It seems like just a few days ago when I was writing about the September Maui Real Estate statistics. Actually, it was a just last week when I wrote that post. Last month, a busy schedule kept me from posting the stats until the last week of the month. I had an opportunity to get the October stats out a little sooner. They are early enough in the month that I may even miss a few late reported sales. This is my sneak peek at the October sales volumes, median prices, notable sales numbers and pending sales. I also give a few thoughts on the state of the market, and what it all means for buyers and sellers. Without further ado, here are the October numbers.

October 2015 Sales Volumes and Median Prices

By my count, there were 103 homes sold in October with a median sales price of $585,000. Last October, there were 84 homes sold at a median price of $566,000. That is almost a 23% increase in sales volume and roughly a 3% change in median price.

There have been 102 condo sales reported to date for October with a median sales price of $391,450. By comparison, the October 2014 numbers were 95 condos sold at a median price of $419,000. That is a 7% increase in volume and a 7% decrease in median price.

There have been 16 lots reported sold in October with a median sales price of $375,000. Last October, there were 14 sales at a median price of $467,500.

Notable Numbers from the October Maui Real Estate Sales Activity
While compiling the numbers above, I came across some notable numbers from the October sales that I thought were worth sharing.

• The highest priced home to sell on Maui in October closed for $3,750,000. The home in the Wailea Golf Estates Subdivision has 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and 4,277 square feet of living space. The home is located on the fourth green of the Wailea Blue Course. It has unobstructed ocean views and a 20 meter pool.
• The Wailea Golf Estates sale was the only home to close for over $2,000,000 last month.
• The highest priced condo to sell in October closed for $3,650,000. The condo in question is a 3 bedroom, 4 bathroom oceanfront condominium in the Kapalua Ironwoods complex.
• The Kapalua Ironwoods transaction was one of 7 condo sales to close for over $1,500,000. The other sales included 2 condos at Honua Kai, 2 at the Ritz Carlton Residences, a Wailea Point condo and a unit at Ho’olei.
• The high land sale last month was at the Makena Golf and Beach Club. The .4399 acre parcel in the Maluaka Estates neighborhood sold for $8,500,000.
• That was one of three land sales over $1,000,000. The other sales included a home site near Manele Bay on Lanai and a 131 acre parcel in Haiku.

October Pending Maui Real Estate Sales
Sales are a lagging indicator of buyer activity. Most of the sales referenced above were based on contracts that were written in August and September. The chart below shows the number of properties that went pending or under contract in October.

The October pending sales look pretty strong with only home pendings down compared to October of last year. That said, the dip in home pendings is noteworthy as the home market had been particularly strong over the last couple of months. The modest dip in activity comes as a bit of a surprise as I have been in three multiple offer situations over the last month for homes below $600,000. That is a small sample, but it still feels like there are quite a few buyers in the market. It will be interesting to watch home sales over the next couple of months. Are things cooling down a little or was this an aberration?

Thoughts on the Maui Real Estate Market and What it All Means for Buyers and Sellers
The October Stats showed another strong month of buyer activity. As mentioned in other recent stats posts, the stronger sales activity can be attributed in part to buyers trying to get into the market to take advantage of what has been a long run of really low interest rates. The federal reserve continues to discuss an increase in rates and buyers are trying to tie properties down before any rate increases occur. The low borrowing costs are that much more appealing due in part to a really tough rental market on Maui. Rental prices have gone up significantly over the last few years and some borrowers are finding that mortgages are equivalent to or in some cases better than monthly rents.

Buyers who are interested in entering this market place will find that they need to be well positioned to act quickly when good opportunities are listed. Homes under $600,000 will often attract bidding wars if they are well priced. It is not uncommon to see bidding wars on well priced homes at significantly higher price points. Sellers will find pretty favorable conditions when going to market. That said, over priced properties are still sitting even with stronger than usual fall buyer activity. There are also some parts of the market that are a little slower than others. Sellers should look closely at market conditions specific to their type of property when determining go to market prices. Contact The Maui Real Estate Team if you are thinking of buying or selling a property on Maui. We would welcome the chance to discuss your real estate needs and talk about the market particular to properties that might be of interest.

Back when I posted the June Statistics, I promised a series of mid year updates on the real estate markets around the island. Mea Culpa. Sometimes, the rest of my work obligations get in the way of blogging. I have only been able to produce updates on Paia and Spreckelsville. Today, I wanted to turn my sights on the island’s luxury home market. Since it is the end of August, we are going to include all of the sales for the year date. We wanted to look at the volume of high end home sales around the island, notable sales and market conditions specific to some of the different neighborhoods and communities around the island.

