Tag: Paia
Well, we made it to our twentieth Market Musings. This post took me a while to put together. I want to say it’s because it is chock full of tremendous insight. The truth is my last 9-10 days consisted primarily of battling Covid. My symptoms made writing this post a protracted slog. Give me some grace if there are typos and/or a few not so coherent thoughts interspersed throughout the text.
In our last post, I talked about the relative resilience of the Maui market under higher rates. Since that time, rates rose even more. The additional bump in rates or perhaps just a longer duration of time with higher rates is weighing on the Maui market. The single family home market in particular is feeling the burden of higher rates and decreased affordability. Musings 20 takes a look at some of the current market indicators including active and pending inventory, price reductions and how quickly new listings are going under contract.
End of October Maui Single Family Home Inventory
8/31/22 | 9/31/22 | 10/31/22 | ||||
Active | Pending | Active | Pending | Active | Pending | |
<$750,000 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 9 (+1) | 15 (+1) |
$750,000-$999,999 | 31 | 44 | 21 | 46 | 29 (+8) | 29 (-15) |
$1,000,000-$1,499,999 | 58 | 28 | 45 | 33 | 64 (+19) | 28 (-5) |
$1,500,000-$1,999,999 | 46 | 13 | 44 | 17 | 41 (-3) | 13 (-4) |
$2,000,000-$2,999,999 | 36 | 12 | 33 | 12 | 35 (+2) | 10 (-2) |
$3,000,000-$4,999,999 | 32 | 11 | 35 | 11 | 32 (-3) | 7 (-4) |
$5,000,000-$9,999,999 | 26 | 5 | 27 | 6 | 26 (-1) | 5 (-1) |
$10,000,000-$19,999,999 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 9 (-2) | 0 |
$20,000,000+ | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 (+1) | 1 |
Totals | 256 | 124 | 225 | 140 | 248 (+23) | 108 (-32) |
8/31/22 | 9/30/22 | 10/31/22 | ||||
Haiku | 20 | 7 | 24 | 7 | 28(+4) | 9 (+2) |
Hana | 8 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 10 (+1) | 0 (-1) |
Ka’anapali | 10 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 7 (-3) | 2 (-1) |
Kahului | 11 | 25 | 7 | 26 | 16 (+9) | 16 (-10) |
Kapalua | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6 (+2) | 0 |
Kihei | 44 | 16 | 35 | 16 | 40 (+5) | 11 (-5) |
Kula | 24 | 10 | 22 | 11 | 20 (-2) | 11 |
Lahaina | 23 | 7 | 21 | 10 | 22 (+1) | 13 (+3) |
Makawao | 15 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 9(-2) |
Napili/Kahana/Hono… | 14 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 11 (+2) | 6 (-1) |
Pukalani | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 (+2) | 3 (-4) |
Spreckelsville/Paia | 15 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 8 (-2) | 2 (-2) |
Wailea/Makena | 16 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 11 (+1) | 4 (-4) |
Wailuku | 41 | 22 | 36 | 26 | 40 (+4) | 21 (-5) |
End of October Home Inventory Review
The information above is provided with the usual framework. The home inventory data by price point includes all of the island of Maui, but excludes the islands of Molokai and Lanai. The district information is limited to the districts and community with the most activity.
- After a pretty healthy drop in Inventory in September, active home listings increased by 10.22% by the end of October.
- The bulk of the inventory increased occurred between $750,00 and $1,500,000 with an increase of 27 listings in that range.
- It appears that this increase in inventory stems more from slower activity than an influx of new listings. That is reflected in the pending sales data with 20 fewer pending home sales between $750,000 and $1,500,000.
- This make sense as this is an area of the market where a higher percentage of buyers are using financing. Looking at all of the sales between August 1 and October 30th, 18.93% of the buyers in this price range paid cash. In all other price ranges, 41.77% of buyers used cash. Plain and simple, the increase in mortgage rates is hitting this segment of the market harder.
