Before we head into February, I wanted to take a quick look back at the 2015 Maui Real Estate market. This is a review of sales volumes, median prices and other notable numbers. I also wanted to address a few questions that arose in my own mind while compiling the statistics. Without further ado, here are the 2015 statistics.

Maui Sales Volume, Median Prices and Total Dollar Volume
There were 1090 homes sold on Maui during 2015 with a median sales price of $580,000. The total dollar volume of homes sold in 2015 was $931,646,757. There were 942 homes sold in 2014 with a median price of $570,000. The 2014 total dollar volume was $825,770,160. That means we saw almost a 16% increase in sales volume, just under a 2% increase in median price and a 13% increase in dollar volume when comparing 2015 to 2014.

There were 1,199 condos sold in Maui County during 2015 with a median sales price of $410,000. The total dollar volume of condos sold was $763,806,071. The 2014 condo totals were 1,201 sales with a median price of $414,750. The 2014 total dollar volume was $755,031,268. That means sales volume dropped two tenths of a percent, median price dropped just over one percent and the total dollar volume rose one percent in 2015.

There were 154 land sales in Maui County in 2015 with a median sales price of $447,650. The total dollar volume of land sold was $136,353,541. The 2014 sales figures for land were 166 sales and a median price of $520,000. The total dollar of land sold in 2014 was $119,330,455. That is just over a 7% drop in volume, a 14% drop in median price and a 14% increase in the total dollar volume.

Notable Numbers from the 2015 Maui Real Estate Sales

• The highest priced home to sell on Maui during 2015 closed for $41,775,000. This was by far and away the highest ever priced paid for a home on Maui. The subject property consists of 6,737 square foot house on 4.23 acres in Makena. More than a few eye brows were raised by a sale that was priced well above other comparable properties in the area. The property was not listed at the time that it sold.
• That was one of 56 homes to sell for more than $2,000,000 during 2015. The 56 homes sold over $2,000,000 was down by 14% from 65 sold in 2014.
• The Makena and Wailea area were busiest part of the island for sales over $2,000,000 with 13 total closes.
• There were 17 beach or oceanfront homes that sold in Maui County during 2015. That was a 29% decrease from the 24 oceanfront sales in 2014.
• On the other end of the spectrum, the lowest priced home to sell in Maui County closed for $94,750. That home is located in the Maunaloa Village area of Molokai. The lowest priced home to sell on the island of Maui closed for $210,000. The three bedroom, one bath home in Wailuku was situated on a tiny 2,370 square foot lot.
• The highest priced condo to sell on Maui during 2015 closed for $8,500,000. The beachfront, three bedroom unit at Wailea Beach Villas has over 2,900 square feet of living space.
• That was one of 91 condos sold for over $1,500,000 during 2015. That exceeded the 83 high end condo sold in 2014 by almost 10%.
• The Honua Kai Resort saw the most high end condo sales activity with 25 closes over $1,500,000. Montage Kapalua Bay was notable with 9 sales over $3,950,000.
• The lowest priced condo to sell closed for $20,000. That was a 1 bedroom, 1 bath unit at Harbor Lights in Kahului.
• The highest priced land transaction to close in 2015 sold for $10,800,000. That was for a half acre lot in the Maluaka Homesites area of the Makena Golf and Beach Club.
• That was one of 6 land sales in this neighborhood for $7,800,000 or more.
• There were 25 total land transactions of $1,000,000 or more in Maui County during 2015. That was up slightly from 24 sales over $1,000,000 in 2014.
• The lowest priced lot to sell in Maui County closed for $20,000 for a 5,351 square foot lot on Molokai. The lowest priced lot to sell on Maui proper closed for 26,000. That was a leasehold lot in the Hawaiian Home Lands in Kula.
• There were 168 bank owned or REO transactions that closed in Maui County during 2015. That was up from the 116 bank owned sales in 2014. That is almost a 45% increase in bank owned sales.
• There were 49 successful short sales that closed in 2015. That is down 49% from the 97 short sale transactions in 2014.
• Of the properties that closed in 2015, 36% were reported to have been cash sales. That is down from 2014 when 42% of the sales were said to have been cash transactions.

