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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, August 8, 2007

House prices on Maui remain level

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Maui's median single-family home resale price in July held steady at $650,000 — at or near where it has been since April — in another sign of flattening values for Hawai'i residential real estate.

The median price for previously owned homes was well below the record $780,000 for July 2006 and May 2005, but bettered the first three months of this year when the median fluctuated between $600,000 and $630,000, according to the Realtors Association of Maui.

In April and May, the median was $650,000, followed by $654,500 in June.

The stable prices contrast with wild fluctuations during the past few years, during which Maui home values doubled.

Median prices for Maui condominiums haven't been as steady this year, ranging from about $470,000 to $600,000. Last month, the median was $510,000, down slightly from $512,500 a year earlier.

Because of relatively few sales, Maui's real-estate market sometimes produces big swings in the median price, a point at which half the sales are higher and half are lower. In July, there were 99 condo sales, up 18 percent from 84 sales a year earlier. There were 81 single-family home sales last month, down 8 percent from 88 a year earlier.

Scott Higashi, executive vice president of sales for Prudential Locations, also said Maui's housing market tends to fluctuate because it has a lot of resort homes.

Prudential said that during the second quarter, Maui resort condos with a median price of almost $1.2 million made up 30 percent of all condo sales. Condos in residential neighborhoods sold for a median $382,065.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.