The seven day period between July 15th and July 21st brought an increase in buyer activity on Maui. We also saw an increase in sales over this period as closed transactions start to reflect stronger buyer demand in June. New inventory was down slightly from the previous two weeks. Find out more details below as we review last week’s numbers.

This Week’s New Pending Sales

Maui Realtors reported 51 new pending sales during the seven day period between July 15th and July 21st. That is a 24% increase over last week’s pendings, but still 22% below the same seven day period of 2019. After a drop in activity the week prior, more buyers took the plunge during the last seven day period. I would expect to continue to see fluctuations in activity.

Notable Numbers from This Week’s New Pending Sales

• This week’s new pending sales include 20 homes, 26 pending condo sales and 5 lots.
• This is the second straight week when new condo pendings outpaced home pendings. I am reticent to call this a trend at this point. Throughout Covid-19, overall demand has been higher for homes than condos on Maui.
• The 26 condo pendings is the highest seven day total since the end of February and the beginning of March.
• Of the 26 new condo pending sales, 15 were vacation rentable. One more was a resort condo that prohibits vacation rentals.
• The five pending lots is down slightly from last week’s six. That said, buyer activity for land is higher over the last month compared to earlier in the pandemic.
• This was a pretty busy week for high end buyers with four properties priced over $2,000,000 going under contract. The week prior, a home priced for $15,500,000 became the highest priced property to go under contract during Covid-19 to date. It held that distinction for just one week. A beachfront home in Kapalua listed for $16,500,000 went under contract this week establishing a new high water mark.

This Week’s Closed Transactions

Maui Realtors reported 43 sales in the seven day period between July 15th and July 21st. That is 30% higher than last week and 23% below the same seven day period of 2019. The 43 sales is the second highest weekly total since late April. Sales should be a little higher over the next few weeks as they reflect the increased buyer activity in June.

This Week’s New Inventory

Maui Realtors brought 77 new properties to market between July 15th and July 22nd. That is a 7% decrease from the week prior and 5% below the same seven day period of 2019. I would say this is still a pretty healthy supply of new inventory.

Once again, new condo inventory led the way with 45 new listings. While this was a pretty big week for pending condo sales, there was still a net increase in condo inventory. This is a continuation of overall trends. Condos are the one part of the market where growth in inventory merits watching. Some developments on island are starting to see elevated inventory levels.

While there were more new home listings this week than pending sales, the overall trend in the home market remains a general decrease in inventory. The lack of inventory is particularly acute at lower price points in the market.

There were only 3 new lots that came on the market this week resulting in a net decrease in inventory. That said, the more recent trend is an increase in land listings.

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The Maui Real Estate market remains surprisingly resilient considering the state of the world. We are supporting a number of buyers and sellers as they navigate these unusual market conditions. Contact The Maui Real Estate Team if you are considering buying or selling property on Maui. We would welcome the chance to talk and learn more about your real estate needs.

The first seven days of July was the strongest week for real estate activity during Covid-19. The seven day period between the 8th and the 14th was considerably quieter. New pending sales were down substantially. Sales were up slightly. It was another week when a substantial amount of new inventory came to market. Keep reading for more details on this week’s numbers.

This Week’s Pending Real Estate Sales

Maui Realtors reported 41 new pending sales during the seven day period between July 8th and 14th. That is down 34% from last week. It is 23% lower than the same seven day period of 2019. While this week’s numbers dropped somewhat precipitously, I am reticent to read into things too much. One week does not make a trend and the chart above shows plenty of fluctuation.

Notable Numbers from this Week’s Pending Sales

• This week’s new pending sales include 16 homes, 19 condos and 6 lots.
• The dip in pending home sales was particularly pronounced after 38 pending home sales last week. This was the slowest week for pending home sales since the doldrums of April. My gut tells me that this is more a function of variability than the start of a trend. We will see over the coming weeks.
• Of the 19 condos that went under contract, 14 were vacation rentals. This comes on the heels of two weeks when there were fewer vacation rental pending sales.
• This is the third straight week of 6 new pending lot sales. This is a bump from earlier in the pandemic when we were averaging just under 2 pending lot sales per week.
• There were three pending sales over $2,000,000 this week. That includes an oceanfront home in Kahana listed for $15,500,000. That is the highest priced home to go under contract on island since Covid-19.

