The Realtors Association of Maui posted the official June 2009 Maui Real Estate Statistics yesterday. The official stats included two additional sales that were documented after I posted my Unofficial June Maui Real Estate Statistics. There was one additional home sale and one additional condo sale bringing the monthly sales totals up to 62 for homes and 45 for condos respectively. This in turn led to additional adjustments in both median home and condo prices. The median home price ended up adjusting to $499,053. The median condo increased to $520,000. The official stats also provide greater depth of detail. The official statistics include information on sales figures at a community level as well as some comparative historical data for the last 5 years.
Usually, I leave commentary to my unofficial stats post. This week, I thought it was worth making a few additional observations and comments. The first observation isn’t one of my own, but rather one that Billy made after reading the unofficial stats. I noted that June was the best month of the year for luxury condo sales. What I did not notice was the factor that incentives played in those closings. One of the buyers at Ho’olei took advantage of the developer’s very favorable owner financing offer. There were three closes at the Palms at Manele Bay in Lanai where the developer provided buyers great leaseback incentives. While it was good to see additional activity in the luxury market, some of it was driven by buyers responding to favorable values and incentives.
The June stats marked the halfway point for 2009. The year to year comparisons between 2008 and 2009 reaffirm that this has been a tough start of the year for sales. Sales volume for homes is down 41% when compared to the first half of 2008. Median price is down 14% for homes. Condo sales volume is down 46% while the median condo price for sales is down 29% vs the median for the first half of 2008. I am still a little wary of median numbers for Maui even on a six month scale. There are some condos that have fallen in value at a dramatic pace while for others the decline has been moderate. I think the overall decrease in median numbers evidenced by the statistics may be a little more dramatic due to shifts in market activity. A significant decline in the volume of high end sales and a comparative increase in sales at the bottom end of the market may be pushing the median lower.
While the year to year numbers are tough, there are some signs of modest market improvement. This was our best month for home sales this year. Inventory is also starting to contract with a healthy decrease below the high numbers that we were seeing this winter. The number of properties under contract has also been pretty steady with modest increases. While we are not seeing a robust recovery, it appears the worst may be over from a sales volume stand point. We are going to need to see the improvement in volume before we see improvement in prices. The current market continues to provide opportunities for patient buyers. The opportunities are coming in all property types including short sales, bank owned properties and conventional sales. Sellers are still very much in a position that they need to price well to attract buyers. Price and favorable terms appear to be the big draws across all segments of the Maui Real Estate market. Please feel free to Contact us with questions or for assistance buying or selling a home.
