I have to admit, the hardest part of writing my monthly stats posts is usually writing the opening paragraph. I am skipping the prose this month and cutting right to the numbers. Without further ado, here is our sneak peek at the January 2015 Maui Real Estate Stats.
January Maui Real Estate Sales Volumes and Median Prices
There were 74 homes sold in January with a median price of $576,000. In January of 2014, there were 64 homes sold with a median price of $691,500. That is a 16% increase in volume and a 17% decrease in median price.
There were 83 condos sold at a median price $378,000 in January of 2015. Last January, there were 94 sales at a median price of $441,000. That is a 12% drop in activity and a 14% drop in median price.
There were 11 land sales in January in Maui County with a median price of $700,000. There were 13 sales last January with a median price of $370,000. That is a 15% drop in activity and an 89% increase in median price.
While compiling the sales volumes and median prices, I came across some other notable numbers from January’s Maui Real Estate Sales Activity.
- The highest priced home sale in January was $3,500,000 for a Residential Condominium in the Launiupoko subdivision South of Lahaina. That luxury home featured 3,675 square feet of living space, big views, a pool and 8.5 acres of land.
- The Launiupoko sale was one of three homes sold for over $2,000,000 in January. There was one more big sale in Launiupoko with the third home located in Ka’anapali Golf Estates.
- The highest priced condo to close in January was located in the Wailea Beach Villas. The 3 bedoom, 3.5 bath condo with 2,889 square feet of living space closed for $3,800,000.
- That was one of four condos that sold for over $1,500,000 during the first month of 2015. The other units were located at Honua Kai, Wailea Ekahi and Sugar Cove in Spreckelsville.
- The highest priced paid for a parcel of land in January was $2,500,000 for 133 acres located off of Baldwin Avenue between Paia and Makawao. This ocean view acreage has the potential for further subdivision.
- That was one of three land sales over $1,000,000. The other two were located in Pukalani and Launiupoko .
- There were 9 REO or bank owned transactions that closed in January. That is up from the 4 bank owned transactions in January of 2014.
- There were 6 short sale transactions that were completed successfully in January. That is down from the 10 short sales in January of 2014.
A Few Comments on the December Stats
There are a few items from the statistics that merit additional commentary. In the December stats, condo activity made a comeback after seeing six consecutive months of lower sales than the year prior. I was anxious to see if we might see successive months of improved condo sales, but that was not to be the case. It will be interesting to see watch buyer demand for condos through the season. There are some positive signs as the January pending sales will show below, but there are also some headwinds in place. Canadians have been active condo buyers for quite a while, but the much weaker Canadian dollar may put a damper on the number of condo buyers from North of the Border.
The number of luxury property sales also seems to be relatively low for January. The three homes sold for over $2,000,000 are down quite a bit from the eight sold last January. The four condo sales over $1,500,000 are down from the seven sales last January. This will be something else to keep an eye on going forward. With a few luxury developments coming to market in the Wailea and Makena area this year, we may be seeing some buyers deferring their buying decisions.
The lower number of high end sales in January is likely one of the drivers for the decrease in median price compared to last year. This is a good reminder that changes in median price are not exclusively a reflection of changes in property values. Home and condo prices continue to rise despite the lower medians. Land prices are also rising but nowhere close to the 89% change in median. Land median price is particularly vulnerable to big fluctuations due to the small sample size of properties for sale.
January Pending Real Estate Sales
With the holidays marking the official start of Maui’s busy season for Real Estate, January is the first full month of our buyer’s season. We are able to get some sense of how our buyer’s season is starting by taking a look at the January pending sales. The chart below compares the number of properties that went under contract in January of 2015 to the number that went under contract in 2014.
The chart above shows improved performance in all three property types. I don’t want to go overboard on the significance of these numbers as we tend to see a lot of variability in sales month to month, but this is a generally positive sign for real estate activity during the start of this buyer’s season.
What Does it all Mean for Buyers and Sellers?
While our stats posts tend to focus on the island as a whole, the reality is that Maui is made up of many smaller markets. We see varying levels of supply and demand based on price point, community and even neighborhoods. The Maui Real Estate Team would welcome the opportunity to sit down with buyers and sellers to discuss market conditions specific to your real estate interests. Contact The Maui Real Estate Team for a free consultation so we can discuss your real estate needs.
