Maui’s March median home prices highest in over a decade

Maui’s housing market came close to a record for single-family home sale prices last month as purchases rose for million-dollar properties in resort locales but fell for lower-priced homes in the island’s primary housing area.

The median price for a single-family house jumped 26 percent to $769,000 in March from $611,500 in the same month last year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Realtors Association of Maui.

Last month’s median price was the highest for any month in over a decade. The last time it was as high was in September 2006 when the median was also $769,000. This number has been higher only twice: May 2005 and July 2006 at $780,000.

Data from the trade association shows that the near-record last month was driven largely by more sales in resort areas and fewer sales at the low end of the market.

In the Wailea/Makena area, there were five sales for a median $3.3 million last month compared with no sales a year earlier. And in the Napili/Kahana/Honokowai area there were six sales for a median $964,000 last month compared with one sale for $1.1 million a year earlier.

At the other end of the market in Central Maui that accounts for most transactions, there were 24 sales last month for a median $593,000 compared with 31 sales a year earlier for a median $525,500.

The median is a point at which half the sales were at a higher price and half at a lower price.

Overall, there were 101 single-family home sales last month, up slightly from 99 sales a year earlier.

In Maui’s condominium market, there were considerably more sales in March compared with a year ago, but the median price was down in part because there were more sales at the market’s low end.

The number of condo sales was up 26 percent to 131 last month from 104 a year earlier. The median sale price was $390,000, down 21 percent from $494,000, in the same period.

Most of the condo sales were in Kihei where there were 42 sales last month for a median $357,000. A year earlier there were 38 sales in Kihei for a median $355,700.

In Central Maui, there were 17 condo sales for a median $234,000 last month compared with six sales for a median $392,000 a year earlier.