Maui Real Estate

Dec: 14

Prices Drop as West Maui Land Co. Sells Lots

Unusually, West Maui Land Co. has been looking to offload a number of large lots through auction. This undeveloped land was available to bidders who were looking for land adjacent to the West Maui forest reserve. As property sales throughout Hawaii have been dwindling recently, the West Maui Land Co. had decided to take a somewhat novel approach in an attempt to finalize the sale of at least 5 lots before the end of the year. Five lots, with one in escrow, have already been sold this year and at bargain prices as well.

Last year, the West Maui Land Co. had hoped to get upwards of $1.6 million for these lots but sales have fallen in the $695,000 to $900,000 range representing a considerable savings for interested investors. Despite difficulties comparing year-to-year sales of Maui land, because of variations in sales with regards to numbers and character, it should still be mentioned that there has been a steep decline in interest in Maui real estate since 2006. In fact, since then sales figures have steadily declined from $266 million in 2006 to $190 million in 2007, down to a meager $94 million last year. While sales have improved slightly in 2009, we’re at $106 million through 10 months; the real estate market is considerably weaker since financial markets began to weaken.

Auctions for Maui Land Co. were limited to individuals with cash or instant credit as the opening bids started at $500,000 and sales were to be finalized before December 21st. The auctions had been advertised exclusively in Hawaii, most prominently in local newspapers, and generated a fair amount of interest. Maui Land avoided offshore interest for a couple of reasons. Namely, there were some time restrictions with regards to advertising in internationally circulated publications and the fact that buyers were required to attend with a broker.

Interested parties were involved in the auction of lots ranging from 25 to 50 acres that all exceeded 700 feet in elevation. While the lots are fairly steep, the forest reserve line is about 1,400 feet, some of them are as deep as 2,000 feet. Moreover, roads and utilities were already set up.