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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, July 9, 2009

Home sales, prices slide on Maui


By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Sales and median prices of homes sold on Maui last month continued their descent, but mostly at a reduced level compared with the first half of this year, according to the Realtors Association of Maui.

There were 62 Maui single-family homes sold in June, an 18 percent decline from 76 sales in the same month last year. The median price was also down 18 percent to $499,053 from $606,000.

Much of the median price decrease was attributable to sales in Central Maui, the Valley Isle's biggest submarket, where 20 homes sold last month for a median $508,500 compared with 44 sales for a median $560,850 a year earlier.

Maui's second-biggest submarket for single-family homes, Kihei, also had a significant downward impact on the median price with 14 sales for a median $446,000 last month compared with nine sales for a median $810,000 a year earlier.

Because Maui's real estate market is fairly small, the mix of homes sold tends to easily sway the median price, which is a point at which half the sales were for more and half for less.

For the first six months of this year, single-family home sales are down 41 percent to 285 from 479 in the same period last year. The median price for the period is down 14 percent to $510,000 from $592,696.

In June, condominium sales fell 20 percent to 45 from 56 a year earlier. The median price was down 10 percent to $520,000 from $577,500.

The median price actually was higher in Maui's biggest condo submarket, Kihei, where there were 19 sales for a median $310,000 last month compared with 20 sales for a median $292,500 a year earlier.

But the median price was lower in the next two biggest condo submarkets. In Wailea/Makena, eight condos sold in June for a median $1.7 million compared with 13 sales for a median $2.9 million a year earlier, while in Napili/Kahana/Honokowai there were seven sales for a median $400,000 compared with nine sales for a median $575,000 in the same period.

For the first six months of the year, Maui condo sales are down 46 percent to 275 from 510 in the same period last year.

The median price is down 27 percent to $420,000 from $575,000.

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