Some Questions and Answers About the Numbers
While reviewing the numbers above, a lot of questions came up in my mind. In the paragraphs below, I wanted to address some of these questions and give my thoughts on potential answers.

What drove the increased home sales activity this year?
When looking at the numbers above, homes were the only property type to outperform the 2014 numbers. What drove the increase in sales? There were a couple of factors that came into play. I believe a lot of the activity was driven by on island buyers. Island rents have soared over the last few years. Lower interest rates made the buy vs. rent argument that much more compelling. The threat of increased rates in the near term added to buyer urgency. Evidence of the increased demand from local buyers could be found in the big bump in activity in Central Maui. Home sales in that part of the island were up 33% over last year. The Upcountry area also saw a bump with Pukalani, Kula and Makawao sales up 28,31 and 7% respectively. These are communities that tend to draw on island vs second home buyers. A couple of strong years for tourism helped put local buyers in a better position to afford their purchase.

If sales activity was so strong, why did the median home price only increase 2%?
The first thing to note when answering this question is that changes in median price are not a direct reflection of changes in property values. Median price is also driven by shifts in where sales activity occurs. More high end sales can push up the median sales price while more low end sales can push down the median price. While values increased quite a bit more than 2% in many parts of the market, that was offset by a shift in where sales were occurring. There was a 14% decrease in sales over $2,000,000. As mentioned in the paragraph above, we were also seeing higher levels of activity in more affordable communities around the island. These shifts in market activity helped to offset stronger appreciation in some of the lower and middle priced communities on island.

As a follow up question, one might ask exactly how much Maui home values increased in 2015? That is a really tough question to answer. First and foremost, the rates of appreciation varied largely by price point and location. Homes at or below the median saw the most appreciation due to simple supply and demand. These price points had a much larger pool of buyers and supply was relatively limited. Higher end homes have much more inventory and a much smaller pool of buyers. As a result, upward price pressure has been far more limited.

Why did the condo market see a dip in activity?
If home sales were so strong, why were condo sales down? Condo sales are driven more by off island buyers. I would say the weakening Canadian Dollar played a big part in the decrease in condo sales activity. Maui has seen a significant number of Canadian Condo Buyers since about 2007. That was the first year that the Canadian Dollar was on par with the U.S. dollar. The emergence of Canadian buyers in 2007 helped to buoy the Maui market while a lot of mainland markets were already starting to see big decreases in sales and pricing. They continued to be buyers through the downturn and into the start of the recovery. Around 2013, the Canadian dollar started to dip below par and more substantial decreases occurred in 2014 and 2015. At the time of this post, the Canadian dollar is currently worth 72 cents in American dollars. Less buying power means fewer Canadian buyers. It doesn’t help that a lot of the previous Canadian buyers were coming from Alberta. The weakening Canadian dollar is a reflection of weakening oil prices. The drop in oil prices is a double whammy for buyers from the oil rich province of Alberta.

Final Thoughts
I know tomorrow is the first of February, but I still plan on putting out more posts specific to how different communities around the island performed during 2015. Those posts will also include some thoughts on what we might expect to see in those communities during 2016. Feel free to contact The Maui Real Estate Team if you have any questions on the numbers above, or if you need assistance buying or selling property on Maui. We welcome the opportunity to be of assistance.

Two weekends ago, we stayed in Unit 402 in the Konea Building at Honua Kai. PowerPlay Destination Properties, the listing brokerage for the unit, offered us an opportunity to give this condo a test drive so to speak. This post shows some of the pictures from our stay and highlights some of the amenities of both Konea 402 and the Honua Kai resort.

Billy and his wife had the condo on Friday night. I loaded up the family and headed over on Saturday. Realistically, Billy and I could have been there with both of our families and still been very comfortable. Konea 402 is a three bedroom, three bath condominium with 2,230 square feet of living space. There is an additional 600 square feet of lanai.

