A 5,122-square-foot luxury home in the Hualalai Resort is expected to fetch between $6.5 million and $7.8 million at an auction scheduled for July 1.

Go to www.HawaiiLuxuryAuction.com for bidding details.

The home, near where Cher sold her house for $8.72 million in January, comes on a 23,843-square-foot lot with an Infinity edge swimming pool that features underwater speakers and rock edge spa with foot-massaging jets.

Sales of homes at Hawai'i resorts fell for a fourth consecutive year in 2009, but the decline was small and sales are expected to rise this year.

ISLE JOBLESS CLAIMS DROP; U.S. AVERAGE UP

The number of Hawai'i residents filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance fell last week, while the nationwide average rose.

The 2,201 Hawai'i residents who submitted claims for the week ending May 15 was 71 fewer than the week before.

Nationwide, the number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose by the largest amount in three months.

Analysts said the surge is evidence of how volatile the job market remains, even as the economy grows.

Applications for jobless benefits rose to 471,000 last week, up by 25,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department said.

It was the first increase in five weeks and the biggest jump since a gain of 40,000 in February.

FIRM CLOSES DEAL FOR HOTEL HANA-MAUI

A Denver-based real estate investment and development company yesterday closed on its acquisition of the 70-room Hotel Hana-Maui resort.

Amstar Group LLC purchased the resort from Ohana Hotel Co. for an undisclosed amount. Amstar subsidiary Green Tea LLC will manage the property.

The purchase is the first in Hawai'i for Amstar, which also owns hotels and resorts in Virginia, Colorado, Illinois, Rhode Island, Florida, Texas and California.