Posted: January 9, 2010
Maui County real estate finished 2009 as it began, in the doldrums.
The number of condominiums sold rose a little, while the number of houses sold declined a lot. But condo prices fell sharply, while single-family prices dropped 14 percent - not bad compared with many locales on the Mainland.
Terry Tolman, chief staff executive of the Realtors Association of Maui, said the market "seems to to getting its footing," since the amount of inventory on hand is declining. The word decline is relative, however.
There are enough houses available to satisfy current buyer appetite for the next 11 months and enough condos to sate them for a year and a half.
Moreover, Tolman cautioned when releasing the 2009 Multiple Listing Service summary Friday, that inventory includes a lot of short sales and bank-owned properties, which are usually more trouble to get rid of, unless the sellers are willing to slash prices.
Tolman always includes a suggestion to owners (and the agents who advise them) in his monthly reports: Don't put your property out if you are "just fishing." This month, he made the suggestion more like a stern warning: "Clear the marketplace for those who really have to sell."
With dozens of foreclosure notices being advertised each week, there are many who have to sell.
For those who did have to sell a single-family house last year, the average price achieved was $713,946 (with a range from $2.5 million at Wailea and $2.2 million at Kapalua to $431,452 in Makawao-Olinda-Haliimaile). In 2008, the average was $830,578, and at the end of 2007 it was $920,807, so the average price of a house on Maui has declined by more than $200,000 in two years.
For condos, the average last year was $719,993 (with a range from $1.8 million on Lanai and $1.5 million in Wailea-Makena to $207,210 in Central Maui). In 2008, the average was $920,468, and at the end of 2007 it was $816,867, so the price of a condo has fluctuated but dropped on average $100,000 over two years.
Median prices, which mark where half the sales were for more, half for less, help exclude the effects of rare sales of very expensive houses (which do not always show up in the MLS anyway), revealed smaller but still large declines over the past two years.
The median single-family price last year was $498,106 (with a range from $2.3 million at Kapalua to $471,500 in Pukalani and $371,250 in Central Maui; and much lower medians on Lanai and Molokai). In 2008, the median price was $577,774, and at the end of 2007 it was $630,069, so the median has fallen about $160,000 in two years.
The median condo price last year was $450,000 (with a range from $1.9 million on Lanai and $1.3 million in Wailea-Makena to $190,000 in Central Maui). In 2008, the median was $550,00, and at the end of 2007 it also was $550,000, so the median has dropped $100,000 over two years.
Even after the declines, Maui County housing is still very high compared with national averages. According to the National Association of Realtors, the average single-family price in November (the latest survey) was $172,600, and for condos and cooperatives, $178,000. That's a decline of $48,000 for both houses and condos over two years.
Courtesy of Harry Eager, staff writer at The Maui News.