When buyers are looking at condos on Maui, good views are a criteria that often tops the list. The photo below shows the view looking out from the lanai of Konea 402. If you look a little further to the South you can see all of the neighboring island of Lanai. If you look a little to the North, you can see Molokai. The side lanai has nice views of the West Maui Mountains.

Buyers on Maui also tend to value fully updated condos. As some of Maui’s newest construction, Honua Kai definitely fits the bill. The condo is well built and incorporates high end materials, amenities and appliances. NanaWalls in the living room and dining room open up to the lanai. There is travertine flooring throughout. The home includes a tasteful furniture package put together by designer Natasha Plitt.

The kitchen is worthy of its own discussion. This unit has an upgraded Viking appliance package. Granite counters and quality cabinetry are also great amenities. There is plenty of room and lots of counter space for preparing a big meal for friends and family. There is also a nice outdoor kitchen space with a gas grill right on the lanai if you want to barbecue.

While there is a more formal dining room with great views, we took full advantage of dining on the lanai. I was surprised my daughter Kiana was willing to take a break from the views to look at the camera.

Two of the three bedrooms in the condo can be considered to be master suites. There are three full bathrooms in the condo. The bathrooms off the two master suites are spacious and opulent. Both of the master bathrooms features oversized framed glass showers and tubs. My daughter Kiana particularly enjoyed bath time in the one master bathroom tub.

With the amenities and views from Konea 402, it would be easy to never step foot outside. Then again, you would we be selling yourself short by not taking advantage of the facilities around Honua Kai. There are three separate pool areas. Kiana really enjoyed splashing in the shallow area of the children’s pool.

In addition to the pools, we enjoyed Duke’s Restaurant for lunch. They have a great open air dining facility close to the pools and looking over the beach. We also shopped at the Aina Gourmet Market over in the Hoku Lani tower for coffee, tea and some other edibles. We wish we would have had more time to experience Honua Kai’s other facilities like the Ho’ola Spa and the Fitness Center.

When it comes to Maui Real Estate, the best amenities are the natural ones. Honua Kai is situated on the golden sand of Airport Beach. The beach is known for good swimming and snorkeling. My wife, daughter and I had a great beach walk all the way from Honua Kai to the North End of Black Rock. We even saw a pod of spinner dolphins playing about 100 yards offshore. The nice thing about this stretch of beach is that it is generally less crowded than Ka’anapali Beach.

Honua Kai Konea 402 offers the complete package for buyers looking for a luxury beachfront condo on Maui. The views, amenities and setting are all superior. Konea 402 is offered for sale via PowerPlay Destination Properties for $3,913,000. At this time, the developer is offering to prepay the first 36 months of association fees. This calculates to a savings of $110,981. The Maui Real Estate Team may represent interested parties as their buyer’s representative. Contact The Maui Real Estate Team for additional information or to have us arrange an exclusive preview of Konea 402.

You can see all of the Honua Kai Condos for Sale listed on the MLS on MauiRealEstate.com.

April is a transitional month on Maui. Winter waves become more scarce on the North Shore. The Jacarandas and silk oaks really begin to bloom Upcountry. Mangoes begin to ripen in South Maui and Lahaina. We also see the end of our peak visitor season and the end of our “traditional” peak season for real estate activity. This peak season has seen pretty healthy market acivity. Buyers have been actively seeking out deals and trying to take advantage of the great interest rates available. Demand is no longer the market’s biggest problem. We are now seeing supply issues in quite a few market segments. With all of that in mind, I wanted to provide you with a sneak peak on how the Maui Real Estate market performed last month. Here is some information on sales volumes, sales medians and other numbers that I found to be of interest.

By my early count, there were 77 homes sold last month in Maui County with a median sales price of $500,000. The April 2012 numbers were 79 sales at a median price of $469,000. That is a 3% decrease in sales activity compared to last year and a 7% increase in median sales price.