This Week’s Closed Transactions

Maui Realtors reported 33 sales in the last week. That is up 22% from last week. It is 45% below the same seven day period of 2019. With the exception of the last week of June, sales numbers have been pretty consistent over the last four or five weeks. It seems like we are due for a bump in sales sometime in the coming weeks as the properties that went under contact in early June begin to close.

This Week’s New Inventory

Maui Realtors brought 83 new listings to market this week. That is down 12% from the week prior and 9% from the same seven day period of 2019. It is worth noting this is still the second biggest week for new inventory on the chart above including the seven day period in late February and early March.

The biggest increase in new inventory was in the condo market with 50 new listings. It marks another week that there were far more new condo listings then pending sales. While we aren’t seeing any price decreases, there is a notable increase in inventory in some condo developments around the island. Those include a handful of vacation rental condo complexes and a couple of entry level condos complexes in Kihei.

There were 27 new home listings that came on the market last week. That is a small bump over the number that went pending last week. That said, home inventory remains relatively tight across most areas of Maui.

The land market only saw 5 new listings. That is less than the 6 pending sales last week. Overall, the land market is seeing a net increase in inventory, but it has not been substantive enough to impact pricing.

A Couple of Big Picture Comments

It is worth noting that the state has delayed the reopening of Hawaii to tourism. The mandatory 14 day quarantine will remain in effect through the end of August. With testing challenges and more widespread outbreaks on the mainland, the state will need more time to ensure a safe reopening.

Its unclear what the net impact of the delayed reopening will be on the real estate market. It will have an impact on the local economy. Some vacation rental condo owners will feel a little more pain as it postpones a resumption of income. For some thinking of relocating to Hawaii because it feels like a safe haven, the delay may heighten Maui’s appeal. Prognosticate with certainty at your own peril.

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Our office continues to remain busy helping buyers and sellers close transactions. Contact the Maui Real Estate Team if you are thinking of buying or selling property on Maui. We welcome the chance to connect and learn more about your needs.

This week marked the first time since the start of Covid-19 that pending sales outpaced pending sales during the same seven day period of 2019. Closed transactions dropped a bit this week. While more new inventory came to market than at any other time since the start of Covid-19. Find out more details in the paragraphs below.

This Week’s New Pending Sales

Maui Realtors reported 62 new pending sales over the first seven days of July. That is an 11% increase over last week and a 7% increase over the same seven day period of 2019. While many mainland markets have been seeing higher sales volume than normal, this is a first for Maui in the age of Covid. This is also the highest weekly total for new pendings since late February and Early March.

Notable Numbers from this Week’s Pending Sales

• This week’s 62 new pending sales include 38 homes, 18 condos and 6 lots.
• The 38 new pending home sales is a high water mark for the Covid-19 period. The home market continues to be stronger than other market segments on Maui reversing recent pre-Covid trends.
• Of the 18 condos that went under contract, 4 were vacation rentals and 2 were resort area condos that prohibit short term rentals. Vacation rental condos have outpaced condos that prohibit short term rentals during Covid. However, this is two weeks in a row where vacation rentals lagged behind other sales.
• The 6 new pending lot sales ties last week’s number. I cheated and looked at sales activity to start the latest cycle and there are 4 more pendings over the last 3 days. It seems like demand for vacant land may be growing.

This Week’s Sales Numbers

Maui Realtors reported 27 sales last week. That is a steep 49% decline from last week and 44% down from last year. I wouldn’t read too much into those numbers as there typically are more closes in the last week of June than the end of July. Also, while the general trend was an increase in pending sales through May, there were fluctuations up and down. I would expect sales to fluctuate similarly.

