Maui home sales fall while prices rise 2%
Maui's residential real estate market finished the year with fewer units sold, but those that did sell fetched higher prices, according to statistics released by the Realtors Association of Maui.
While Maui closed out 2006 with 17 percent fewer single-family home transactions during the year than in 2005, median prices increased slightly.
The number of condominiums sold was off even more, 41 percent, from 2005 year-end numbers, but the median price paid for a condominium rose 31 percent.
"In summary, less units selling, but for more money," said Terry Tolman, chief staff executive for the Realtors Association of Maui.
More than half of Maui's homes changed hands for $693,000, a 2 percent increase over the $679,000 median price in 2005.
The number of single-family homes sold on Maui dropped by 228 in 2006 -- bringing the market's total dollar volume down 16 percent to just over $1 billion.
More than half of Maui condominium buyers paid $505,000 for a unit in 2006, an increase of 31 percent over the $385,000 median paid by buyers in 2005.
Condominium transactions on Maui in 2006 dropped 41 percent to 1,210 from the 2,050 sold in 2005. Total dollar volume in Maui's condo market dropped 17 percent in 2006 to $935.6 million.
In the last month of the year, Maui saw more single-family homes sold, but for lower prices.
Some 128 houses changed hands on Maui in December, versus 86 in December 2005. The median singe-family home price fell to $632,500 in December from $722,500 the previous year.
Condominium sales fell by 54 percent in December, to 72, while condo prices rose from $402,500 in December 2005 to $472,500 last month.