“Just the stats Ma’am”. To paraphrase Joe Friday, that’s the focus for this month’s Sneak Peek at the Maui Real Estate Statistics. Since it is the end of the year, I am going to limit my market analysis and focus on the numbers. Look for more in depth analysis in the bevy of other stats posts we will continue to post over the next few weeks. Without further ado, here are the numbers.
December Maui Real Estate Sales Volumes and Median Prices
There have been 63 homes reported sold in December in Maui County with a median price of $565,000. The December 2013 sales totals were 78 homes sold with a median of $512,500. That calculates to a 19% drop in sales figures when comparing this year to last year and a 10% increase in median price.
There were 121 condo sales reported in December with a median price of $380,000. There were 120 condo sales the prior December with a median price of $365,000. That is a little less than a 1% increase in sales activity and a 4% increase in median when comparing this December to last December.
There were 12 land sales reported during December 2014 with a median price of $650,000. Last December, there were 23 sales reported with a median price of $390,000. That is a 48% decrease in volume and a 67% increase in median price.
Other Notable December Maui Real Estate Sales Numbers
While compiling the sales volumes and medians for December, I came across some other notable numbers from the December Maui Real Estate Sales Activity that I thought were worth sharing.
- The highest priced home sale in December was $2,200,000 for a home in the Pineapple Hill neighborhood in Kapalua.
- That was one of three homes sold over $2,000,000 last month. The other two were sold in Kipahulu and Kahana respectively.
- The highest priced condo sale in Maui County during December was $2,625,000 for a unit in the Terraces at Manele Bay on Lanai.
- That was one of 5 condo sales over $1,500,000 in December. All four of the other sales were in Honua Kai.
- There were two land sales over $1,000,000 in December.
- There were 12 Bank Owned sales in December compared to 11 sales in December of 2013.
- There were 6 successfully completed short sales in December. There were 14 short sales completed in December in 2013.
A Few Quick Thoughts on the December Stats
As mentioned above, I wanted to limit commentary and analysis in this month’s post, but there were a few numbers that deserved some comment. The condo sales were a positive sign after seeing slower activity throughout the second half of the year. December was only the 4th month of the year where 2014 sales outpaced 2013 numbers. It will be interesting to see if this month is a blip or if condo sales activity will pick up as we begin 2015. The home sales were pretty low for the month, but I would be reticent to say that is the start of a particular trend. Throughout the year, there has been a fair amount of variability in performance compared to the same month in 2013.
The land market has a more clear cut trend with six straight months of slower sales than the same month of 2013. While 2013 numbers were bolstered in part by some new development activity, the 2014 sales didn’t have the same tailwinds. Add in diminished inventory at the entry point of the market and you end up with a reduction in sales activity.
December Maui Pending Sales
Sales are in some ways a look back at past market demand. Most transactions on Maui take 30-60 days to close. To get a better sense of more current demand, we also document the pending sales for each month.
December can be a slow month for sales as holiday activities can put real estate purchases on the back burner. However, it looks like there was decent activity in the Maui market in December. The number of homes that went pending was particularly surprising and should translate to a fair number of closings in January.
More Stats to Come…
We will have a lot of other posts looking at year end statistics for all of Maui County as well as a handful of communities around the island. In the interim, feel free to contact The Maui Real Estate Team with questions on the market or for assistance buying or selling property.