Maui home prices end
slide, hit $693,000

The gain is the first since the
record price of $780,000 in May

Strong seasonal sales helped Maui's home prices bounce back up in August, posting their first gain in several months, according to data released yesterday by the Realtors Association of Maui.

Single-family home prices for the Valley Isle, which had declined month to month since hitting a record $780,000 in May, rose last month to $693,000, up 27.7 percent from a year earlier. Condominium prices increased 7.7 percent to $365,000 from the year-earlier $339,000.

The pace of sales on Maui remained strong last month, with 112 single-family homes changing hands, a year-over-year gain of 47.4 percent. Some 175 condominiums sold, a 14.4 percent increase.

While Maui's residential real estate is still hot, Realtors are starting to see signs it is softening, said Carol Ball, owner and principal broker of Carol Ball & Associates in Kahului, Maui.

"The market is softening, maybe not perceptively to someone casually looking at it, but I do believe that anyone who works in the market every day realizes that properties are staying on the market longer," Ball said.

It took 10 more days, or 10.5 percent longer, to sell a single-family home in August 2005 than it did in the year-earlier month. Condominiums were on the market 28 more days, or 32.2 percent longer, than they were in August 2004.

In some cases, Ball said sellers also are finding that buyers aren't as willing to pay the premium prices for properties that they once were.

"Generally speaking, we are going to see more negotiations," Ball said.

In August, the neighborhoods in Maui posting the highest gains, with median prices ranging from $1.1 million to $1.8 million, were Kaanapali, Maui Meadows, Sprecklesville/ Paia/Kuau and Wailea/Makena.

Central Maui, Makawao/ Olinda/Haliimaile, Molokai and Pukalani remained the most affordable neighborhoods, with median single-family home prices ranging from $425,000 to $642,000.

Through August, the total dollar volume of Maui's real estate market is up 50 percent to $856 million from the year-ago $571 million.

Last week, Maui released its monthly sales data for July.