Just from a methodology standpoint, I am classifying luxury homes as homes priced for $2,000,000 or more. We have used this $2,000,000 threshold for luxury homes regularly throughout our discussions of stats on this blog. That isn’t to say that there aren’t some very nice homes that have sold this year for less than $2,000,000.

Luxury Home Sales Volumes and Median Prices
There were 43 homes sold for $2,000,000 or more between January 1, 2015 and August 22, 2015. The median price of those sales was $3,196,000. Between January 1, 2014 and August 22, 2014, there were 45 homes sold. The median luxury home price for this period of 2014 was $3,800,000. When comparing this year to last year, there was roughly a 4% drop in sales volume and a 16% drop in median price. Just to be clear, the drop in median does not reflect any sort of change in values in the market. It is a reflection of the inventory sold.

Notable Maui Luxury Home Sales for the Year to Date
Here are some notable numbers that I thought were worth passing along from this year’s luxury home sales.

• The highest priced sale thus far this year was for a home in the Keahou at Makena Subdivision. The 4 bed/ 4.5 bath home with 6,737 square feet of living space is located on 4.23 acres. It sold for a whopping $41,775,000. That isn’t just the high sales price for the year, it is the highest ever sale price for a home on Maui by a significant margin.
• Including the Keahou at Makena sale, there were 8 sales over $5,000,000.
• Wailea/Makena and Ka’anapali were the two busiest luxury home markets through the better part of the last eight months. Realtors reported nine sales in both of those markets.
• Of the 43 luxury home sales for the year to date, 14 sales were either oceanfront or beachfront.
• The 43 sales were spread among 12 different towns or resorts in Maui County. Hana and Molokai are two communities that haven’t seen all that many $2,000,000 sales over the previous few years, but they each had one $2,000,000 plus transaction this year.
• The 43 sales included one bank owned property and two short sales.

A Look at Selected Luxury Home Markets Around the Island
The Maui Luxury home market is fairly diverse. Buyers typically focus their search on one or perhaps two areas of the island. With that in mind, we want to look at how some of the different areas around the island performed during the first eight months of 2015.

Makena and Wailea
The Wailea and Makena area typically sees the most sales activity of any luxury community on island. That rang true during the first half of 2015 as it tied Ka’anapali for the busiest area for closes on the island. Digging a little deeper within the numbers, there were 8 sales in Wailea and just one sale in Makena. Within Wailea, there was a good cross section of neighborhoods that saw activity. There was a sale in Maluhia, a sale in Wailea Highlands, 2 sales in Wailea Golf Vistas, 2 sales in Wailea Golf Estates and 2 in Wailea Kialoa. The sales activity in Wailea was actually up a little from last year. There were 7 homes sold in Wailea proper in the first eight months of 2014.

Makena saw a drop in activity with the one solitary sale compared to 5 sales during the same period the year before. It is hard to say why there was a dip in sales in Makena. Some of that could just be a case of market variability and inventory. The one other factor that could be coming into play is the Makena Golf and Beach Club. This new development spearheaded by Discovery Land Company is located at and around the current Makena Golf and Beach Resort. This new community is set to be Maui’s most exclusive and high end luxury development to date. There are no single family homes for sale in the community yet, but there are some very high end home sites on the market in Maluaka Estates. There has been one lot sold and an additional three lots are under contract. All four lots have prices of $10,000,000 or more. It is possible that some of those buyers may have been potential buyers for other Makena properties. That said, Discovery Land Company is known to have a loyal following that might draw buyers who might not have otherwise looked at Maui.

I thought it was worth briefly revisiting the high sale in Makena. The sale at Keahou smashed the old Maui sales record by $14,700,000. I will be honest, the sales price is something of a head scratcher. The neighboring property is on a smaller piece of land and the house is 1,200 feet smaller, but it is currently listed for sale for $13,400,000. It seems like quite a stretch for there to be a $28,375,000 difference in value between the two homes. As much as it makes the new listing seem like a value, I think it points to the big sale as something of an outlier.

It will be interesting to see what happens over the rest of the year in Wailea and Makena. There is still a fair amount of inventory for buyers to choose from. There are twenty active home listings on the market currently with 7 properties in Makena and 13 in Wailea. Check out the full inventory of Makena and Wailea Homes for Sale on MauiRealEstate.com.

