This is the third post in our series of articles looking at the Maui Real Estate market midway through the year. We have already published a midyear Maui Real Estate market update and a Haiku Market update. Today, we are taking a glance at the Paia real estate market. Paia is situated on the North Shore of the island and is known throughout the world as a mecca of wind and water sports. Athletes from all over the world are drawn to the combination of wind and waves that make this a premier destination for windsurfing, kiteboarding, stand up paddling, surfing and big wave surfing. You don’t have to be a big wave rider to enjoy Paia Town. The town has a bohemian vibe, great shopping, good Yoga facilities, very good restaurants, natural beauty, the best little heath food store on the planet, proximity to good schools and a better sense of community than the resort areas on the island.
The Paia Real Estate market consists of three geographic areas. Going from West to East, the Spreckelsville Neighborhood runs from right next to the airport all the way to Baldwin Beach. It is home to the Maui Country Club and three main beaches. The community is an ideal gateway for the beach lifestyle with a good walking beach, windsurfing, kiting, surfing, body boarding and SUP. Many residents own golf carts so they can bring all their toys down to the beach. Real estate options include executive homes near and on the golf course, two acre compounds with beach access, beachfront estates and the North Shore’s only luxury condominiums. Heading further east, you get to Paia town proper. Paia town is an eclectic mix of older plantation homes, 1970s and 1980s vintage entry level homes, newer town homes in North Shore Village and a smattering of beach and oceanfront homes. As you head past Paia town towards Mama’s Fish House, you get to the Kuau area. Kuau includes the neighborhood of Kuau Bayview, an interesting mix of homes on the Mauka (Mountain Side) of Hana Highway and more high end homes along the Makai (ocean) side of Hana Highway.
The numbers below include information on sales volumes and median sales prices in the Paia area for the first six months of the year. I also included some other noteworthy numbers I came across along the way while compiling these stats. These are followed by a look at how the sales broke down by price point, the current state of the market and what we might expect for the rest of 2013.
During the first six months of 2013, realtors reported 14 home sales in Paia with a median price of $678,500. During the first half of 2012, there were sixteen sales reported with a median price of $457,500. That is a 12.5% drop in sales volume and a 48% increase in median price.
There were three condo sales reported in Paia during the first six months of 2013. There was only one condo sale during the first half of 2012.
There were three land sales reported in Paia during the first half of 2013. No land sales were reported in Paia during the first six months of 2012.
While compiling the numbers above, I came upon a number of other facts and figures about the Paia Market during the first half of 2013 that I thought were worth sharing.
- The highest sale in Paia for the first half of the year was $5,500,000 for an older home on almost an acre of oceanfront land. My understanding is that this was more of a land purchase than a home sale as the buyer intends to tear down the existing older homes on the property and build a larger estate home.
- There was one other sale over $1,000,000 during this time frame and it was another big deal. An estate property across the street from Tavares Bay sold for $4,600,000.
- In addition to the home sales, there was one other big land sale in Paia to start the year. An 18,875 square foot lot right on Tavares Bay sold for $2,300,000.
- Kuau Bayview was the busiest neighborhood in the Paia area with four total closes. It also saw the strongest signs of price appreciation with a new all time high sales price and a couple of other sales notable for their high price considering location and/or home size.
- On the other end of the spectrum, Spreckelsville saw no sales during the first half of the year. Anecdotal evidence would suggest this might be a case of variability verses the neighborhood falling out of favor. I know of a couple of listings that had heavy showing activity and received offers.
- If there was one number that really grabbed me, it was that six of the fourteen sales were properties that were not listed on the MLS. Buyers were doing some digging to find properties with the inventory of homes on the market under $1,000,000 limited.
- There weren’t many distressed sellers on the market in 2013. There was only one short sale that was completed and there were no bank owned sales during the first six months of 2013.
It was an interesting first half of the year for the Paia market. At first blush, the decrease in home sales might suggest diminished demand. That being said, I think the case can be made that it wasn’t demand that was lacking as much as quality inventory. We can see that by the number of homes that were sold that were unlisted. Buyers had to scrounge for unlisted properties under $1,000,000 to meet their needs. Pricing was a mixed bag. Properties under $1,000,000 saw varying levels of upward price pressure depending on the neighborhood. Skill Village saw modest appreciation despite limited inventory. North Shore Village sales are infrequent, but the most recent sales were well over the last sale in 2011. Kuau Bayview saw signs of significant appreciation. A new record sales price was established. There was also the second highest sale on a cost per square foot basis and the highest sale for a home abutting Hana Highway.
The luxury market was a little less clear cut than entry and middle levels of the Paia market. The two big sales were both noteworthy. The high sale was the third highest sale in Paia history. It is particularly notable in that the home is a tear down. The buyers paid a healthy sum for arguably the best piece of land in the Kuau area. The second highest sale of the first six months of 2013 was the highest ever sales price for a non-oceanfront home. Beyond that luxury home sales were relatively quiet particularly in the $1,000,000-$2,000,000 range. I don’t think this was due to a lack of interest as much as it was just the variability in the market and the inability of sellers and buyers to find a common sales price.
The land and condo market both saw upticks in activity during the first half of 2013. After seeing little interest for at least a year, Kuau Plaza started to garner interest from the market place in the second half of 2012 and we saw three sales in the first half of 2013. There is never a whole lot of activity in the Paia land market. The reason being that there is very little vacant land in the community. Three sales is pretty busy for a six month span by Paia standards.
Looking at the current inventory of Paia Real Estate listings, the inventory options under $1,000,000 remain pretty limited. The chart below shows the distribution of properties by price point. The Blue Bars represent sales during the first half of the year and give some sense of market demand. The green bars represent pending and contingent listings. The red bars represent active listings.
The map below gives a sense of the geographic distribution of recent sales, current pending sales and active listings. The map also includes land and condo listings. Clicking on the individual pins on the map will bring up property details. If you click on the link below the map, it will bring it up as a separate page with additional detail on the all of the properties on the map.
View Paia Real Estate Sales 2013 in a larger map
As it stands, there is a pretty good inventory of homes to choose from in the higher price ranges while the options under $1,000,000 remain limited with only three active listings in the Skill Village neighborhood. Of note, two of the skill village listings are listed for near peak market prices. While Kuau Bayview has seen that type of price increase, we haven’t seen as strong a demand for Skill Village to date. With so little inventory available, it will be interesting to watch the market feedback for these properties.
Now that we have a better sense of what is available in the current market, I wanted to give my thoughts on what me might expect for the Paia market for the rest of 2013 via the video commentary below.
Contact The Maui Real Estate Team with questions or for additional information. Paia is where our office is located and it also happens to be the home of three members of the Maui Real Estate Team. We know the community like it is our backyard. We would welcome the opportunity to sit down with potential Paia buyers and sellers for a free consultation. You can find all of the current active Paia Real Estate Listings and Spreckelsville Real Estate Listings on MauiRealEstate.com.