This Week’s New Inventory

Maui Realtors brought 94 new listings to market in the first seven days of July. That is 45% more than last week and 45% more than the same seven days of 2019. This was a big week for new listings although the number is a little inflated by a couple of agents that changed brokerages. When that happens an old listing will show as new with the brokerage change. A total of 9 new listings fit that criteria.

There were 35 new home listings this week. While that is the largest weekly total for new home listings on the graph above, it is still less than the number of homes that went pending this week. Home inventory remains tight on island thanks to healthy levels of demand.

The 50 new condo listings is the second highest number of new condo listings in the chart above. It is well above the number of condos that went pending this week. This means increasing inventory. It seems to be a trend at this point with more condos coming onto market than those going under contract.

We talked to an appraiser this week and he said he hasn’t seen anything to suggest that condo prices are dropping anywhere. That said, we are seeing inventories increase in some complexes giving buyers more options and potentially a little more leverage. There are also condo developments where inventory remains pretty tight. There are variations in market conditions by price point, location and development.

Land inventory is slowly ticking up. Although there is a slight uptick in demand over the last couple of weeks. While land inventory will be something to watch going forward the market does not appear to be too saturated. It is also worth noting that the land market seems to be slower to shift on pricing. In general, a lot of lots are owned outright as opposed to mortgaged. In the last year, over 60% of the lots sold were purchased with cash. With lower monthly overhead, my experience is that many land owners can hold out longer.

Contact The Maui Real Estate Team

Our office remains busy and active in these extraordinary times. That said, we welcome the opportunity to meet with new clients. Contact The Maui Real Estate Team if you are thinking of buying or selling property on Maui. We would welcome the chance to talk, e-mail, zoom, Facetime or meet in person to learn more about your real estate needs. We look forward to being of service.

Recent Signs of A Rebound Continue At The End Of June

The Maui Real Estate market showed another strong week of buyer demand to close out the month of June. Weekly pending sales hit a new pandemic era high. Meanwhile sales levels are continuing to rebound as we move past the influence of low buyer demand in early April. Find out specific numbers and more details in the paragraphs below.

Maui Realtors reported 56 pending sales over the seven day period between June 24th and 30th. That is a 24% increase over last week’s pending sales. It is 14% below the same seven day period of 2019. This was the strongest week for pending sales since the seven day period from February 26th-March 3rd.

Notable Numbers from this Week’s New Pending Sales

• The 56 new pending sales include 28 homes, 22 condos and 6 lots.
• The 28 pending home sales ties the highest weekly number during the Covid-19 era.
• Last week, I noted that it was a particularly slow week for non-vacation rental condos with only 3 new pending sales. I cautioned about reading too much into that number. I feel somewhat vindicated as non-vacation rental condo activity rebounded this week. There were 12 new non-vacation rental pending sales.
• The six pending land sales is the highest seven day total since the period between March 4th and March 10th.

This Week’s Real Estate Sales

Maui Realtors reported 53 sales last week. That is 66% more than the week prior yet 22% below the same seven day period last year. The 53 closed transactions is the highest seven day total since the last week of March. This can be attributed to two things. First and foremost, sales are a lagging indicator. Some of the low sales totals we saw in May and June were due to low buyer demand in April. The current sales total reflects the impact of stronger buyer demand and increased new pending sales in May. The other factor is that the last week of June is traditionally a strong week for sales with the 30th being particularly strong. That was true of the last day of June this year with 18 transactions closing in just that one day.

This Week’s New Inventory Numbers

A little less new inventory came on the market compared to recent weeks. Maui Realtors listed 65 properties this week. That is 8% below last week and 7% below the same week last year. There was more new condo inventory than other property types with 33 new listings. The 27 new home listings was slightly lower than the 28 homes that went under contract last week. The 5 new land listings are a little below the 6 pending transactions that happened last week.

Overall, inventory remains relatively low on island. Home inventory is below the same period last year. Demand for homes is higher than other property types. This is sustaining and even increasing home prices modestly depending on where you are on island and price point. The condo inventory is gradually increasing. Inventory levels are actually higher than the same time last year. While demand isn’t quite as strong for condos, as of now the balance of inventory vs demand is supporting market prices.