Ka’anapali
Ka’anapali had a pretty strong first eight months of the year with 9 total sales. That is up a little over the seven sales last year. The sales came from six different neighborhoods within Ka’anapali. There were 3 sales in the Pinnacle Neighborhood, 2 in the older section of Ka’anapli Golf Estates, 2 in the Summit at Ka’anpali, and a single sale in both Ka’anapali Hillside and Ka’anapali Coffee Farms. The high sale for the year to date was $3,500,000 for a four bedroom, three and a half bath home with 3,715 square feet of living space on a .65 acre lot in the Pinnacle.

There are 13 homes actively listed for over $2,000,000 in Ka’anapali. That should give buyers who prefer Ka’anapali some pretty good options. You can see the full inventory of Ka’anapali Homes for Sale on MauiRealEstate.com.

Kapalua
Kapalua has been the third busiest luxury home market this year with 7 closes over $2,000,000 for the year to date. All of the subdivisions of Kapalua with the exception of One Kapalua Place have seen sales activity thus far this year. There were 2 sales in Pineapple Hill Estates, 2 sales in Pineapple Hill, 2 sales in Plantation Estates and a single sale in Honolua Ridge. The high sale was $5,700,000 for the Honolua Ridge property. For a price tag of $5,700,000, that buyer now owns a four bedroom, five and a half bath home with 6,509 square feet of living space on a 2.82 acre lot. It has stunning views overlooking the renowned Honolua Bay.

The Kapalua market currently has 29 homes actively listed for sale. This is the biggest inventory of luxury homes of any of the communities around the island. This makes for an excellent selection for potential buyers. That may also allow for some opportunities. Typically, high end sellers have more staying power and will hold out for a premium. That said, you could make an argument that we have already seen a premium property go at a substantial discount with this year’s high sale in Kapalua. The home in Honolua Ridge sold for $4,000,000 below its original asking price and $1,995,000 below the list price at the time that it sold. You can see the full inventory of Kapalua Homes for Sale on MauiRealEstate.com.

Lahaina
There are two parts of Lahaina where high end home sale activity tends to be concentrated. The first is along the oceanfront. Homes along Front Street and Baby Beach typically start over $2,000,000. The other area is just south of the town in the neighborhood of Launiupoko. Launiupoko has been one of the stronger markets for high end sales over the last couple of years. There have been five sales in Lahaina thus far this year. Three of the sales have been in Launiupoko and two have been oceanfront homes. The highest priced sale was $3,500,000 for a 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom residential condominium with 3,675 square feet of living space on 8.513 acres.

There are 16 active luxury home listings for sale in Lahaina at this time. Eleven of the homes are in Launiupoko with the rest located along the ocean. Lahaina is another market where buyers have some pretty good options. Check out all of the current Lahaina Luxury Home listings on MauiRealEstate.com.

Upcountry
The Upcountry area of Maui tends to see fewer high end sales than the resort communities of the island. That said, there are some pretty spectacular estates located along the flanks of Haleakala. Kula and Olinda are places where you will see some bigger acreage estates. There are also some homes along Baldwin Avenue below Makawao that fit the luxury home mold. The first eight months of the year have seen only two sales above the $2,000,000 mark in the Upcountry Area. There was one sale in Kula and one sale in Olinda. Last year, there was just one sale over $2,000,000 in the Upcountry area in the first eight months of the year.

The highest priced sale Upcountry for the year to date was $3,500,000. That was for a 24 acre estate in Olinda. It included a 3,300 square foot, three bed, three bath home and a separate two bedroom cottage. The 24 acres property included three separate parcels of land all with their own water meter.

While there haven’t been a lot of high end home sales Upcountry this year, there has been an uptick in buyer activity over the last two months. There are four homes in Kula listed for $2,000,000 that are currently under contract. That is more than anywhere else on island. There are an additional 16 homes listed for more than $2,000,0000 currently on the market Upcountry. That means a pretty good selection for high end buyers looking for more privacy or a different feel than the resorts or the beach. You can see all of the Upcountry Luxury Home listings on MauiRealEstate.com.

