By BRIAN PERRY, City Editor POSTED: April 13, 2009

WAILUKU - While overall real estate figures were down across the board in the first quarter of this year, a few regions showed somewhat higher sales values, suggesting that the current downward cycle might have hit bottom and turned up.

Terry Tolman, chief staff executive of the Realtors Association of Maui, said the island's housing market just saw two of its worst months in two years, and "now it's come up a bit."

Another three or four months of real estate sales data will be needed to establish a trend, he said Sunday evening.

"A blip up or down isn't something to get totally wild about," Tolman said.

For overall number of sales, average and median sales prices and total number of dollars generated, the first quarter of 2009 fared poorly in Maui County compared with the same period in 2008, according to figures released by the Realtors Association of Maui. For example:

* The number of single-family homes sold in the first quarter dropped nearly 50 percent, 228 in the first quarter of 2008, compared with 113 this year.

* The average single-family home sales price fell 11 percent, from $909,894 to $805,436.

* The median single-family home sales price went down 11 percent, from $602,783 to $537,500.

* The total dollar volume of single-family home sales decreased 56 percent, from $207.5 million to $91 million.

Condominium sales in Maui County fared about the same in terms of sales numbers, but prices took a greater beating. For example:

* The number of condominiums sold tumbled from 276 in the first quarter of 2008 to 148 this year.

* The average condo sales price went down 23 percent, from $939,725 to $721,082.

* The median condo sales price dropped 22 percent, from $587,000 to $456,000.

* The total dollar volume of condominium sales fell 59 percent, from $259.4 million to $106.7 million.

But a silver lining may be found in the buoying values in some regional figures.

In the most active area for single-family home sales, Central Maui, the number of transactions fell 56 percent, from 103 in the first quarter of 2008 to 47 this year. However, in Central Maui, average single-family sales prices went up 5 percent from $515,551 to $539,288. Another region with positive single-family sales figures was Kihei where single-family home sales activity also was down 13 percent (36 sales in the first quarter of 2008, 23 this year), but average sales price values went up 9 percent from $646,406 to $703,201.

A couple of other resort areas also showed positive single-family sales growth, although the number of sales a year ago and this year was six or fewer. Median sales prices went up 57 percent and average sales prices rose 20 percent in Lahaina; and median and average sales prices both increased by 26 percent in the Wailea-Makena region.

Positive sales among condominiums were harder to find in the first quarter, but the average sales price of a Kaanapali condo was 27 percent higher than a year earlier - $1.3 million, compared with $986,000. In the same area, the median price was 22 percent higher - $985,000, compared with $805,000.

Sales of Kaanapali condominiums was one of the few real estate categories to show positive signs - 37 condos sold in the first quarter of this year, more than three times the 12 sold in the same period in 2008.

Tolman said he is convinced it's a buyer's market now. Prices may come down a bit more, but not by much, and it's unclear what future loan qualifications will be, he said.

There's a glut of available housing inventory on the market now, with many of the homes and condominiums considered "distressed" because of foreclosure or other factors, Tolman said.

"We're going to have to absorb that inventory at some point," he said. "It's a good time to buy," but buyers "just haven't figured that out."

* Brian Perry can be reached at citydesk@mauinews.com.