Maui Real Estate

May: 03

Maui Home Sales Looking Up…Really Up

Some good news about home sales has come from the Realtors Association of Maui as figures continued to rise last month. In fact, the sale of single-family homes rose 25 percent compared to a year ago while condo sales jumped a staggering 82 per cent. These increases were unexpected, but welcomed, to say the least.

More importantly, there is some early evidence that prices are starting to rise too. In fact, the average price for a condominium was actually 9 per cent higher in March 2010 than the same month a year ago. The figures show a total of 70 single family homes were sold this March which is 14 more than the total from the same month in 2009. The number of condos sold nearly doubled from 67 last year to 122 this year.

This all means that the first quarter of 2010 saw house sales rise an impressive 42 percent from 121 sales last year to 172 this year. As far as condos are concerned, the figures were also impressively high. In the first quarter of 2009, 259 sales were recorded while this first quarter saw 291 sales finalized.

Without question we are seeing the signs of recovery in Maui real estate. Recently, experts at the University of Hawaii affirmed that the market is rebounding. Economic indicators are improving and this can be seen in the improved sales figures during the first quarter of this year. Still, experts are predicting peaks and valleys in this recovery and the market will likely follow economic trends.

Fortunately, tourism is picking up dramatically and there looks to be an even larger number of visitors coming through as the summer heats up. Obviously, this will lead to increased spending and hopefully a positive impact on the job market. Construction looks to be rebounding the most slowly as the recession maintains its foothold.The national economy is on the rise and with an increase in tourism and the real estate industry improving the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel is certainly in view