North Shore
The North Shore of Maui has become an increasingly popular location for luxury home buyers over the last five years. Prior to this year, Paia and Spreckelsville was the focal point of high end sales while the Haiku market lagged behind. We saw something of a shift this year. The Spreckelsville market has had limited inventory, Paia has been quiet and Haiku has seen the strongest sales activity since the downturn began. There were three total sales over $2,000,000 through the first eight months of the year. Last year, there were six sales on the North Shore in the first eight month’s of the year. For this year’s sales, two were in Haiku and one in Spreckelsville. The Haiku sales were particularly notable as they were the first and second highest priced transactions for homes in that community. The highest sale was for the 38 acre Baldwin Estate. This historic property includes a 10 bedroom, 10.5 bathroom home with 8,716 square feet of living space as well as a number of outbuildings.

Buyers looking for North Shore luxury homes will find that market conditions are going to vary based on the specific community. Spreckeslville is arguably one of the only true seller’s markets for luxury homes on the island. There are no active home listings for more than $2,000,000. Over the last few years, roughly half of the homes that have sold in this neighborhood have sold before coming to market. Paia has been quiet and it currently boasts the largest inventory of oceanfront homes of any area on the island. I think there may be some values and/ or motivated sellers to be found among those listings. Haiku has seven active listings currently on the market giving buyers some good options. You can check out the current inventory of North Shore Luxury homes on MauiRealEstate.com.

Overall Maui Luxury Home Market Outlook and Thoughts
The Maui Luxury Home market continues to offer a broad cross section of homes for potential buyers. From the privacy of Upcountry Estates to Beachfront Luxury compounds, there is considerable depth of inventory. While a deep inventory typically gives buyers more leverage, that isn’t always the case with the luxury home market. Luxury home owners typically have the means to hold on to properties for longer periods of time and many are less likely to adjust their pricing. That said, there are still bound to be a few sellers out among the current inventory who may have higher motivations. The challenge is finding those sellers.

I would anticipate that the rest of the year will continue to see sales figures at or close to the levels we saw during the fall and early winter of 2014. While projected increases in interest rates have the potential to slow sales activity at lower price points in the market, the majority of the luxury sales involve cash transactions or private banking. The biggest threat to the high end market is the overall economy. If the recent stock market uncertainty continues, you may see some buyers postpone their purchases. Contact The Maui Real Estate Team if you are interested in buying or selling a luxury home on Maui. We would welcome the opportunity to sit down with you for a free consultation to discuss your needs.

Now that labor day has come and gone, summer is slipping into the rear view mirror. That means another month in the books for the Maui Real Estate market. The Maui market continued to see a solid number of closes through the last month of summer. This is an early look at some of the August stats before the local Realtor’s association publishes their own statistics. You will find key data on sales volume, median prices and other numbers of interest. I also give a few thoughts on the market via a video commentary. Without further ado, here are the August 2013 Maui Real Estate Statistics.

By my count, there have been 79 home sales reported to date for August with a median price of $585,000. That is slightly better than what we saw during August of 2012 when 77 homes closed. The August 2012 Median was $509,000. That is approximately a 3% difference in sales volume and a 15% difference in median value between this August and last August.

I tallied a total of 108 sales reported during August of 2013 with a median price of $415,000. Last August, there were 98 condo sales recorded in Maui county with a median price of $342,450. That is a 10% increase in sales volume and a 21% increase in median value when comparing the two Augusts.

There have been 25 land sales reported thus far for August 2012 with a median price of $350,000. There were 12 sales last August with a median of $350,000. That is a 208% increase in activity when comparing this August to last August.

While compiling the numbers above, I came across some other numbers worth sharing from the August Maui Real Estate Stats.

• The highest sales price for a home was $6,300,000 for a luxurious four bedroom/six bath home in Wailea Golf Estates. That is the second time in the last three months where a Wailea Golf Estates property was the high sale for the month.
• This was one of five total home sales on the month over $2,000,000. The five sales were diverse geographically. In addition to Wailea, there were sales in Haiku, Spreckelsville, Kapalua and Launiupoko.
• The highest priced condo sale last month was $3,500,000 for a two bedroom/two bath front row Ka’anapli Ali’i. This was one of three condo sales over $1,500,000 in Maui last month.
• There were two land sales over $1,000,000 in August. Both sales occurred in Launiupoko.
• There were 16 total REO or bank owned closes in August. That is a slight uptick over what we saw in July and June of this year. Bank owned inventories remain low when compared to what we saw a couple of years ago.

Here are my thoughts on this months stats, what we might expect in the coming months and what it all means for buyers and sellers.

