I spent some time yesterday looking through our real estate database to get a gauge on how the June sales figured looked for the Maui Real Estate market. I have included the numbers below followed by a few comments and some analysis of the statistics. This is my sneak preview of the official June Maui Real Estate Statistics which are typically posted by the Realtors Association of Maui sometime during the second week of the month. Without further ado, here are the numbers that I found.
By my tally, I have 73 homes sold at a median price of $480,000. This compares to 65 homes sold in June of 2009 at a median price of $495,000. That is a 12 % increase in sales volume when comparing June of 2010 and June of 2009.
For condos, I counted 103 sales reported to date for the month of June at a median price of $425,000. That compares to 55 in June of 2009 at a median price of $469,000. That is an 87% increase in volume when comparing the two Junes.
Land sales for June 2010 tallied 9 closes at a median of $360,000. This compares to 8 closes in June of 2009 at a median of $441,000. This is a 12.5% increase in sales year to year, although pretty insignificant in light of the sample size.
At some point last year, I started to keep track of the number of Bank Owned Sales (REO) and Short Sales. According to my calculations, I recorded 26 REO sales and 14 short sales in June. For the month, 30% of the home sales were REOs or short sales. Twenty-six percent of all condo sales were either REOs or shorts. There was one bank owned land transaction that closed. The REO and short numbers were down a few percentage points for homes and up for condos. I think we are seeing some random variability in monthly numbers. I haven’t seen any signs that the supply of REOs or short sales is decreasing at this point in time in the Maui market.
The thing that came as a bit of a surprise to me for the month was the volume of sales. While we continue to see improvements when comparing this month’s numbers to last year’s numbers, sales numbers were down a little when compared to the previous couple of months this year. Here is a link to May’s statistics for a little context. With the expiration of the first time home buyers tax credit originally scheduled for the end of the month, I anticipated a flurry of closes. That flurry didn’t quite materialize. It will be interesting to see the July numbers. Billy talked to a lender the other day who mentioned he had more than a few transactions that were expected to close in June, but were extended due to delays in financing.
It was hard to discern any distinctive trends among the home or condo figures beyond the sales volume. Probably, the most noteworthy item was the continuation of activity in the luxury market. The luxury market saw a significant reduction in volume during 2009. We started to see an uptick in activity at the start of the year and a higher volume of closes as of April. Included in those sales were some of the highest priced closes in Maui County history. While this month lacked the splashy individual sales of the previous couple months, we are seeing sustained activity in this segment with 18 condo and home closes over $1,500,000.
Land sales were down by a fair percentage from last month. That being said, this is another area where percentage increases and decreases are magnified due to extremely low sales volumes. With land loans limited and good values on existing houses, it is likely that we will continue to see slower sales volumes in this segment.
Overall, I think this month’s Maui Real Estate statistics will give pause to those who expected a rapid V shaped recovery in the Maui housing market. While I would be pressed to call the sales numbers disappointing, I think they may be viewed that way by some who were calling for the market bottom on prices based on the more robust April Maui sales figures. Like the national and global economy, the Maui housing market is likely in for a slower recovery with up and down months. This market is going to continue to provide opportunity for buyers. Many properties are priced well below historical highs and interest rates are near historic lows. Sellers are going to be challenged to keep their pencils sharp. The properties that are selling the fastest are those that are truly extraordinary or priced extraordinarily well. Contact us for to discuss the market in greater detail or for assistance buying or selling Maui Real Estate.
