Posted on: Friday, June 11, 2004

Maui home prices booming

By Andrew gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Pickings were slim but extra pricey for people trying to buy a home last month on Maui, where the median purchase price for a previously owned single-family house hit $620,000 — or $120,000 more than just a month earlier.

"Isn't that amazing?" said Lawrence Feinberg, a Realtor with Aina Maui Properties in Pa'ia. "They don't say Maui no ka 'oi for nothin'."

The $620,000 median, which means half of the homes sold for more and half for less, was an even more stunning increase compared with a year earlier when single-family homes on Maui sold for a median of $372,500.

Feinberg said he's seeing primarily West Coast buyers, who are either moving to Maui or buying a second home for visits, and are willing to pay sums that for a lot of residents are staggering. "I'm hesitant to say overpriced, but they are not overpriced because people are paying it," he said.

Because of the price spike and low inventory, fewer homes were sold last month on the Island. There were 87 single-family homes sold, down 38 percent from 140 sold in May 2003. In April, there were 121 sales.

The sales data, released yesterday by the Realtors Association of Maui, also showed that condominium sales on the Island were down 13 percent, to 164 last month from 188 a year earlier.

Median Maui condo prices rose 24 percent, to $276,500 from $222,500 during the same period.

Another large increase in the price of homes sold last month occurred on the Big Island, where the median for condos rose 63 percent to $280,000, compared with $172,000 in May 2003, according to Hawaii Information Service. Volume was up 16 percent, to 89 from 77 during the same period.

Big Island single-family home prices rose 27 percent, to $307,261 in May from $242,500 a year earlier. Volume was up 25 percent, to 224 from 179 for the same period.

On Kaua'i, which in recent months had posted some of the larger market gains, prices were up less than 30 percent, according to Hawaii Information figures.

For single-family homes, the median sale price was $472,500 last month, up 28 percent from $370,000 a year earlier. Volume was up 35 percent, to 62 from 46 in the same period.

Kaua'i condos last month sold for a median of $381,250, up 26 percent from $302,000 in May 2003. Volume was down 42 percent, to 36 from 62.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.