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Low inventory, higher housing prices persist in Maui County

Year-end real estate sales remain hot

Construction equipment remains idle while the frame of a multifamily home rises near Piilani Highway on Monday in the first phase of Alexander & Baldwin’s Kamalani housing development in north Kihei. The new housing will add badly needed inventory to Maui’s real estate market. In Kihei, the median price of a single-family home rose to $702,000 in 2017, a 12.3 percent increase compared with 2016. In Maui County, median home prices were up 8.8 percent to $695,000. The Maui News / BRIAN PERRY photos

The rising trajectory of Maui County’s single-family home sales continued last year, ending with median single-family home prices climbing to $695,000, up 8.8 percent compared with 2016, according to statistics released recently by the Realtors Association of Maui.

For condominiums, sales prices rose 7.2 percent to $445,000 for the year.

The association’s commentary points to low inventory fueling higher prices, not only in Maui County, but nationally.

“The number of homes for sale, days on market and months of supply were all down in year-over-year comparisons in a majority of the country for the entirety of 2017, as was housing affordability,” the association reported. “And, although total sales volumes were mixed, prices were consistently up in most markets.”

Over a 12-month period ending in December, the average inventory for single-family homes was 555, down 7.7 percent from the same period in 2016; and the average inventory for condominiums was 723, down 17.4 percent.

Model homes await inspection by prospective buyers Monday at the Kamalani housing project in north Kihei.

Also for the year, the number of new home listings rose to an average of 139 per month, an 8.6 percent increase, while new condo listings fell to an average of 165 per month, a decline of 9.8 percent.

Pending home sales climbed to an average of 98 per month, up 12.6 percent, while pending condo sales rose to an average of 127, up 15.5 percent.

Closed home sales averaged 91 per month in 2017, an increase of 1.1 percent, while closed condo sales rose to an average of 121, up 11 percent.

The average days on market statistic showed buyers were snapping up homes and condos at a faster pace in 2017 than in 2016. The average days on market for a single-family home was 146 last year, down 8.4 percent, and for condos it was 154 days, a drop of 3.8 percent.

And, sellers remained happy, getting, on average, 96.7 percent of their list price for homes last year, an increase of 0.1 percent. The percentage of condo sellers getting their price was nearly the same, 96.8 percent. Both were increases of a fraction of 1 percent, compared with 2016.

Alexander & Baldwin’s Kamalani housing development in north Kihei will add 170 units in the first phase of the master-planned community. Low inventory and high demand led single-family median home prices to $695,000 last year. At full buildout, the Kamalani project will have 630 units.

Predictably, the climate remained poor for housing affordability. The association’s affordability index uses 120 as a measure for the median household income needing to be 120 percent of what is necessary to qualify for a median-priced home or condominium. A higher index number means greater affordability.

For Maui County last year, the index numbers were 56 for single-family homes and 87 for condos, declines of 9.7 and 7.4 percent, respectively.

Looking at data for all of 2017, the number of home sales increased 2.1 percent to 1,099, and the number of condos that changed hands rose 10.8 percent to 1,451.

By region, the single-family home sales volume was highest in Wailuku for the year, with 215 sales, up 9.7 percent from 2016. It was followed by Kihei with 190 sales, up 8 percent; and Kahului, 147, up 4.5 percent. Haiku had 85 sales, up 30.8 percent, and Kula-Ulupalakua-Kanaio had 79 sales, up 23.4 percent.

For condo sales volume, by region, Kihei alone recorded nearly 40 percent of all sales, 580, up 18.9 percent from 2016. Napili-Kahana-Honokowai was a distant second with 222 sales, down 5.9 percent. The only other regions with triple-digit condo sales for the year were Wailea-Makena, 141, up 34.3 percent; Wailuku, 133, down 9.5 percent; and Kaanapali, 129, down 13.4 percent.

For 12-month median single-family home prices, by region: Wailuku home prices rose 9.4 percent to $617,435; Kihei went up 12.3 percent to $702,000; Kahului increased 8.4 percent to $600,000; Haiku dropped 11.1 percent to $753,500; and Kula-Ulupalakua-Kanaio was flat at $849,000.

For regional condo prices in 2017, Kihei units were up 10.3 percent to $373,050; Napili-Kahana-Honokowai rose 4.8 percent to $417,500; Wailea-Makena increased 7 percent to $1.15 million; Wailuku went up 8.5 percent to $407,000; and Kaanapali fell 10.9 percent to $780,000.

To see the association’s full report, go to www.ramaui .com/wp-content/uploads/ 2018/01/RAM-Stats-Dec-2017.pdf.

* Brian Perry can be reached at bperry@mauinews.com.

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