New pending sales for the seven day period between August 19th and 25th remained similar to the week prior. Closed transactions jumped back up closer to normals after a quiet previous seven days. New listings are up this week led once again by more new condo inventory. Find out more details on the numbers below.
New Pending Sales
Maui Realtors reported 54 new pending sales over the seven day period between August 19th and August 25th. That is a modest 4% increase in activity over the week prior. That is 5% less activity than the same seven day period of 2019.
Notable Numbers from This Week’s Pending Sales
- The 54 new pending sales include 27 homes, 22 condos and 5 lots.
- While condo sales outpaced pending home sales for about a four week period in July and early August, pending home sales outnumbered condos over the last two weeks. Buyer preference for homes remains higher overall during Covid-19. This mirrors trends in other markets across the country albeit for different reasons. On the mainland a desire for less density and more yard space is hurting the condo market. On Maui, decreased demand for vacation rental condos is hindering condo sales volumes.
- The 22 condo pending sales include 11 listings in vacation rental friendly condos. Two of the other listings are resort area condos that prohibit vacation rentals.
- The five pending lot sales are a slight bump over last week but below the weekly numbers in much of July and the first half of August.
- Maui Realtors reported four new pending home sales on properties listed for more than $2,000,000. One of the new pending sales is for a home in Makena listed for $11,750,000.
This Week’s Closed Transactions
Maui Realtors reported 54 sales over the seven day period between August 19th and August 25th. This is a 46% increase over the closed transactions for the week prior. As mentioned in the opening paragraph, the big increase over the week prior is a reflection of a quieter period between August 12th and 18th and more of a return to normal rather than a bug uptick in sales. The 54 sales is 4% above the same seven day period of 2019.
This Week’s New Listings
There is one thing to note about this week’s new listings. There were a few agents with a significant number of listings who switched brokerages between the 19th and the 25th. When agents switch brokerages, they cancel their listings under the old brokerage and relist under the new brokerage. This leads to an inflated number of “new” listings. I filtered this weeks new listing numbers to make sure I was only counting listings that were truly new to market.
With that caveat out of the way, Maui Realtors reported 89 new listings this week. That is the highest number to date for any week in the chart above. That is 11% higher than the number of new listings for the week prior. It is an impressive 71% higher than the same seven day period of 2019.
Once again, the condo market saw the highest number of new listings with 57 units coming to market. With only 22 condos going under contract over this week, the active condo inventory continues to increase. Many of the condos coming to market are vacation rentals. With no income to offset monthly overhead, some owners are feeling enough pain to go to market.
The higher inventory and motivated sellers are translating to price adjustments and decreases in value. This isn’t true of all vacation rental condo developments. Some with limited inventory are holding value. That said, anecdotally it seems like the number of developments with declining values is increasing. I may need to do a deeper dive into this market over the coming weeks.
The other market that seems to be seeing some downward price pressure is the entry level condo market in Kihei. A lot of owners and tenants in these developments work in the tourism industry. With tourism still shut down and no clear time frame to reopen, this is another area where sellers are experiencing some pain.
Maui Realtors brought 24 homes to market between the 19th and the 25th. That is less than the 27 homes that went under contract. This continues the trend of shrinking inventory for single family homes. The decrease in inventory is sustaining to potentially increasing home values on island.
Maui Realtors listed seven lots between the 19th and the 25th of August. That is a little more than the five lots that went under contract. The recent trend has been towards a slight decrease in inventory. The inventory levels are sustaining current pricing for lots on Maui.
Contact The Maui Real Estate Team
Overall market activity on island remains pretty resilient when you consider the state of the world and the current shape of the Maui economy. Contact The Maui Real Estate Team if you are considering dipping your toes in the waters of the Maui Real Estate market. We look forward to learning more about your needs, and providing guidance on market conditions specific to your needs.
