the quiet lower part of the Palms and boasts luxury firnishings, a tiled entry, lovely, open views and a strong rental history. Stop by and see us!

It doesn't get any better than Keawakapu Beach! It is a past winner of Dr. Beach's annual survey and no wonder!. 3060 South Kihei Road sits in the middle of Keawakapu and boasts nearly 5700 square feet of living space. Behind a copper gated entry stands a private, tropical paradise with six bedrooms,  a chef's kitchen, vaulted ceilings, marble and granite and a wonderful club/bar. A large pool, spa and waterfall create a captivating outdoor entertainment space. Walk the beach, watch the whales, bask in the sun and then return home to the privacy of your trophy home in paradise! Or never leave the grounds and revel in the private and luxurious enjoyment of one of the world's great beachfront locations.

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Overall economic news still tends to look pretty good. Here, the Federal Reserve of Chicago said its gauge was up in February:

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Yes, it is only one month's data, yes February has often been volatile, but still, this report is awful:

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111 Poa'ilani Steet in Kanani Wailea is listed for $1.599 million. Let's get the bad new out of the way immediately. It is close to the Piilani and at rush hour, 7-8 AM and 3-4 PM, you get some road noise. But the price more than compensates for that. The unit directly in front of it is listed for $300,000 more. That gap is waaay too wide. This brand spanking new residential condominium has 2369 square feet of interior living space. It is HUGE. It shares a wall with no one. Three bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, granite counters, cherry cabinets, Wolfe and Sub-zero appliances, wired for stereo and computer throughout, two car garage and other parking for four guests. Compare it to Wailea Palms or Na Hale O Makena . Brand new verses not, garage verses not, bigger than any Wailea Palms unit and most Na Hale O units and offered at only $675 per square foot. By comparison, the last Na Hale O unit sold for almost $1000 per square foot and the last Wailea Palms went for almost $900 per square foot. This unit boasts year round, unobstructed sunsets and exceptional ocean views. Compared to Kai Malu, this floorplan is much, much larger and the upgrades the owner has chosen offers superior finishes.

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According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of existing homes rose 3.9% over January's numbers, well above Wall Street's expectations. A good sign. Inventory was also up modestly while prices fell less than 1%. What seems to be happening is that relatively small price reductions can have large demand impacts, at least on a nationwide basis. It also looks to us like the market is settling down a little bit. The spring selling season on the mainland is going to be very important to this viewpoint however.

We have been alerted by a reliable source that the Today Show's Matt Lauer will be filming on Maui this weekend. Our guess is next week on the Today Show we'll see some Maui segments. Stay tuned.

We were fortunate enough to be invited to a lunch with Paul Brewbaker, Chief Economist for Bank Of Hawaii. in his usual engaging fashion, Brewbaker defended his views on a variety of subjects. Here are some of his takes:

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The Federal Reserve left the fed funds rate unchanged at 5.25%.  However they did change their reporting language in an important way that reflects more concern with economic growth. Instead of referring to future "tightening," they referred to generic "policy adjustments," a more neutral stance. Pretty clearly the Fed thinks the economy is not performing as well as it did a few months ago. But how much are they worried? Bear Barry Ritholz of Ritholz Research said the following

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