That balance between supply and demand in the condo market will be something I will be watching as the summer progresses. Will we see a continued growth in supply? What about demand? While a number of off island buyers are using tools such as video and 3D tours to purchase sight unseen, does the chance to see property first hand cause more buyers to pull the trigger? The extent to which the local economy is revived by the return of tourism is also likely to impact both the number of local buyers and the supply of inventory for the non-vacation rental condo market.

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The Maui Real Estate market is pretty diverse. While this post speaks to the overall market conditions, supply and demand vary by community, neighborhood and price point. Contact the Maui Real Estate Team if you are considering buying or selling property on Maui. We would welcome the chance to listen and learn about your real estate needs. We would also be happy to brief you on market conditions specific to your interests.

After two successive weeks of increasing activity, home buyer activity was down during my last seven day tracking period. Fluctuations can be expected when you are monitoring real estate activity on a week by week basis. This week’s new pendings, closed transactions and new listings are all lower than the week prior. Find out more details about this week’s Maui Real Estate activity below.

This Week’s Pending Real Estate Sales

Maui Realtors reported 45 new pending sales in the seven day period between June 17th and June 23rd. That is 17% fewer pending sales than last week. It is 15% less than the same seven day period of 2019.

I don’t think we should read too much into this week’s decrease. I have followed this relatively small market long enough to know random fluctuations in activity occur. In the long run a drop here or a bigger rise there can amount to statistical noise. Trends are going to be established over many weeks.

Overall, current buyer activity remains strong when you take a look at the bigger picture. Maui still has 34% unemployment and few if any off island visitors. You would expect much lower activity in light of these numbers.

Notable Numbers from this Week’s Pending Sales

• This week’s 46 pending sales include 23 new pending home sales, 19 new pending condo sales and 3 pending lots.
• Buyer demand for homes remains pretty consistent. For three of the last four weeks, there were 23 new pending home sales with the week prior to this the outlier with 28 new pendings.
• The 19 new pending condo sales included 16 vacation rentals and 3 condos in developments that prohibit vacation rentals. Second home condo purchases are outpacing condos used for primary residences during Covid-19. However, this week’s numbers are a lot more imbalanced than normal. Again, I caution jumping to conclusions about this sudden imbalance. I sneaked a peak at the last couple of days and there were already 5 pending sales at condos that prohibit rentals. This may well be just random variability in the market.
• Pending land sales remain consistent. The weekly pending continue to fluctuate between 0 and 4 new escrows per week. This is the one market segment where we aren’t seeing clear growth in buyer activity.

Closed Transactions During The Last Week

Maui Realtors reported 32 sales between June 17th and June 23rd. That is 6% lower than the week prior and 54% below the same seven day period of 2019. Keep in mind, sales are a lagging indicator of buyer demand. Most of the closed transactions are based on contracts agreed upon 30-60 days ago.

This Week’s New Listings

Maui Realtors brought 71 properties to market between June 17th and June 23rd. That is 9% below the week prior’s new listings and 11% below the same seven day period of 2019. Once again, new condo listings lead the way with 40 properties coming to market. There are 24 new home listings and seven new lots on the market.

At this point, inventory levels remain low enough to sustain current pricing with modest price increases in some market segments. The condo market merits watching long term as new inventory continues to exceed new pending sales. Not to sound like a broken record for those that read these updates on a weekly basis, but inventory levels were low going into the pandemic. Limited inventory was clearly impacting the market during the first two months of the year. There is room to absorb some new inventory without adversely affecting pricing.

The home market continues to see the strongest demand with the least new inventory relative to that demand. That is helping to keep sustain and in some cases lead to modest increases in pricing.

The Return of Trans-Pacific Travel

Looking at the big picture, there was big news in Hawaii this week as the governor outlined the path to Transpacific travel without quarantine. As of August 1, travelers will be able to travel to the islands without quarantining if they test negative for Covid-19 within 72 hours of their departure to Hawaii. If they do not take a test, they will still be subject to two weeks of quarantine.

