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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, April 12, 2010

Maui home sales surge, but median prices see mixed results


Advertiser Staff

Home sales on Maui last month rose strongly, though median prices were mixed, according to the Realtors Association of Maui.

Single-family home sales in March were up 25 percent to 70 compared with 56 in the same month last year. The median price was down 9 percent to $460,000 from $504,500.

The median price, which is a point at which half the sales were for more and half for less, was most influenced by sales in the Valley Isle's main single-family home submarket, Central Maui. The median price in this region was down 14 percent to $438,500 on 30 sales in March compared with $508,320 on 18 sales a year earlier.

In Maui's condominium market, sales surged 82 percent to 122 last month from 67 a year earlier. The volume was a nearly 4-year high. The median price was up 9 percent to $512,250 from $468,000.

Maui's largest submarket for condos, Kaanapali, was a leading factor in pushing the median higher. There were 49 sales for a median $892,250 in the area last month, compared with 21 sales for a median $885,000 a year earlier.

Terry Tolman, chief executive of the Realtors Association of Maui, noted that the surge in Ka'anapali condo sales included 41 new units sold by the developer of the luxury Honua Kai complex where prices range from $573,300 to about $5.3 million.

Unlike O'ahu home sale statistics reported by the Honolulu Board of Realtors that include only resales of previously owned homes, Maui's sales figures include sales of new and previously owned homes.