- Overall, the number of pending home sales decreased 22.86% between the end of September and the end of October. That is a substantial decrease, but worth noting that pending sales typically decline in the fall.
- Looking at the market on a community level, all but three districts increased inventory. The exceptions being Kula, Spreckelsville/Paia and Ka’anapali. Ka’anapali’s decrease stemmed in part due to cancelled listings rather than increased sales.
- Kahului experienced the biggest increase in active listings and the biggest decrease in pending sales. With the vast majority of the inventory in this community priced between $750,000 and $1,300,000, this is a market where the increased rates appear to causing a bigger shift in conditions.
End of October Condo Inventory
8/31/22 | 9/30/22 | 10/31/22 | ||||
Active | Pending | Active | Pending | Active | Pending | |
<$250,000 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 (+1) | 4 (+1) |
$250,000-$499,999 | 14 | 17 | 11 | 16 | 19 (+8) | 12 (-4) |
$500,000-$749,999 | 34 | 43 | 28 | 40 | 32 (+4) | 35 (-5) |
$750,000-$999,999 | 33 | 43 | 33 | 33 | 27 (-6) | 27 (-6) |
$1,000,000-$1,499,999 | 29 | 31 | 19 | 36 | 21 (+2) | 30 (-6) |
$1,500,000-$1,999,999 | 24 | 35 | 18 | 34 | 14 (-4) | 33 (-1) |
$2,000,000-$2,999,999 | 22 | 38 | 14 | 43 | 15 (+1) | 40 (-3) |
$3,000,000-$4,999,999 | 12 | 19 | 10 | 17 | 10 | 17 |
$5,000,000-$9,999,999 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 11 (+4) | 1 (+1) |
$10,000,000+ | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 (-1) | 1 (+1) |
Total | 181 | 233 | 145 | 222 | 154 (+9) | 200 (-22) |
8/31/22 | 9/30/22 | 10/31/22 | ||||
Active | Pending | Active | Pending | Active | Pending | |
Ka’anapali | 25 | 16 | 17 | 14 | 18 (+1) | 9 (-5) |
Kahului | 3 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 5 (+2) | 5 (+1) |
Kapalua | 11 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 12 (+2) | 4 |
Kihei | 50 | 63 | 48 | 61 | 43 (-5) | 60 (-1) |
Lahaina | 9 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 8 (+3) | 4 (-3) |
Ma’alaea | 3 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 (-1) | 6 (+2) |
Napili/Kahana/Hono… | 45 | 25 | 29 | 30 | 33 (+4) | 17 (-13) |
Wailea | 24 | 86 | 19 | 86 | 19 | 85 (-1) |
Wailuku | 9 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 11 (+3) | 10 (-2) |
End of October Condo Inventory Review
Again, the tables above come with the usual framework for our end of month inventory. The table by price point includes all condos on Maui, but it does not include condos on the islands of Molokai or Lanai. The table with districts is limited to the communities with the most activity.
Pending sales at La’i Loa at Wailea Hills skew the data in Wailea and the $1,500,000-$5,000,000 price ranges. There are 75 pending sales in that development based on contracts penned in 2020 and the first quarter of 2021. Pending sales in La’i Loa won’t start to close until sometime in 2023. Paradise Ridge Estates in Kihei also skews the data albeit to a lesser extent. There are 18 pending sales with that development based on contracts penned between 2018 and the first quarter of 2022. Overall, 46.5% of the pending Condo inventory is in La’i Loa or Paradise Ridge Estates.
- After three straight months of decreased inventory, condo inventory increased by a modest 6.2%
- The largest increase in inventory occurred in the $250,000 to $499,999 price range. While this price range has a lower percentage of cash buyers than the overall condo market, the difference isn’t all that substantial.
- Active inventory increased in 6 out of 10 price ranges, decreased in three and stayed the same in one.
- Pending sales decreased 9.91% this month. As with home sales, it isn’t too uncommon to see pending sales decrease this time of year.
