July 15, 2010

Maui real estate housing market

The Maui real estate housing market showed strong signs of improvement in the month of May thanks to the expected economic recovery. According to a June 14, 2010 report from the Pacific Business News, “Sales of condominiums in Maui County doubled last month, while sales of single-family homes rose 35 percent. There were 104 condo units sold in May, including two on Molokai, which was 100 percent more than the 52 units that sold in May 2009, according to the Realtors Association of Maui. There were 81 single-family houses sold on Maui alone last month, a 35 percent increase compared to the 60 homes that sold on Maui, Lanai and Molokai during the same month last year.”

The Pacific Business News article continued to state that “The median price of a condo in Maui County last month was $412,500, which was a 3 percent increase compared to $399,000 in May 2009. Year-to-date, single-family home sales are up 49 percent compared to last year, while the median price for the first five months of the year is $460,000, down 9 percent. Condo sales for the first five months of the year are up 59 percent; however, the year-to-date median price for a condo in Maui County is $427,750, a 34 percent drop from the same period last year.”

The gradually improving economy in the Aloha State should contribute to the recovery of the Maui housing market. According to a June 11, 2010 report from the Maui News by Harry Eagar, “Hawaii’s economy has hit bottom and is bouncing back up, according to a county-by-county forecast by University of Hawaii economists. It will be a slow bounce, according to the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization in a report issued today. Visitor arrivals are a key measure, and “all counties will see net growth for the year as a whole,” led by “surprisingly consistent growth on Maui.” UHERO notes that the Neighbor Islands went down further and faster than Oahu, so that even though they are rebounding faster than Oahu, the visitor industry on the state’s most populated island should remain relatively better off.”