Condo median sale prices increased 7.2 percent from $515,000 in June 2018, the Realtors Association of Maui June report showed. While the median was the highest in a while, condo prices peaked at $805,000 in January 2009 and surpassed the $500,000 threshold during many months from 2006 to 2008, according to RAM archives.

Inventory, the number of properties for sale in active status at the end of a given month, broke all-time lows in June, though. With supply low, it could signal a seller’s market.

The number of units for sale in June dropped 14.6 percent to 445 for single-family homes and 21.3 percent to 476 for condos in comparison with the same month last year. May had set the previous low-inventory record on file with 462 single-family homes and 507 condos. Inventory tracking dates back to 2010, RAM said.

“We have been closely monitoring the inventory statistics over the past few months, and we are actively working with county officials to develop plans and strategies to increase the inventory on Maui,” David Belew, RAM chief staff executive, said Wednesday. “RAM remains committed to working with the county to make housing affordable for all Maui residents.”

In contrast, the number of single-family homes for sale reached highs in early 2010, when it peaked at 1,059 in April of that year. Condos reached a 10-year high in April 2009 when 1,796 were on the market, RAM archives showed.

Single-family homes in June had a median sales price of $750,000, a 3.4 percent bump from $725,000 last year. This year, the April median sales price of $819,500 for single-family homes broke RAM records since tracking began in 1993.

The median sales price is the middle number in the series of sale prices, not accounting for seller concessions.

Buyers went to Wailuku to scoop up the majority of their single-family homes in June; 18 units sold at a median sales price of $647,500. Condo buyers headed to Kihei, where 39 units were sold at a median sales price of $500,000.

For single-family homes, the highest median sales price in June was found in Kaanapali, where one unit sold for $3.1 million, and the lowest was found on Molokai, where two units sold for $465,000. For condos, the highest median sales price was in Kapalua, where 12 units sold for $2,147,500, and the lowest was in Kahului, where two units sold for $216,000.

Closed sales, the count of actual sales that closed in a given month, ticked up 2.4 percent to 87 for single-family homes compared to the previous year. Condos, through, dropped 19.2 percent to 122.

Homes were closing faster in June with days on the market until sale, the average number of days in a given month between the property’s listing and closing, dropping 27.3 percent to 117 for single-family homes and 16.8 percent to 129 for condos.

RAM’s June report said the economy still is performing well, citing low unemployment and solid retail sales. But it also cautioned about slow times to come.

“In terms of relative balance between buyer and seller interests, residential real estate markets across the country are performing well within an economic expansion that will become the longest in U.S. history in July,” the report said. “However, there are signs of a slowing economy.”

The Federal Reserve considers 2 percent a healthy inflation rate, but the U.S. rate is expected to remain below that this year, the report added. The White House is pressuring the Fed to cut rates in order to spur economic activity and the “possibility of a rate reduction in 2019 is definitely in play following a string of increases over the last several years.”

RAM’s Maui Real Estate Market Reports are available at www.ramaui.com.

* Kehaulani Cerizo can be reached at kcerizo@mauinews.com.