According to Terry Tolman of the Realtors Association of Maui, real estate on the island, "seems to be bouncing along at the bottom." Terry explained that while the situation is no longer in decline, there isn't much consistent evidence to indicate that the recovery has begun, where sales in the past nine months are concerned.
Statistics on the status of real estate came from RAM's Multiple Listing Service. According to those reports, the number of sales closed is very, very low with only 53 closings of single-family homes in September as opposed to 66 in September of the year before. For the same month in 2004 and 2005, there were over a hundred closings each month. Condos looked to be in a similar state with 63 closings this September as opposed to 50 in 2008. But again, the years prior showed a drastically higher number of sales.
The recent news is that Continental Airlines is adding a daily route between L.A. and Maui as well as Honolulu/Orange County and a second trip between Honolulu/L.A. These new flights will commence on March 7th.
These new flights are exciting for the tourism industry because there have been some predictions that airlines will lose around $10 billion this year. Continental, among a few other airlines, show inspiring confidence that holiday travel will necessitate the new flights they are adding.
The Maui Charity Classic at Kaanapali is fast approaching. From October 24th-26th, the game will be played for the support of local Maui charities and will include deluxe island accommodations, celebrity players, and of course, some of the most beautiful courses in the world.
The charities that will be supported with this event include the Lahainaluna High School Athletics Program and Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research.
In a recent study released by Coldwell Banker, the nation's top ten most affordable and least affordable homes were discussed. While Hawaii's neighborhoods were not on either list, we did learn something about real estate within the state of Hawaii.
The survey was based on 2,200 square foot homes with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and an attached garage. For the state of Hawaii, Honolulu was the most expensive, with the average home (meeting the above criteria) at an average of $712,500. The good news was that Maui's Kihei came up as the cheapest place to buy such a home in Hawaii. The average price was $540,044.
According to the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO), the housing affordability index is on the up. There is still a wide gap between the state's median island income and median price of a house, but the gap has been consistently growing smaller.
According to the UHERO index, when its number is at 100, it means that a family with a median income can afford a median home. The state of Hawaii has never reached that point thanks to high asking prices. Now that those prices are dropping, the gap is narrowing. For the island of Maui, the UHERO index was at 46.4 in 2006 but by 2008 it had risen all the way to 65.6. The number is expected to continue its growth, which is great news for those who want to buy real estate on the island.
While it is generally advisable to take all good news with a grain of salt on the economic front, it's hard not to return to optimism when there is so much of it at once.
In the past couple of months we've had two big airlines provide new service to Maui and Oahu, an increase in the number of visitors to Hawaii, an increase in home sales on a national level, and statistics reporting that Honolulu unemployment is on the decline. Now it looks like Hawaii stocks are on the rise.
As of Friday, September 4th, Hawaii stocks were mostly up at closing. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics had just reported that the pace of national job losses had slowed and Wall Street's numbers began to rise.
Here is an upcoming event that should be diverting and enjoyable for Maui businesswomen. It's called, "Beat the Heat, Cool Cooking with Cool Chefs" and it will be held on Tuesday, September 8th. Presented by the Women's Business Roundtable, it should be a great opportunity to meet other businesswomen in the Maui community and have a lot of fun in the meantime.
The event is free and guests can participate in demonstrations involving cooking with three chefs whose dishes have a nice "cool down" summer theme. True to the business theme, the event's goal is to get their fellow businesswomen relaxing, enjoying the food and learning about opportunities in the culinary arena.
As for real estate on Maui, there are some very nice oceanfront homes for sale now. You may also want to see some of the great Kapalua condos on the market. As always, don't hesitate to contact me by email at robert@mauihomesales.com or call 808-662-0003. Mahalo for reading this week!
If you read our last blog on the foreclosure spike, there is good news to go with the bad. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), July saw a nationwide 7.2 percent spike in home sales as well. This increase marks the first time in five years that sales have increased four months in a row.
This is encouraging news for anyone with a stake in real estate. It is also a good time to start watching listing prices to see the effects of foreclosures versus increased sales.
July saw a big spike in home foreclosures for the state of Hawaii. According to RealtyTrac's Wednesday report last week, there were almost 300 more filings in July than in June and as far as national rankings for highest foreclosure rate, Hawaii jumped from 19th to 15th between those two months.
The total number of Hawaii foreclosure filings in July was 990 with 706 in June. In July of last year, there were 229. What we've seen is a 332 percent increase in foreclosures for July since the same month last year, and a 40 percent increase since June of this year. That is a very serious jump.
If you have not browsed Maui oceanfront homes for sale lately, you may want to consider having a look. There are also some amazing Kapalua homes for sale at this time. Keep in mind that the greatest decline in listing prices is taking place in the most expensive neighborhoods. As always, don't hesitate to contact me by email at robert@mauihomesales.com or call 808-662-0003. Mahalo for reading this week!
Home prices continued to decline last month in Maui County but condo sales seemed to be stabilizing.
Based on the last month's data from the Realtors Association of Maui (RAM), the median price of a condo was $350,000 in July this year. This is a 39 percent drop from last year's $575,000. The median price of homes was down 13 percent to $532,000 as opposed to last year's $575,000.
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