Hawaii Housing Market: Home, Condo Sales Fall in 2006

The number of homes sold in the Maui housing market last year fell 17 percent from the number sold in 2005, while condominium sales dropped 41 percent, the Realtors Association of Maui reported.

Home prices in Hawaii continued to increase, though, with condos posting a 31 percent boost in median price for 2006. The median price of single-family homes rose just slightly last year when compared to the year before.

The year finished on a strong note for sales of single-family homes, with December figures showing the first increase in the number of sales in 16 months. Other than mortgage loan activity on this front, however, demand was slow.

There were 128 houses sold on Maui last month, a 33 percent increase over December 2005, when 86 homes sold. It was the highest number of sales since August 2005, when 129 homes sold.

Condo sales in December, however, plummeted 54 percent to 72 units sold, down from 158 units sold during the same month last year.

Prices told an opposite story for December.

The December median price for single-family homes fell 12 percent to $632,500, from the December 2005 price of $722,500.

The median price of a condo, on the other hand, rose nearly 15 percent to $472,500 in December, up from $402,500 during the same month in 2005. It’s no wonder, therefore, that fewer buyers used home mortgages on these types of residences.

Year-end figures show that the median price of a condo is up 31 percent, to $505,000, from $385,000 in 2005. The single-family home median price rose just 2 percent, to $693,000, up from $679,000 in 2005.

There were 1,088 single family homes sold in 2006, compared to 1,316 sold in 2005, the board said. For condos, the 1,210 sold last year was 41 percent fewer than the 2,050 sold in 2005.