December 2013 Maui Real Estate Statistics Sneak Peek

This chart shows how Real Estate Sales Volumes for Maui County during December of 2012 clearly outpaced the number of properties sold in December of 2013.

The champagne corks have long been popped and the smoke from New Year’s fireworks have cleared from the island skies. That means another month and another year in the books for the Maui Real Estate market. At the start of the New Year, we want to look back at how the market has performed of late, over the entirety of 2013 and what we might expect in 2014. This is the first of what I hope to be several posts wrapping things up on 2013. The first post will be focused on the last month of the year. My sneak peek at the December stats takes a look at sales activity to close out the year and a few other notable numbers from the last month of the year. Typically, these monthly posts will have an accompanying video commentary. I am going to forsake the video for a briefer written commentary. I will save my radio face for a separate post where I provide video commentary on the year end statistics. Without further ado, here are the December 2013 numbers.

This table compares the number of properties sold in Maui County during December of 2013 to the number sold in December of 2012.
This chart shows how Real Estate Sales Volumes for Maui County during December of 2012 clearly outpaced the number of properties sold in December of 2013.

There were 75 homes sold in Maui during December with a median price of $510,000. Last December, there were 84 homes sold at a median price of $508,000. That calculates to an 11% decrease in sales activity with a very modest increase in median price.

There were 116 condo sales reported in December at a median price of $365,000. In December of 2013, there were 142 condos sold at a median price of $376,000. That is an 18% decrease in activity and a 3% lower median than last year.

There were 22 parcels of land reported sold in December of 2013 with a median price of $370,000. There were 29 sales last December with a median price of $340,000. That is a 24% decrease in activity and a 9% increase in median price.

While compiling the numbers above, I came across the following numbers and stats that I thought were worth sharing.

  • The highest sales price for a single family home was $11,900,000 for a beachfront property on Keawakapu Beach right at the edge of Wailea. This is an older home on 8/10ths of an acre. It will likely be extensively renovated or scraped with a larger estate home built.
  • There were two other homes that sold for over $2,000,000 last month. One was located in Olinda and the other was in Kapalua. It was notable that the Kapalua property was purchased via auction.
  • The highest priced condo transaction last month was $3,900,000 for a place at Wailea Beach Villas.
  • There were 9 other condos that sold for over $1,500,000 at a variety of complexes around Maui County. There were sales at Honua Kai, Ka’anapali Ali’i and Hoolei on Maui. On Lanai, there were sales at the Terraces at Manele and the Palms at Manele.
  • There were 10 bank owned (REO) properties that sold last month. There were 20 REO sales last December.
  • There were 14 short sale transactions completed successfully last month. There were 21 short sales that closed in December.

The December 2013 sales numbers appear to have been pretty healthy. While sales activity is down from what we saw last December, I don’t necessarily see that as a sign of a weakening market. December of 2012 was well above average for sales and a reflection of a surge in market activity that started in early Fall of 2012. October and November of 2012 had more properties go under contract than any other month of 2012. This was especially noteworthy in that the fall is usually the slowest time of year for transactions. This was the start of a run of heightened buyer activity that continued through the first half of 2013. Increased buyer demand was fueled by low interest rates, improving consumer sentiment and scarce inventory. As we hit the fall of 2013, the market behaved a little more like normal. Sales activity started to slow as we entered the traditional slow season for Maui Real Estate. As we enter peak visitor season, we should start to see a steady rise in the number of properties going under contract. Sales volume is a lagging indicator so we may not see that bump in the stats until February or March.

As I mentioned at the start of this post, this is just the first of what should be a few Maui Real Estate statistics posts to start 2014. Leave us a comment if you have any questions on the December stats. If you are interested in buying or selling a property on Maui, Contact the Maui Real Estate Team to arrange a free consultation to discuss your real estate needs.

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