Maui Real Estate: Looking back at 2010

A look Back at 2010- Maui Real Estate

This past year posted a considerable increase in sales volume of both single family homes and condominiums on Maui.
Jan 2009 -Dec 2009, single family home sales volume on Maui was slightly over $494 million.
Jan 2010- Dec 2010 single family home sales volume rose to over $608 million. That's significant. A 23% increase over 2009!
Jan 2009-Dec 2009, condo sales volume was over $593 million.
Jan 2010-Dec 2010, condo sales volume was over $743 million. Again, a considerable increase of 25% over 2009!
See complete YTD statistics here: Click Here


Though prices declined during this period, it is notable that sales activity and resulting volume have been on the rise.
The reality is that great priced properties for their category are seeing multiple offers. Last week I was in a bidding war with 9 other offers within 2 days of the Kaanapali home going on the market.
I went up to see the house at 7am to video tape it for my client. By noon that day, 5 offers were in and more were coming. We cannot say with certainty where the bottom is but we can say, I think, that we are starting to bounce off of Why the Uptick in the market?
Lets talk about the uptick in Maui real estate sales volume during 2010. In order to do that we should look at some of the underlying factors that might have driven this upward tick. First and foremost, if you've visited Maui, then you know what an incredible place it is!

Maui is a place where people want to live,relax and retire. Maui, along with Hawaii County, has led population growth for Hawaii. Between April 2000 and July 2009, Maui's population expanded by 13.3% from 128,094 residents to 145,157 residents.*
Maui is a place that draws people time and time again. Eventually some of these visitors choose to become owners of Maui Real Estate. Between January 2010 and November 2010, 6,358,844 visitors came to Hawaii (by air), and 1,904,904 (30%) of those visitors made their way to Maui.
Maui Is leading the state in visitor arrivals and visitor spending. The growth has been in the double digits.
Don't underestimate the importance of airline seats coming to Maui. An occupied airline seat to Maui is like a "promissory note" for monies to be spent on Maui. Thus watching the increase/decrease of plane seats is critical.
Now that Hawaiian Airlines has just launched their NON STOP service to Seoul, S. Korea, we expect to see a rise in tourism numbers and dollars spent here in Paradise.
Read full article here.

Other factors that you may want to consider is the strong Canadian dollar. They have been taking advantage with their buying power and seeking sunshine from their cold winters. It is the perfect match.

Looking back at past real estate cycles in Hawaii, there seems to have always been someone who came to the rescue. In the 1980"s we saw the west coast (particularly California) come and invest; then in the 1990"s the Japanese yen was flying high and now it is the Canadians. Could South Koreans be next? Hyundai just sponsored the PGA Golf tournament (it used to be the Mercedes Benz Championship) a couple of weeks ago in Kapalua. They have several more years on the contract.

So it is ... the world is still seeing us as Paradise! Out in the middle of the ocean. One of the most isolated places on earth. Maui is quite a blessing. So much so that she even gives us SNOW!! Taken on Jan.19, 2011
Imagine basking in the sun and looking up at the SNOW covered Summit of Haleakala . Amazing diversity!

We hope that you have an Incredible New Year! Please know that we may not send you recipe cards or birthday cards, or remind you that it may be time to trim the trees, but we hope we send you real info you can use. Information that is unbiased and untainted to assist you in making informed decisions.
Thank you for your trust and A hui hou...

Jeannie Kong Realtor (S)

The BIG waves are back at Jaws too!! Maui is the world destination for Big Wave Surfing. The top surfers come to Maui in the Winter time to ride the world biggest waves. In person, it is just JAWdroppingly