Paia town has grown in acclaim over the last 15 years. Back in the 80s and 90s, Paia was only really a destination for windsurfers. It is still a big draw for water sports enthusiasts, but now it attracts a broader cross section of people. People are drawn to its plantation style charm, bohemian vibe, assorted boutiques, good restaurants and yoga studios. Paia has been featured in national publications and made lists as one of the Best Beach Towns in America. While demand and awareness has grown for Paia Real Estate, the community has seen very limited growth in housing inventory over the last 20 years. North Shore Village was the last new development in the town, and construction on that community was completed in 2003. Prospects for increased housing inventory remain limited in the near term as the community is hemmed in by cane fields. The static supply and growing demand has helped to fuel strong growth in pricing.

Earlier this week, we did a midyear update on the Spreckelsville market. Today, I wanted to look at the community of Paia. Spreckelsville is actually considered to be a neighborhood of Paia. Properties in Sprecks are part of the Paia MLS listings. Last year we decided to split the communities of Paia and Spreckelsville when we did our market analysis. We feel that they are different enough markets that they merit a separate discussion. This post will look exclusively at Paia and the neighborhood/community of Kuau located just to the East of Paia.

The map above shows the homes that sold as well as the homes that are currently under contract. If you click on the individual pins, you will find information on the sales price, closing date and property specifications.

There were 9 homes sold in Paia during the first six months of the year with a median price of $599,000. There were 5 homes sold in the first six months of 2014 with a median price of $644,500. There was also a condo sold at Kuau Plaza in the first half of 2015 compared to two condos sold during the first half of 2014. There were no land sales in Paia thus far this year compared to one during the first half of 2015. There were some other things that I thought were notable about the Paia Real Estate market during the first half of the year.

• The Skill Village area was the busiest neighborhood for sales activity with three sales and an additional four home sales pending currently. Kuau Point also saw three homes sell, although one of those sales was a private sale that did not involve Realtors.
• That private sale closed for $1,200,000. That was the highest priced transaction in Paia to start the year. The property is located at 4 Kaiholo street right next to Mama’s Fish House. Based on Public Records, it appears as if it was purchased by the owners of Mama’s.
• There was only one other sale over $1,000,000 in Paia during the first six months of 2015. It was for a four bedroom, two bath condominium home on Kuau Point.
• Kuau Bayview was quiet in terms of sales activity with only one close and no properties currently listed on the market. That said, the one sale was a new record high for the neighborhood.

This was a pretty good first six months of the year for the Paia Real Estate market. The bulk of the activity was focused on the entry level of the market. It was the increased activity with lower priced properties that drove the decrease in median sales price compared to last year. If anything, the increased activity at lower price points has resulted in rising prices. Neighborhoods like Skill Village and Lower Paia are right below the all time high sales prices that we saw in the last real estate boom. There are potentials for records to be broken among the pending sales.

While the low end market saw strong activity, the Paia high end market and specifically the oceanfront market have been quiet. There have been nine different properties listed for sale on the ocean during the first six months of the year. There are eight oceanfront homes listed currently. There have been no sales and no properties under contract. You can get a sense of the location and additional information on the current Paia oceanfront home inventory via the map below.

With eight ocean and beachfront homes on the market, Paia has more oceanfront inventory than any other community on the island. Many of those homes have been on the market for a considerable amount of time. I would imagine that there might be some opportunity for oceanfront buyers based on the depth of inventory. It will be interesting to see if any buyers step forward for these properties before the end of the year.

The overall Paia market looks like it will continue to see a fair amount of activity at lower price points. There are 5 properties under contract under $700,000 as it stands currently. That part of the market has the potential to cool off if expected interest rate increases occur sometime in the fall. There is a bit of gap in inventory between the entry level of the market and the oceanfront inventory. There are only two properties listed for sale for more than $700,000 that aren’t oceanfront. This could be a good time to go to market for potential sellers in Kuau Bayview or for non-oceanfront owners along the ocean side of Hana Highway. Well priced properties in those areas should be attractive to buyers. You can see the current Paia Real Estate Inventory on MauiRealEstate.com. Contact The Maui Real Estate Team if you have questions on Paia or need assistance buying or selling property. Our office is located in downtown Paia. We keep a close eye on the market and our ears open for unlisted properties.