- The decrease in pending condo sales by price point was fairly consistent through most ranges, with the exceptions being the very lowest price range and the very highest price points in the market.
- At the community level, modest increases in inventory were common across the board. The two districts that actually saw a decrease in inventory at the community level were Ma’alaea and Kihei. Both are markets with a lot of vacation rentals. This is a market segment that is still seeing decent demand.
- Napili, Kahana and Honokowai experienced the biggest drop in pending sales. This is another big vacation rental condo market. Is the difference in activity levels a case of no clear narrative or just variability? This is something to watch with next month’s numbers.
How Quickly Are Properties Going Under Contract
One other metric we use on the blog to track market demand is how quickly properties are going under contract. Specifically, what percentage of new listings are going under contract in ten days or less. The very first time we started documenting this metric was back in February. At that point, 56% of all new listings went under contract within 10 days or less. Between September 12th and 19th, that number shrank to 34%. Between October 11th-18th, the number of properties that went under contract within 10 days or less fell further to 25.58%.
When you break it down by homes and condos, you can see that condos continue to show some measure of resilience. For condos listed between October 11th and 18th, 40% went under contract with buyers in ten days or less. That’s actually up from mid September when the number was 36.66%. For additional context, 66.67% of condos went under contract in 10 days or less between October 11th and 18th, 2021. Going back to 2019, 26% of all condos listed between October 11th and 18th went under contract in 10 days or less.
The numbers for the home market point to a more pronounced cooling. Only 13.04% of all homes listed between October 11th and 18th went under contract in 10 days or less. In mid-September, that number was 32.14%. For additional context, 54.17% of homes listed between October 11th and October 18th, 2021 went under contract in tend days or less. Going back to 2019, 9.09% of all homes listed between October 11th and October 18th, went under contract in ten days or less.
Price Reductions
One market indicator that surprised this month is the number of active listings with price reductions. Nationally, price reductions continue to rise as the real estate market slows under the weight of higher interest rates. Based on the numbers above, one might expect to see more price reductions, particularly with the home market. With fewer properties going under contract quickly and fewer properties going under contract in general, shouldn’t sellers be adjusting to the market?
As of the the 31st, 90 of 248 active home listings or 39.92% reduced their price one or more times. On September 29th, 42.41% of homes went under contract in 10 days or less. On September 2nd, 42.97% of all active listings had one or more price reduction.
On the condo front, 45 of 153 or 29.41% of active condo listings on October 31, 2022 reduced their price one or more times. That’s up from 25% on September 29th. On September 2nd, 27.84% of all active condo listings had price reductions.
Some General Thoughts on the Numbers Above and The State of The Market
It’s been an interesting last six months in the Maui Real Estate market. The first quarter of the year was largely a continuation of 2021. Strong demand combined with limited inventory to fuel strong price growth. Demand slowly started to taper in the second quarter. That said, inventory remained low. While the frenzy of the first quarter subsided, there was a balance between limited supply and just enough demand to make for a competitive market for buyers. While we were well below the frenzy of earlier in the year, homes and condos in particular sold faster and at a higher percentage of asking price than they would in a normal market.
This trend of a balanced ratio between buyers and sellers continued through the summer. Inventory actually contracted through most of the summer, but we lost FOMO (fear of missing out) buyers from the market. The lack of FOMO buyers had an impact. We started to see some downward pressure on values in limited parts of the market. With a discerning buyer pool, flawed properties that would have sold easily in the first quarter weren’t getting any love from buyers.
In my last musings, I showed stats that pointed to the relative resilience of this market despite rates well over 6%. The stats above point to a further shift downward in the market . Or at least two out of three did. The third is a reflection of Maui as a real estate market as a whole.
The increase in inventory and the decrease in pendings show a market where the balance in supply and demand is starting to shift. This is less due to an influx of new inventory as much as it is to decreased demand. When you look at the number of homes going under contract within 10 days or less, you can see where the push above 7% rates is starting to decrease the number of buyers. I am sure the more negative national real estate news is also having an impact on the buying decisions of some. Fomo has been replaced by wait and see.
