Weekly Maui Real Estate Market Report October 9th

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It was another strong week for buyer activity on Maui. Closed transactions picked up after a couple of slower weeks. While there was no reprieve from the lack of inventory with a slow week for new listings. Read below for more details on Maui Real Estate market activity between September 30th and October 6th.

This chart shows weekly new Pending Real Estate sales by property type in Maui County.
Weekly new pending sales by property type in Maui County, Hawaii during the Covid-19 pandemic. New pending sales are the best indicator of current buyer demand.

Maui Realtors reported 65 new pending transactions during the seven day period between September 30th and October 6th. This was the second busiest week for new pending sales since the start of Covid-19, trailing only the week prior. This 65 new pending sales are 3% lower than the previous 7 days. It is 18% higher than the same seven day period of 2019.

Notable Numbers from this Week’s Pending Sales

  • The 65 new pending sales included 32 homes, 27 condos and 6 lots.
  • Of the 27 condos, 14 are located in developments that allow vacation rentals.
  • There were 3 homes priced over $2,000,000 that went pending. This is a decrease below the very strong buyer demand in the high end market in recent weeks. That said, there were a few properties that went under contract this week priced just a little below $2,000,000.

This Week’s Closed Transactions

This chart shows weekly closed transactions by property type in Maui County.
Weekly closed transactions by property type in Maui County, Hawaii during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a lagging indicator of buyer demand. Most transactions on Maui take between 30-60 days to close.

After a few weeks of lower sales, the number of closed transactions picked up sharply. Maui Realtors reported 67 closed transactions between September 30th and October 6th. This is the second highest number of weekly sales on the chart above. The 67 sales is 59% more than the seven days prior. It is 13% below the same seven day period of 2019.

This Week’s New Inventory

This chart shows weekly new inventory by property type in Maui County, Hawaii
Weekly new inventory by property type in Maui County, Hawaii during Covid-19.

New inventory dipped again. Maui Realtors brought 54 properties to market between September 30th and October 6th. That is 32% fewer listings than the week prior. That is 42% below the same week of 2019.

Of the 54 new listings, 28 are condos. That is just one more than the 27 condos that went under contract this week. After weekly gains in inventory throughout Covid-19, this is the first week since May where the number of weekly new condo listings was below 30. It will be interesting to see if new condo inventory numbers start to slow or if this is just an anomaly.

The increase in inventory in the condo market started to impact pricing at selected developments this summer. In general, prices leveled off and there were a few condo complexes with significant inventory that saw some modest drops in value. A month or so ago, I was wondering if the decrease in prices might become more widespread. Thus far, it appears as if a lot of sellers are holding out rather than adjusting their prices.

This will be something to watch going forward particularly with the pre-flight testing program going into effect on the 15th. Will the reopening of travel spur a substantive increase in buyer demand? Will sellers feeling pain from a lack of rental income see enough bookings to provide some relief?

Only 17 homes came on the market between September 30th and October 6th. Like last week, the new inventory skewed towards higher price points. The median price of this week’s new home listings is $1,147,000. The average price is $3,787,000 thanks in part to three new listings priced in excess of $10,000,000. This week’s low new inventory means another week of shrinking inventory. The lack of inventory is putting upward pressure on home values.

Nine new land listings came to market over this last seven day tracking period. With 6 pending sales this week, this marks another modest increase in land inventory. That said, the relatively small increase in inventory over the last couple of months does not appear to be impacting pricing. If anything, land values appear to continue to hold or increase depending on location.

Contact The Maui Real Estate Team

Early fall is typically a quieter time of year for Maui Real Estate. It is a shoulder season for visitors. Fewer visitors mean fewer potential buyers. In true 2020 fashion, that’s not the case this year. Our first substantive increase in visitors isn’t set to happen until the 15th, but we just had the two busiest weeks for buyer activity since the start of Covid-19. We are seeing bidding wars at higher price points than usual. Properties that long languished on the market are going under contract.

Contact The Maui Real Estate Team if you are thinking of buying or selling property on Maui. We continue to work diligently to represent our clients interests in these extraordinary times. We look forward to hearing from you and learning more about your interests.

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