Month: February 2014

64 homes sold in Maui County during the first month of 2014 with a median sales price of $691,500. Last January, there were 63 homes sold with a median price of $550,000. This is a less than 2% increase in sales activity and a 26% increase in median price when comparing this January to January 2013.

92 condos sold in January of 2014 with a median price of $431,000. In the first month of 2013, there were 63 sales at a median price of $297,000. This means a 46% increase in sales activity and a 45% increase in median prices over last January.

13 land sales in January 2014 at a median price of $370,000. In January 2013, there were 7 sales with a median price of $675,000. This is an 86% increase in activity and a 45% decrease in median. With the smaller sample sizes, the difference in sales and medians can be more dramatic.

Some other market notations:
• The highest priced home sale for January was $9.3M for a 4,000 square foot oceanfront home at Makena Place.
• This was one of 11 homes sold over $2M in January. January 2014 was a very strong month for ultra luxury purchases. For context, there were only two sales in that price range in January 2013. The properties represented a geographically diverse group of homes sold with closings in Spreckelsville, Pukalani, Lanai, Ka’anapali, Wailea, Kihei and Makena.
• The highest condo sale last month was $2.6M for a three bedroom unit at Hoolei in Wailea.
• The Ho’olei sale was one of 7 condo transactions that sold for over $1.5M. There were also high dollar transactions at Honua Kai, Ka’anapali Ali’i, Puamana and the Terraces at Manele on Lanai.
• There continues to be pretty extensive luxury sales activity on Lanai.
• The high land sale in January was $4,587,999 for 3,455 acres of land in Hana. This is all of the Hana Ranch land on the Mauka or Mountain side of Hana Highway. This was a complex transaction.
• Bio-Logical Capital was the entity that purchased the Hana Ranch. They plan to keep the land in agriculture and conservation with the hope of boosting the agricultural productivity.
• There were only 4 bank owned (REO) sales that closed last month. There were 6 REO sales in January of 2013. At this point, bank owned properties are having a very limited impact on the Maui market.
• There were 10 short sale transactions completed in January. Last January, there were 14 short sale transactions.

You will note that there is the high monthly median sales price for homes. To be clear, the drastic increase in medians is not a just a reflection of the increase in home values. It is safe to say that there were price increases around the island, but that wasn’t the only factor that drove up the median. Distribution of sales plays just as big if not an even bigger role than price increases when it comes to changing median sales prices. That brings us to the other number that really stood out this month in the stats. The 11 homes sold over $2M was significant. When 17% of the homes sold in a month are over $2M, that is going to push up your median sales price. We can attribute a good portion of this high end market activity to a very strong year for the stock market. There were high net worth buyers who cashed in on their stock returns and made discretionary purchases of Maui luxury properties.

January is typically a slower month for sales to be reported. That is because November and at least the first couple of weeks of December typically see fewer properties to go under contract.. While January may not bring a ton of sales, this is one of the three to four months of the year that constitute our peak buyer’s season.

For buyers considering entering the Maui Real Estate market, the analysis above looks at the market in broad brush strokes. Sales activity and pricing momentum varies around the island by community and price point.

I welcome your inquiries and am happy to give you a free market analysis of property you may be considering selling our buying. Aloha, Michele Muir White R(S), ABR, SFR, Coldwell Banker Island Properties, Wailea. 808.298.8448. Email: michelewhite@hawaii.rr.com