The decrease in price reductions is the one anomaly in this market. As the market cools, you would expect sellers to adjust. Prior to Covid, Maui’s market dynamics were different than the typical mainland market. Sellers took time to adjust prices and days on market could really pile up before a listing was considered stale. It’s also worth remembering that this shift is pretty recent. We may need to see these conditions persist for a longer before more sellers begin to adjust prices.
The one other thing to note is that while we saw a shift in market conditions in these most recent stats, conditions remain variable. That’s pretty clear when we look at the difference between homes and condos. As of mid-October, new condo listings still went under contract much faster than they did pre-Covid. Condo inventory remains tight compared to demand and the volume of cash buyers blunts the impact of higher rates.There is variability in the home market too. The luxury market, which again includes a higher percentage of cash buyers, appears to be moving relatively well.
Looking forward, it will be interesting to see where the market goes from here. Since it’s taken me longer to write this blog post, I have the advantage of watching market conditions over the first ten days of November. While I haven’t crunched the numbers in any detail, pending sales stabilized to start the month. Yesterday’s inflation print out caused a shift in the bond market and mortgage rates to drop a half a point.Will that persist or will higher rates return? Needless to say, it’s too early tell. If anything, this points to continued weird market dynamics with a lot of variability in conditions.
A Little Maui Beauty to Brighten Your Day
It may not be Monday but…
Contact The Maui Real Estate Team
Variable market conditions and general market weirdness demand quality representation. Contact the Maui Real Estate Team to talk to one of our experienced agents if you are thinking of buying or selling Maui Real Estate. One of our healthy agents will be happy to learn more about your real estate needs. We look forward to being of assistance.
Rising gas prices. A more chaotic climate. Improved health and wellness. There are a lot of reasons why driving less has more appeal these days. Maui is a pretty rural place. As a result, it is not exactly an easy place to live car free. That said, there are parts of the island where there are more conveniences and amenities accessible by foot or by bike. We recently created a handful of Walkable community pages on MauiRealEstate.com that highlight areas within a higher concentration of amenities within walking distance. This is a quick overview of those new pages on the site and a few communities that are worth an honorable mention.
Featured Walkable Areas of Maui
- Walkable Paia : For a small town, Paia has a lot going on. It has restaurants, a great grocery store, a Bank of Hawaii Branch, a yoga studio, massage studios, coffee shops, a post office, the beach and more all in and around town. If you live in the neighborhoods to the East and North of town, almost all of this is accessible via your own two feet. As an added bonus, the North Shore bike path runs to the West of town, through Spreckelsville and into Kahului. Paia is the one area of the island where you really could go for longer stretches without driving.
- Walkable Wailuku : Downtown Wailuku is the seat of Maui County Government. It is also home to federal and state agencies, medical facilities, law offices and other professional services. The homes and condos in the downtown area give options to those who work downtown that want to avoid commuting by car. Add in restaurants, the Iao Theater, shops, a library and other amenities and there are plenty of things accessible by foot. While you will still find yourself driving to some amenities, your odometer is less likely to get a workout.
- Walkable Makawao : Upcountry Maui may not be the first place you think of when it comes to walkability. That said, downtown Makawao is another small town with a lot going on. There are restaurants, a public library, Eddie Tam Park, a post office, shops, coffee, yoga and more. There are quite a few neighborhoods within walking distance of these attractions. Again, this is a place where it may be difficult to completely avoid car dependence, but you could get away with driving less when you live close to Makawao.
- Walkable Lahaina : Front Street is a renowned tourist destination. That said, residents living in the neighborhoods close to Front Street are located close to restaurants, shops, grocery stores, the beach, surfing and more. Put on your walking shoes or grab your cruiser bike. This is an area where you can leave your car parked in the driveway more often than not.
