Maui County home and condominium prices rose by double-digit percentage points last month compared to a year ago, according to sales statistics from the Realtors Association of Maui.
The median sales price for a single-family home in August climbed to $520,000 based on 75 sales last month. That's up 27 percent from the August 2011 median price of $410,000, based on 81 single-family sales.
Still, home prices are lower than earlier this summer, when Maui's median price in June was $575,500, based on 86 sales that month.
Bob Lightbourn, president of the Realtors Association of Maui, said homes that are in good condition and priced right are moving quickly, with some of them attracting multiple offers.
"That's definitely an indicator of the health of the market - the fact that properties that are priced well are selling fairly quickly, and in some areas, we're seeing multiple offers," said Lightbourn, broker in charge of Coldwell Banker's Paia office. "The median is still in an affordable range. Interest rates are attractive and prices are attractive."
The number of homes sold last month was down by six homes compared to last August.
Year to date, Maui home prices are up about 7 percent over the same time frame last year, based on essentially the same amount of sales, according to data from the Realtors Association of Maui.
The Maui market has seen 591 single-family home sales through August, just one fewer than the same eight-month period last year. Despite the same amount of home sales year to date, total dollar volume is down about 10 percent, to $422.7 million.
But, Lightbourn said the market "feels better than it looks statistically."
"We're moving into a more average market," he said. "We're shifting from a buyer's market to a more neutral market, in my opinion. Confidence is back and properties are being snatched up."
He noted that short sales still make up a big part of the local market but that he's observed what seems to be a more smooth and more streamlined procedure for completing short sales with banks.
Meanwhile, Maui's median condominium sale price increased to $342,450 in August, based on sales volume of 98 units. That represents a 29 percent jump over the $266,000 median price in August 2011, based on 86 condo sales.
The year-over-year increase in the number of condo sales was primarily due to a boost in sales in two West Maui markets last month. The Napili, Kahana and Honokowai market saw 19 condo sales last month, compared to nine sales in August 2011, while the Kaanapali area recorded 14 condo sales - double the number of units sold last August.
Year to date, condo prices are up 11 percent, while sales volume is off by 2 percent.
* Nanea Kalani can be reached at nkalani@maui news.com.
