Neighbor island home prices weakening

The Maui residential real estate market saw more homes sell at lower prices last year, according to data from the Realtors Association of Maui.

Home sales and prices also slid on Kauai and the Big Island for the year.

Maui closed out 2007 with 5 percent more single-family home transactions during the year than in 2006, but with median prices slumping 9 percent to $630,069 from $690,000. The number of units sold increased to 1,138 from 1,082, bringing the market's total dollar volume up to $1.05 billion from $1.01 billion.

"It's a buyer's market right now," said Keone Ball, principle broker at Carol Ball and Associates in Kahului. "Inventory is definitely increasing, so the buyers have a lot more choices now so they can look for those deals."

As of January 4, there were 1,087 homes, 1,368 condos and 514 lots on the market, all three with more inventory than November.

The number of condominiums sold jumped 5 percent to 1,179. Half the homes sold went for more than $550,000 for a unit, up 6 percent from 2006. Total dollar volume in Maui's condo market dropped 1 percent in 2007 to $963 million.

In the last month of the year, 85 single-family homes sold on Maui, a decrease of 34 percent from 129 in 2006. The median single-family home price fell to $582,002, 7 percent lower than the same month a year ago.

Condominium sales fell by 23 percent in December to 71, while median prices rose from $525,000 in December 2006 to $626,000 last month.

Kauai's median condo prices jumped 40 percent in the year to $565,000, with sales plunging 58 percent, according to the Hawaii Information Service. For December, 13 condos sold at a median price of $430,000, compared with 51 condos at $600,000 a year earlier.

Single-family homes fared better. For the year, 409 homes sold on Kauai, down 14 percent from 2006, while median prices dropped 4 percent to $650,000. Although home prices remained flat at $590,000, the number of homes sold dropped by a third to 30 for December from last year. Residential sales volume fell 10 percent to $395.5 million in the year.

Big Island home sales dropped by 20 percent to 1,671 units for the year, with half of homes selling for more than $395,000, a 6 percent decrease from last year. Prices remained flat in December at $377,500, with the number of units sold dropping by a third to 116. Volume fell 15 percent to $961.6 million in 2007.

Big Island condo sales dropped by 31 percent for the year to 516, with the median price dropping 8 percent to $392,490. For December, condo sales fell by 34 percent to 31 at a median price of $310,000, down 10 percent from last year.

Neighbor island prices

Median sales prices for single-family homes:

Maui

December 2007	$582,002
December 2006	$625,205
Change	-6.9%

Kauai

December 2007	$590,000
December 2006	$595,000
Change	-0.8%

Big Island

December 2007	$377,500
December 2006	$381,000
Change	-0.9%

Source: Hawaii Information Service, Realtors Association of Maui