Honorable Mention
The Kulamalu area of Pukalani wouldn’t have received a mention 10 years ago. While there was a Long’s Drugs and a Fitness Center, this was a convenient but car dependent community. Then came the Saturday’s Farmer’s Market, followed by Food Trucks. A new brewery and a great pizza place in the last year are two great new additions. The Cottages at Kulamalu and Kulamalu Hilltop are now two neighborhoods where owners now have some great amenities within walking distance.
There are parts of Kihei where you may not need a car as much depending on your lifestyle. Areas of South Kihei and Central Kihei offer restaurants, shops, grocery stores and beaches within walking distance.
Contact The Maui Real Estate Team
Contact The Maui Real Estate Team if you are looking for a home that decreases your car dependence. We would welcome the chance to help you find a home or condo that might help change your lifestyle.
We thought it might be a good time to check in on the Paia Real Estate market. Our office is based in this North Shore beach town. Paia’s real estate market consistently sees strong demand and limited inventory. Demand stems from the combination of the town’s charms, amenities and its proximity to fantastic ocean sports. It is known for surfing, windsurfing, kite surfing, foiling, stand up paddling and more. The limited inventory is due in part to constrained housing supply. Bordered on one side by ocean and the other three sides by agricultural land, there isn’t much room for growth. The total supply of homes grew only slightly since the early 2000s. Prior to Covid-19, the market experienced lower sales volume due to limited inventory. Activity remained limited during the first half of 2020 with momentum building over the last few months of the year. For the first seven months of 2021, activity surged with the most closed transactions since 2018.
This post looks at the activity for the year to date in Paia. it is worth noting that our local MLS lumps, Spreckelsville, Paia and Kuau together. The focus of this post is just on the Paia and Kuau area. We posted on Spreckelsville 2021 market activity in July.
Paia Real Estate Market 2021 Notable Numbers
- Maui Realtors reported 18 homes sold during the first 7 months of 2021. This is well above the sales volumes over the same periods of both 2019 and 2020.
- The median price of the homes sold is $900,000. The average price is $2,129,832.44.
- The lowest sale price in the community for the year is $705,000 for a home in the Skill Village neighborhood. It has three bedrooms, two and half bathrooms and 978 square feet of living space on a 6,739 square foot lot.
- The highest priced transaction for the year to date is $9,100,000 for a 7,660 square foot home and a 936 square foot cottage on a 1.28 acre oceanfront lot in Kuau. That is the highest ever sales price for a home in Paia or Kuau.
- We also saw the highest ever sales price for a non-oceanfront home in the Paia and Kuau area. A 2.2 acre compound across the street from the ocean with a 3,171 square foot home, a 989 square foot cottage and two pools closed for $8,375,000.
- The Skill Village neighborhood had the most sales activity of any neighborhood with 7 sales for the year to date.
- In addition to the 18 homes sold, there are an additional 6 pending sales at this time.
- There were also two condos at Kuau Plaza that closed in the first 7 months of the year.

Neighborhood Updates
As mentioned above, Skill Village saw the most sales activity of any neighborhood in the Paia area. Skill Village typically is the most accessible neighborhood by price in the Paia area. The strong demand for entry level homes in the community helped push up pricing. The three all time highest sales prices in Skill Village all happened during the first six months of 2021. They include a new neighborhood high price of $900,000.
Skill Village wasn’t the only entry level neighborhood with higher activity levels. The Paia Halealani neighborhood had 3 sales. While that doesn’t sound like a lot, this subdivision located between North Shore Village and the Paia Community center typically doesn’t see much in the way of activity. Only 3 homes sold in the five years prior to 2021. Sales prices also went up substantially. A home that closed for $1,200,000 shattered the previous neighborhood high sale.
On the other end of the spectrum, there wasn’t much activity in Kuau Bayview with just one listing and one sale. This is typically one of the more in demand neighborhoods in Paia, but there just aren’t many sellers at this time.
While not a neighborhood per say, I wanted to touch on activity in the Paia oceanfront market. There were two ocean front sales in the first seven months of the year. There are two additional oceanfront properties under contract. As mentioned above, the one oceanfront sale set a new record high for the Paia and Kuau area excluding Spreckelsville.