I counted 142 condo sales last month with a median sales price of $369,995. Last April, there were 129 condo sales at a median price of $399,000. That calculates to a 10% increase in activity over last year and a 7% decrease in median sales prices.

Maui Realtors have reported 14 land sales thus far for April 2013 with a median sales price of $497,500. In April 2012, there were 8 land sales with a median price of $365,000. That is a 75% increase in sales activity and a 36% increase in median sales price.

In addition to the numbers reported above, here are a few other numbers that I came across while compiling the statistics that I thought were worth sharing.

• The high sales price for a home during the month of April was $8,150,000 for an estate property in the One Palauea Bay subdivision in Makena.
• That was one of four sales over $2,000,000 in Maui County during the month of April. By comparison, there was only one sale over $2,000,000 in April 2012.
• The highest priced condo sale in Maui County last month was at Honua Kai Resort. A luxurious three bedroom unit at this West Maui beachfront resort sold for $4,450,000.
• The Honua Kai transaction was one of six condo sales priced over $1,500,000 last month. There were also six condo closes over $1,500,000 in April of 2012.
• One of the condo price ranges that saw a clear bump in activity was the $1,000,000-$1,500,000 price range. There were 14 sales in that range this year verses only 6 last year.
• The busiest condos for sales activity were Honua Kai, Hoolea in Wailuku and Wailea Ekahi. Hoolea is a new development that prohibits vacation rentals.
• There were 13 REO or bank owned sales that closed last month. Last April, there were 21 REO sales. That is a 39% drop in REO sales compared to last April. REO condos have become particularly scarce with only 3 REO closes last month. That is only 2% of the condo sales volume.
• There were 15 short sale transactions that were completed successfully last month. Last April, there 32 short sale transactions that were completed. That is a 53% decrease in short sale transactions.

The condo market highlighted this month’s stats. The 142 condo sales was tied for the second busiest month in the last five year. The only month to exceed that sales volume benefited from a significant volume of new development closes based on contracts originally signed back in 2005 and 2006. The high volume of sales was driven by increased activity in the vacation rental and second home condo markets. This activity helped to offset decreased activity in the lower price ranges of the vacation rental prohibited condo market. This segment saw sales decrease largely due to decreased inventory. With decreased inventory, the few offerings that came on the market at reasonable prices were snatched up quickly in bidding wars. These dynamics are pushing prices up steadily. The price increases are moving slowly from the bottom of the market to higher price points.

The home market saw a nominal decrease in activity due largely to decreased inventory. Demand is there for properties, but inventory is lacking particularly at or below Maui median sales prices. For example, just looking at Maui and excluding Molokai and Lanai there were 22 sales under $400,000 in April. Last April, there were 30 sales on Maui under $400,000. That is a 27% decrease in activity. Stronger demand at higher price points in the market offset most of the decreased volume at the low end.

What does this all mean for buyers and sellers? What can you expect over the next few months? Busy season may be over, but I wouldn’t expect real estate activity to sag much at all. In general, entry level properties in the different communities around the island are likely to see the most competition amongst buyers. Multiple offer situations are common on well priced properties. You will find pockets of competition in higher price ranges as well. The thinner the inventory, the greater the competition for properties. The competition is causing upward price pressure. Buyers should take steps to have necessary funds available and get pre-approved for financing if they don’t want to miss out on opportunities. Sellers will find that market conditions have turned in their favor in quite a few segments of the Maui Real Estate market. That being said, there are plenty of overpriced properties on the market that are languishing without interest from buyers. Sellers need to evaluate their time frame to sell and recent comparable sales to determine their best pricing strategy.

If you are interested in buying or selling Maui Real Estate, the Maui Real Estate Team would welcome the opportunity to meet with you for a free consultation. If you are interested in buying, tell us about your search parameters and we would happy to find inventory that might meet your needs. If you are thinking of selling, we would be happy to discuss market conditions in your neighborhood, share recent comparable sales and provide an estimate of your properties’ current market value. Contact The Maui Real Estate Team today to get started. We look forward to being of assistance.