Attached are the Maui April 2009 Sales Statistics.
To view the entire breakdown click the link below.
http://www.ramaui.com/UserFiles/File/Stats/All-April2009.pdf
Brief overview:
NOTE: Land Sales for March include 6 previously unreported sales ($36+ million total) ranging between 5 and 7 million dollars each, bumping up “Previous Month” Average, Median and Total Dollar Volume as well as Year-to-Date numbers. Therefore there is a distorted view within the data.
The irony of the market (a bit of Keynesian influence):
When it's easy to qualify for a loan, more buyers qualify and come into the market. This gluttony of buyers reduces inventory to smaller numbers and drive prices higher. Conversely, when it’s harder to qualify for a loan (as it is now), there are fewer buyers in the marketplace; therefore inventory grows with more choices and prices are lower (better deals). This is today’s market... buyers are looking for deals.
Pages 4 - April's Sales Volume – Residential and Condo Sales declined to 47 homes and 29 condos respectively and Land Sales came in at 11 lots (see above disclaimer).
Page 5 - April's Median SALES prices for Residential homes slipped to $495,000 and Condos went even lower to $290,000. Land sales median was $1,100,000.
Page 6 - Days on Market for Residential homes = 137 DOM, Condos = 174 DOM, Land = 195 DOM. (General DOM Note: this is the average DOM for the properties that SOLD. If predominantly OLD inventory sells, it can move this indicator upward, and vice versa. Also, RAM's Days on Market are calculated from List Date to Closing Date [not contract date]. As such, it includes approximately 45-60 days
of escrow time.)
Pages 10 - 14 - "Year to Date Sales" numbers are limited in scope as they only compare January/April 2009 to January/April 2008. Short timeframe (monthly) views do not necessarily reflect the longer timeframe trends. Better overview is available from these pages at the end of each year such as 2008's Year End (Dec. 2008) available at: http://www.ramaui.com/UserFiles/File/Stats/December2008.pdf
Year to Date: Residential unit sales declined (-47%), average sold price = $778,463 (-14%), median price = $519,000 (-13%) and total dollar volume sold = $126,889,472 (-54%).
Condo unit sales declined (-51%), average sold price = $699,724 (-27%), median price = $422,500 (-28%). Total Condo dollar volume sold = $127,349,711 (-64%).
Land – NOTE: Land Lot sales are such a small sampling that statistics in this property class are not necessarily reliable indicators. Land lot sales declined (-31%), average sold price = $1,641,305 (+77%), median price = $862,500 (+11%), Total dollar volume = $55,804,375 (+23%). Again, see the above disclaimer.
Also, total sales for immediately past 12 months: Residential = 770, Condo = 611, Land = 8.
There is a glaring stat that jumps out of this for me and that is only 8 land sales in the past 12 months!
April 12, 2009 - Active/Pending/Contingent status inventory:
May April March Feb. Jan. Dec. Nov. Oct. Sept. Aug. June May
Homes 1,086 1,150 1,144 1,134 1,103 1,126 1,111 1,114 1,133 1,176 1,141 1,132
Condos 1,675 1,796 1,794 1,750 1,722 1,700 1,638 1,600 1,618 1,594 1,565 1,535
Land 648 662 667 595 575 563 595 552 558 548 545 531
IN A NUT SHELL...... the good, the bad….. AND THE CONTINUED UNCERTAINTY ……
Inventory shrunk in all three classes during the last month. Similar to latest reports from many mainland markets, our market seems to be at or near the bottom. The large inventory includes many short sales and REO (bank owned) properties which will need to be absorbed as sales before we can move ahead.
FOR SELLERS: Sellers who don’t really need to sell (just “fishing?”) should either stay off the market or understand what the marketplace is and be extremely patient. To be successful, Sellers need to be realistic and beat competing properties with better property condition, aggressive pricing, good marketing, and flexible, creative terms (including lease-with-option-to-buy and sale-with-lease-back to seller). Days on Market figures show that properties priced right will sell in a reasonable timeframe. “Priced Right” is still the determining factor. BEST Deals are selling, everything else is getting old. It has boiled down to pricing as the limited amount of buyers and the increasing amounts of REO's (bank owned properties) and short sales are competing with the fair market properties for sale.
Pro-Active Sellers are getting their properties appraised, inspected and surveyed in advance to encourage knowledgeable offers from realistic Buyers. They are surveying the market and understand in the declining market where they need to be in order to move their property. Doing this can prevent unanticipated escrow fallout.
Unrealistic Sellers continue to follow the market down and miss current opportunities that later become woefully apparent. They may even end up in a Short Sale or Foreclosure situation that could have been
avoided.
FOR BUYERS: Continued low interest rates and first time homebuyer incentives provide plenty of options for Buyers who qualify. Buyers should get Pre-Approved so they can shop in confidence (fewer last minute disappointments due to non-funding loans). More "short-sales" and foreclosures are happening in the marketplace, yet they can be less of a bargain than they seem, requiring more hurdles to leap and more time (often 4-6 months) to close, if at all. Be
prepared, but BE REALISTIC.
However, if you can purchase a home, it is a great time to buy and HOLD. Prices have declined considerably in the past 2-3 years; “Able” Buyers are scouting out good deals and closing them.
Buyers waiting for the "bottom" may also miss unique properties/opportunities as market forces, qualification requirements and mortgage rates fluctuate. (There is no bell that rings when the market hits bottom.)
Zooming in on the figures of a specific geographic area or property type may lead to different conclusions that the overall view.
Disclaimer: Maui's market place is much smaller than Oahu's, and a few high or low sales have a greater effect on the statistical numbers without necessarily indicating a big market swing one way or another.
HOME | 