Outlook for the Rest of 2021
While the Maui market isn’t quite as frenzied as the first few months of 2021, it is still a strong seller’s market. Demand in the Maui Real Estate market remains steady. Well priced properties are still tending to go under contract quickly with multiple offer situations common. At this point, supply is likely to have the biggest impact on sales for the rest of 2021 in the Paia and Kuau area. Like many parts of the Maui market, inventory levels are well below normal. There are currently 16 homes listed for sale and 6 of those are already under contract. The remaining 10 include 4 over $7,000,000 and just 2 under $1,000,000. Buyers looking at the entry levels for Paia will find that inventory is particularly limited.
Some mainland markets are starting to see supplies slowly creep up. On Maui inventory remain at or near all time lows. It will be interesting to see if and when we might see inventory levels start to increase in Paia. Supply constraints were impacting market activity prior to Covid. My suspicion is that inventory will be slower to rise in Paia.
Contact The Maui Real Estate Team if you are interested buying or selling property in Paia. The Maui Real Estate keeps close tabs on our back yard market. We would welcome the chance to discuss your real estate needs.

Paia is consistently a tight real estate market with limited inventory and strong demand. That makes our new Paia listing all the more compelling. It is truly a unique property with nothing equivalent on the market in some time. The property consists of just under a half of acre of land with a three bedroom, two bath home and a two bedroom, one bath home. Each structure has its own water meter and its own septic system. The property has already been through the CPR process. The process converted the property into two separate units that may be sold separately. The seller is opting to sell the property as a whole.

The Land
The lot in and of itself makes this property particularly compelling. There aren’t a lot of big lots in this small town. The bulk of the larger lots are more expensive oceanfront properties. This is the biggest lot to come on the market on the Mauka side of Hana Highway since 2010. The lot isn’t unique just due to its size. It is also offers a unique setting with a 753 acre agricultural parcel surrounding the property on three sides. Fewer neighbors means more quiet and more privacy. The well landscaped property includes a stately Monkeypod tree and edibles including Papaya, Banana, Mangoes and Coconuts.

The Homes
There are two existing, well maintained homes on the property. The one is a two bedroom, one bathroom home with 1.050 square feet of living space. The other is a three bedroom, two bathroom home with 1,130 square feet of living space and an attached car port. Both homes have some view of the ocean. Building up offers the potential for outstanding ocean views.



The Upside
I already mentioned that a second story could really enhance the views of the homes. I also mentioned that the completed CPR process for the property. That process converted each home and a surrounding area of land into separate condo units that may be sold individually. What I haven’t mentioned is that a future owner could add an additional cottage to the property. The property has the zoning, lot size and water available to build a cottage.
The Location
The quiet setting and the surrounding agricultural land make it easy to forget that you are a few minutes walk from Paia. Walk to the post office, restaurants, Mana Foods, shops, and yoga studios in five minutes. Paia Bay Park is about a ten minute walk. This is the type of property where you can leave your car parked in the driveway.
Find out More About 118 and 120 Ulumau
The asking price for this Paia Opportunity is $1,400,000. This property sold in 2019. Contact The Maui Real Estate Team for assistance with other Paia Homes for Sale.
Published May 20, 2019
It has been a while since we checked in on the Paia Real Estate Market. Paia town on Maui’s North Shore is where The Maui Real Estate Team office is located. It is one of our office’s core markets. This town has consistently seen strong demand and limited supply. The combination creates steady upward pressure on pricing. This post looks at market activity in the community during the second half of 2018 and the first four months of 2019.
One thing to note. Our local MLS groups Paia, Spreckelsville and Kuau together. We have always thought that Spreckelsville is its own market. As a result, this post looks at Paia and Kuau only. We provided a market update on Spreckelsville in February.
The map above shows sales market activity in Paia and Kuau between July 1, 2018 and May 1, 2019. The red pins represent sales. The yellow pins represent pending sales. The green sales represent active inventory. You can click on individual pins for more details on sales.