Contact The Maui Real Estate Team with any questions on this month’s stats or feel free to leave a comment below. If you are interested in buying or selling a property on Maui, we would welcome the opportunity to sit down with you for a free consultation.

The Fourth of July is just two days away. I can already taste the gluten free apple pie, smell hot dogs on the grill and visualize the star bursts of fireworks in the night sky. Of course, that means another month is in the books for the Maui Real Estate market. This month’s sneak peek at the June Maui Real Estate Estate market is coming to you from the mainland where I am visiting friends and family. There is a lot to report this month as the end of June also marks the midway point of 2013. It is a good time to gauge overall market trends. Since I am also trying to balance some vacation time, I am going to break down my commentary into bite sized chunks. Today, I wanted to take a look at the June sales numbers followed by a brief commentary. In the next couple of days, I will take a broader look at the year to date with a video commentary. Last month, I posted my first video commentary on the Maui Market. I had pretty good feedback so we are going to make that a more regular feature on the blog. Without further ado, here is my sneak peek at the June 2013 Maui Real Estate Statistics.

By my count, there were 85 homes sold at a median price of $618,000 during June of 2013. By comparison, there were 86 homes sold at a median price of $575,500 during June of 2012. That calculates to a 1% decrease in home sales volume and a 7% increase in home median price when comparing the two Junes.

To date, Maui Realtors have reported 124 condo sales at a median price of $390,000 during June of 2013. In June of 2012, there were a total of 122 condo sales reported with a median price of $372,990. That equates to approximately a 1.6% increase in condo sales volume and a 4.5% increase in the median condo price.

The June 2013 land sales totaled 17 with a median price of $469,260. Last June, there were 13 sales reported with a median price of $352,500. That calculates to approximately a 31% increase in land sales volume and a 33% increase in land median price when comparing this June to last June.

Here are a few other tidbits I found while compiling the numbers above.

• The Median Sales price for homes on Maui rose over $600,000 for the first time since 2008. The increase in medians is due to a combination of an increase in home values and a shift in price ranges where sales activity is occurring. With fewer homes for sale at entry level price ranges, it makes sense that the mid-point for sales is that much higher.
• The higher median sales price came despite a modest month of activity in the ultra luxury home market. There were four sales over $2,000,000 last month. By comparison, last June there were 9 home sales over $2,000,000. I will have more on the Maui luxury home market in the mid-year update.
• The highest sales price for a single family home in June was $5,790,000 for a luxurious home in Wailea Golf Estates.
• The highest sales price for a condo was $3,725,000 for a unit at Wailea Point.
• The Wailea Point condo was one of four condos sold for over $1,500,000. Last June, there were three condo sales over $1,500,000.
• The high sales price for land was $10,000,000 for 159 acres in Makena.
• There were only 4 bank owned or REO sales last month. There were 27 REO sales last June. This was the slowest month for bank owned sales dating back to 2008.

After May 2013 clearly outpaced May of 2012, the June 2013 and June 2012 Maui Real Estate Sales volumes were strikingly similar. There were only five more properties sold in June of 2013 than June of 2012. That being said, the market feels a lot stronger now then it did last June. We really didn’t start to feel the market kick into another gear until early fall of 2012. If the market is stronger, why isn’t there more sales activity? The answer lies with the inventory or lack thereof. The bottom third of the market has really seen a contraction of available listings. The combination of owners who are still underwater or have limited equity, the big reduction in bank owned activity and strong demand from both first time home buyers and investors make it a challenge to find homes in these bottom price ranges.

The decrease in bank owned sales has been steady over the last year. That being said, it was still surprising to see only one bank owned home close and three REO condos close in all of June. The steady shrinking of inventory doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t see future inventory. There are still homes that are going through the judicial foreclosure process that will come to market at some point in the next year or two. The number that will eventually hit the market is something of an unknown. Some owners may resolve their debts with lienholders or complete a short sale. We also continue to hear that some of the bank inventory is being purchased by institutional investors before going to the open market. Buyers who are laser focused on just bank owned properties may find limited options and stiff competition.

Stay tuned to the Maui Real Estate Blog over the next couple of days for our mid 2013 Maui Real Estate market report. We will take a look at the first six months of 2013, compare them to the first six months of 2012 and give a few thoughts on the outlook for buyers and sellers for the rest of 2013. We hope to give a few community specific mid year updates a little later in the month. Contact The Maui Real Estate Team with questions or for for a free consultation to discuss your Maui real estate needs.