It will be interesting to see how this impacts the market moving forward. The arrival of tourists will be a boost to the local economy. It could also bring more off island buyers back into the market.

I have been somewhat surprised at how resilient that part of the market has been to date. Technology plays a key part as 3D tours, facetime tours and video allow buyers to get a pretty good perspective on properties. These tools are providing enough of a comfort level for sight unseen offers. That said, you would think that the physical return of second home buyers should boost activity.

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While the world may seem a little crazy, the beauty of Maui remains a constant. There are still kama’aina and second home owners searching for a place to call home on this beautiful island. Contact The Maui Real Estate Team if you are considering buying or selling a home on Maui. We look forward to sitting down with you to learn more about your real estate needs.

Buyer activity in the Maui Real Estate market is inching closer to pre-pandemic levels. As the influence of slower buyer demand in April wanes, sales numbers are improving. On the supply side, more sellers appear to be reentering the market now that things are opening up on island. Find out more details about this week’s Maui Real Estate activity below.

New Pending Real Estate Sales

Maui Realtors reported 54 new pending sales over the seven day period between June 10th and June 16th. That is a 13% increase over last week’s pending sales. It is just 4% below the same seven day period last year.

After a dip in mid-May, this is three straight weeks of increased pending sales. The headwinds of high unemployment and extremely limited visitor numbers are not significantly constraining buyer demand at this time.

This Week’s Notable Numbers from the Pending Real Estate Sales

• The 54 new pending sales consisted of 28 pending home sales, 24 pending condo sales and 2 pending lot sales.
• The 28 pending home sales equals a weekly high total during the pandemic. The 24 pending condo sales is the highest number since the start of the pandemic.
• The condo market continues to see more activity from second home buyers with vacation rentals accounting for 16 of 24 condo pending sales.
• The land market is not seeing a clear uptick in activity. The 2 pending lot sales are in line with typical Covid-19 levels of buyer demand. Including this week, Maui County is averaging 1.833 pending lot sales every seven days since March 25th.

This Week’s Closed Real Estate Transactions

Maui Realtors reported 34 sales between June 10th and 16th. This is a 212.5% increase in sales volume from the week prior. It is 23% below the closed transactions for the same seven day period of 2019. It is important to remember that sales are a lagging indicator of buyer demand. As we get further and further away from the slowest periods of buyer demand in early to mid April, we should continue to see a rise in closed deals.

This Week’s New Listings

Maui Realtors listed 78 properties between June 10th and June 16th. That is a 1% increase in new listings over the week prior. It is 5% lower than the same seven day period of 2019. I noticed a few listings that were pulled from the market earlier in the pandemic coming back again this week. Whether it is due to the very limited cases of Covid-19 on island or improved market conditions, some sellers that withdrew earlier are deciding to dip their toes back into the market.

Breaking it down by property type, new condo listings are outpacing new home listings. That has been the case for most weeks of the pandemic. Condo inventory was low prior to Covid-19 so there is room for the market to absorb some additional inventory. After the tight inventory pre-Covid, buyers will likely welcome a few more options on the market. The increase in inventory is also not universal. While some individual complexes are seeing more inventory, it remains limited in others. The balance between supply and demand in different parts of the condo market will be worth monitoring over the months ahead.

The inventory of homes increased over the last couple of months, but at a much slower pace. Over the last seven days pending home sales actually outpaced new listings by one. This is one of a handful of weeks since the start of the pandemic when pending home sales outpaced new home listings on a weekly basis.

Contact The Maui Real Estate Team

While the market conditions on Maui appear to be improving, it still isn’t quite back to normal. We are also seeing some varying levels of supply and demand between different market segments. Now more than ever, it makes sense to have quality representation if you are a buyer or seller. Contact The Maui Real Estate Team if you are thinking about buying or selling property on Maui. We look forward to learning about your needs and being of assistance.