For 2008 the numbers show average prices for single-family houses down 10 percent and condo prices up an average of 13 percent. Unlike many places on the Mainland, real estate prices haven't crashed. But the market has sort of gone to sleep. The number of sales is way down from 2007, 21 percent for single-family and 34 percent for condos. The decline is startling when contrasted with the peak in 2005, especially for condos. There were 2,050 condo closings that year. In 2008, only 788. There were 1,187 condo closings in 2007. For single-family sales, the peak in 2005 was 1,316. In 2008, only 907. There were 1,142 sales in 2007. The median price of a single-family house in Maui County was $577,867 in 2008, compared with $630,069 in 2007. The dollar total of residential real estate changing hands in 2008 was just under $1.5 billion, while in 2007 it was more than $2 billion.
The average single-family home price dropped 10 percent last year, to $831,424. Just half of all single-family sales, 448, occurred in Central Maui, where the average price also dropped 10 percent, to $483,792. However, a large fraction of those 448 sales, 103, closed at subsidized prices for legislated affordable housing at Waikapu Gardens, which accounted for 178 closings, or almost one in five during the year.
In Kihei, a much smaller market with only 140 sales last year, average prices fell only 1 percent, to $797,131. In Kula and in Lahaina, single-family prices jumped 9 percent, to $1.1 million in Kula-Ulupalakua-Kanaio and to $1.8 million in Lahaina. This also is an area where a few outlying transactions move the averages. The average condo price was up more than $100,000 to $921,063, but the median price, $549,500, did not move at all. At the median, half sold for more, half for less. That means that the prices of the more expensive condos moved higher in 2008 - or that contracts inked in 2006 were closed in 2008, at a time when market prices were actually falling. The biggest area for condos is Kihei, with 307 transactions. In Kihei, the average price was almost unchanged at $475,416, and the median dropped 7 percent to $395,000.
Some sellers got trapped by using their home equity line resulting in distressed sellers. This is evident in specific pockets of housing on the island. There are a lot more houses in the 400s than a couple of years ago and interest rates are the lowest seen in 25 years. It's a great time to buy and hold. Prices have declined considerably in the past two to three years. Buyers waiting for the 'bottom' may miss unique properties and opportunities as market forces, qualification requirements and rates may fluctuate.
