Home sales stay strong
on Big Island, Maui, KauaiMaui home prices are up 10 percent,
to $401,750, for the first six months
Neighbor Island real estate sales showed few signs of cooling down during the first six months of the year, according to figures from the Maui Realtors Association and Hawaii Information Service. Both prices and volume also kept pace for the month of June.
There were 554 single-family home sales recorded on Maui during the first half of the year, up 21 percent from the same period in 2002. The median price paid for a single-family home rose 10 percent to $401,750 from the median of $365,000 during the first six months of 2002. Maui's total value of single-family home sales through June 30 increased by 40 percent to $304.9 million.
Similarly, condominium sales on Maui increased in volume and price. Year-to-date, 770 condominiums have sold, up 4 percent from 2002.
The median sales price for the six-month period reached $229,500, up 7 percent from last year. The total value of condominiums sold through June 30 rose 18 percent to $239.5 million.
Terry Tolman, executive director of the Realtors Association of Maui, sees few signs of a market slowdown.
"Pricewise we are now higher than the previous high point. It is a rollercoaster ride and I don't know where the end is," Tolman said. "All I know is it's getting pretty breezy up at the top."
On Kauai, there is a similar story with rising home prices. However, shrinking inventory on the Garden Isle and no new affordable housing on the horizon is making home ownership increasingly difficult for residents.
The median price of a single-family home on Kauai reached $359,500 for the first six months of 2003, up 19.8 percent over last year. For condominiums, the median price year-to-date reached $275,000, up 25 percent.
From January through June this year 298 single-family homes sold on Kauai, up from 243 during the same period last year. However, the number of condominium sales during the first six months of 2003 decreased slightly to 231 from the last year's 249 sales.
Ken Kubiak, broker in charge at Century 21 All Islands' Kilauea office, says he has seen no sign of a slowdown. The biggest challenge remains inventory, he said.
Although the planned 1,045-acre Kukuiula resort development, which just won approval from the state Land Use Commission, could eventually contain up to 1,500 homes, it will take about 10 years to finish the project. Moreover, the commission did not address the question of requiring the developer to make some of the project affordable, instead leaving the decision to the county.
On the Big Island, which has the widest range in home prices, the number of sales and prices for single-family homes continued rising, with 1,007 sales recorded during the first half of the year. The median price paid for a home reached $225,000, up 19 percent.
Condominium prices rose up 25 percent to a median price of $172,000 for the year to date. The number of condominium sales rose to 439 through June 30 from 316 last year.
