Aloha,
It's May on Maui, and it's probably May where you are too. On Maui, May brings graduations, the beginning of wedding season, and, for us, the definite end of whale season. Although whales were reported being seen as late as last week, sadly, they will be on their way back to Alaska now.
May is also considered to be one of our "shoulder" seasons. It is a space in time between our winter travelers who are here to escape from those cold places on the mainland, like the west coast, and summer visitors who come to enjoy Maui when the kids get out of school for the summer.
In the olden days, the winter and the summer were both "high" seasons for Maui. No, not that high:). It meant there are a lot of travelers here. The hotels and condos, as well as the restaurants and the tourist activities were full. The shoulder season time meant there were fewer guests, higher vacancies, and Maui got a bit of a break.
These days, in the time of Al (don't get me started), the hotels and airlines have figured out how to adjust prices to lure price sensitive and bargain savvy travelers to the island. So, the island is still packed, and shoulder season is about as busy as any other season.
For those of us who live here, every day in May is just like every other day, another day is paradise.
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SALES:
Sales are the number of properties that actually closed escrow. These properties likely went under contract anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks before closing.
After an encouraging increase in March sales, home sales fell back to what the market and economic factors are dictating to be the current normal. There were 56 homes sold in May, which according to the Maui MLS means we have 4 months of inventory. However, with the median asking price for a home on Maui at $2.1 million and the median actual selling price at just $1.1 million, we might see the number of sales continue to decline.
And when did you ever think you would hear someone say that a house would cost just $1.1 million?!?
For comparison's sake, the last time the number of sales was consistently as low as the beginning of this year, was the first few months of 2009. Back then the median selling price for a home was $567,000, and there were over 1,100 homes for sale.
Condos also had an encouraging sales spike in March, but, as with homes, slid backwards in April. However, there were still 89 sales during the month, which is the second highest number of condo sales in any month so far this year. Pending sales have been holding pretty steady for a few months now, and inventory, although very low, has also been fairly steady. There is also a good match between the median selling price for condos, we we may see the same level of sales for a while. At least until we run out of condos for sale.
Click here to see condos for sale on Maui.
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INVENTORY:
Inventory tells us how many units are available for sale in each category.
The 241 homes for sale on Maui on May 1, is the lowest number of homes for sale this year. The highest number for sale wasn't much higher at 271 homes in both January and February. the 241 homes for sale translates into 4 months of inventory, which is still a seller's market. The current number of new listings is also down 37% compared to the same time last year. That would be another indication that home sales will remain low.
Click here to see homes for sale on Maui.
Condo inventory dropped below 200 units once again. That gives us just a tad over 2 months of inventory for sale, and with new listings down more than 43% from last year, it's hard to see sales continuing at the pace of the last 2 months. So, that thing I said about sales continuing at the same level - never mind. We can expect that sales will fall back to the 60 to 70 units we saw earlier this year.
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SELLING PRICES: average and median sold price
We look at Average and Median prices in all categories. A lot of people like to know the average price; however, we tend to use median for most of our analysis because the median is less likely to be skewed by outliers of a few very high priced or very low priced sales.
The average selling price for a home dropped $246,000 from March to April, coming in at $1,735,500. However, though the first 4 months of 2023 selling prices on Maui are still up 5.6%. If that seems like a "Maui thing", CoreLogic, a national real estate date company, reported that the average home price nationally was up 1% in the first quarter of 2023. The median price for a house in the USA at the end of April was $388,800.
The median selling price for a home on Maui dropped $78,500 month over month but remained above $1.1. million. There are currently 42 homes for sale in Maui County priced at $1.1 or below. The 3 lowest priced homes are all on the island of Molokai. The highest priced home on Maui is in Kapalua, priced at $41,900,000, and it has been on the market for 221 days.
The average selling price for a condo fell $56,000 month over month but remained above $1.1. million. The median selling price for condos is up 8.7% and the median price is up 7.2% this year as compared to last year.
Click here to see what YOUR property is worth.
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DAYS ON MARKET:
The days on market (DOM) is the number of days a property has been on the market until close of escrow.
We don't usually report much on this data point unless there is an anomaly, and last month there was. In March the DOM for condos shot up to 260 days for condos sold. However, not to worry, April's DOM was back down to 115.
And since we brought it up... The average DOM for condos for sale has gotten out of the 80's. In 2021 the "normal" days on market was more like 140 days.
June starts our next busy season for real estate on Maui, that's just around the corner. If you would like to see all of the condo listings on Maui, click here, or home listings on Maui, click here. If you would like to know what your property is worth on Maui, or anywhere in the U.S., click here to get a FREE online estimate of value.
A Hui Hou!
Get more information and details
To get more information on property and trends, you can search all properties listed for sale at www.AlohaGroupMaui.com. If you can’t find what you’re looking for there, send us an email to lee@alohapotts.com, and we’ll do our best to get an answer for you. As we get more requests for information, we’ll add new sections to the website, newsletter or both.
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About Aloha Group Maui
Aloha Group Maui was founded by L. Lee Potts, MBA, REALTOR® R(B) and Barbara S. Potts, MBA, REALTOR® R(B) and former California CPA. Our team consists of talented professionals; Cheri Miller R(S), Suni Novotny R(S), Keri Nicholson R(S), Myra Plant R(S), Anthony Freda R(S), Courtney Stice, R(S), Kathy Becklin, R(B), Heather Zidell, R(S), Magdalena Odonnell R(S), Sarah Twitchell R(S), and Tony Brown R(B). We are businesspeople, and we treat our clients with the same care and service attitude that we would like to receive when we do business. We are in business for pleasure and profit. We expect that most of our clients will enjoy the property they own in Maui (pleasure), and it would be nice for everyone if your property performs well for you (profit). Real estate can be highly speculative, and profits are never guaranteed. So if you are buying property in Maui, it’s a good idea to surround yourself with a professional team.
Lee Potts is the former President of an international software company and former Marketing VP of a publicly traded franchise organization. Lee and Barbara are both licensed under Keller Williams Realty Maui.
Barbara Potts was a CPA with Ernst and Young before joining Apple Computer back when both Steve’s were there (Jobs and Woz). She was also Director of Strategic Marketing for Grass Valley Group, a division of Tektronix, and a business broker in California.
Copyright 2023 L. Lee Potts
Statistical information in this newsletter is based on actual sales information reported to the Realtors Association of Maui, Inc. While this information is deemed reliable, it is not guaranteed. This newsletter is for informational purposes only and not intended as advice for investment or any other purposes. Real estate is considered to be highly volatile, and purchasers and sellers of real estate should always seek expert outside advice before investing.