Paia Sales Summary
- There were 11 homes and 3 condos sold during the last six months of 2018. By comparison, there were 8 homes and one condo sold in the second half of 2017.
- The median price of the homes sold in the second half of 2018 was $878,000. The median price of homes sold in the same period of 2017 was $747,000.
- During the first four months of 2019, six homes and two condos sold. During the first four months of 2018, there were eight homes sold.
- The median price of the homes sold during the first four months of 2019 is $1,079,062. The median prices for the homes sold in the first third of 2018 was $800,000.
- The high sale for the first four months of 2019 is 50 Kai Place. This home and ohana is located on a 12,166 square foot lot on the ocean side of Hana Highway. The value may have been higher to the purchaser than the general market as it provides a potential second access point to the buyer’s oceanfront property. It closed for $2,150,000.
- The high sale for the last six months of 2018 is 116 Kuau Beach place. This oceanfront property consists of two homes on a lot of approximately 16,335 square feet. It sold for $3,500,000.
- The lowest priced home to sell during the first four months of 2019 is 514 Pahi Ka Street in Skill Village. This four bedroom, two and a half bath home with 1,670 square feet of living space sold for $649,000.
- The lowest priced home to sell in the last 6 months of 2018 sold for $350,000. This home, located located behind Cafe Des Amis, was in very poor condition. It was recently renovated and went under contract for $575,000 before it went to market.
Sales Activity in Specific Paia Neighborhoods
Kuau Bayview
Three sales closed in Kuau Bayview between July 1, 2018 and May 1, 2019. More accurately, all three sales closed in the second half of 2018. That is a slight uptick over the two sales that occurred over the same period between 2017 and 2018. While we haven’t seen any sales in the $900,000 plus range as we have in the previous couple of years, that is more due to the size and location of the units that have sold. This neighborhood continues to see strong buyer demand due to its location and general pride of ownership.
Skill Village
Sales activity has been higher in Skill Village than any other neighborhood in Paia over the last five years. Some of that is due to the size of the neighborhood. It is also due to relative affordability. It typically offers some of the lower priced homes in Paia. Four homes sold in the neighborhood between July 1, 2018 and May 1, 2019. That is a slight dip from the five homes that sold in the year prior. Sales seem to be slowing due to a limited supply of inventory. The decreased inventory is helping to push prices up further.
Kuau Plaza
Kuau Plaza, the thirty unit condo in Paia, saw a fair amount of sales activity with three sales in the last half of 2018 and two sales in the first four months of 2019. There is one additional condo in Kuau Plaza that is currently under contract. Units in the building tend to sell quickly when they come on market. The fact that you can vacation rent these condos legally helps boost demand for the property. That is particularly the case with the recent additional restrictions on vacation renting single family homes on island.
Paia Oceanfront
Only one oceanfront home sold in Paia since July 1, 2018. That is down quite a bit from the five sales over the same period of 2017-2018. Some of that stems from lack of inventory. There are only three oceanfront homes on the market at this time. Two of those homes came to market after January first. Oceanfront homes tend to spend more time on the market.
Overall Thoughts on the Statistics and the Paia Market Outlook
Looking at all of the numbers above, the median sales price for the first four months of 2019 is the most striking. Paia broke the million dollar median barrier. The median is driven in part by an increase in values, but also due to a lack of lower priced inventory. At this point, the lowest priced sale for the year is $649,000. I would anticipate that homes priced under $700,000 will remain scarce through the year which will continue the trend of high median sales prices.
If the overall economy continues on its current trajectory, values will continue to push upward. That said, I would not be surprised to see the rate of increase moderate. Homes in Paia are becoming increasingly inaccessible for the average island resident. If prices push up much further, I surmise it will be due to off island vs. local buyers.
Contact the Maui Real Estate Team if you are interested in Paia Property. We know the community and its neighborhoods well. You can browse the current inventory of Paia Real Estate on our website.