Median prices for housing surge on Maui, data show

Maui home prices looked like they were on fire in September based on a report released Thursday, though property values are likely more subdued than the report suggests.

The Realtors Association of Maui published data for home sales last month showing the median sale price for condominiums soared 35 percent to $465,000 from $345,000 a year earlier.

However, the jump appeared to have a lot to do with how a big drop in sales last month affected the year-over-year median price change.

The number of condo sales fell 35 percent to 79 last month from 121 a year earlier. Most of that drop occurred in lower-priced areas of the Valley Isle, which helped produce a higher overall median price.

For instance, the Kihei area accounting for the most condo sales on Maui had 31 sales for a median $315,000 last month compared with 39 sales for a median $339,000 a year earlier.

The island’s overall condo median sale price also was pushed up in Central Maui where there were 10 sales for a median $363,750 last month compared with 22 sales for a median $243,750 a year earlier.

The Napili/Kahana/Hono­­ko­wai region also had a significant impact with 12 sales for a median $465,000 last month compared with 23 sales for a median $350,000 a year earlier.

For the first nine months of the year, Maui’s median condo sale price was up 12 percent to $420,000 on 913 sales compared with $375,000 on 1,019 sales in the same period last year.

The Realtors Association of Maui includes sales of new homes in addition to previously owned homes in its report, which tends to boost median prices.

In Maui’s single-family house market in September, the median price jumped 21 percent to $570,000 from $470,000 a year earlier while the number of sales rose 12 percent to 95 from 85.

Much of the median price gain was driven by more sales in more expensive parts of the island’s real estate market, including five sales in the Maui Meadows area for a median $1.1 million last month compared with no sales there a year earlier.

In the Wailea/Makena resort area, there were four sales for a median $1.4 million last month compared with one sale for $1.6 million a year earlier. There also was one sale in the Kapa­lua resort area for $4.9 million last month and none a year earlier.

Central Maui accounted for most single-family house sales on the island, and the median sale price also was up there, at $449,500 on 32 sales last month compared with $417,454 on 38 sales a year earlier.

This year through September, Maui’s single-family house median sale price was up 7 percent to $570,000 compared with $531,000 at the same point last year. The number of sales was down 4 percent to 721 from 749.