Although inventory is at a all time high, the number of escrows currently opened on Maui is slowly but surely going up. There are 406 escrows opened as of today, Sat 10/10/09. Given the fact that 16 sales took place in the past few days, it means that 21 escrows alone were opened in the last two days! Just for reference, July to December 2008, on average only two escrows were opened daily, while the total number of escrows opened at all times ranged in the mid 200's. A lot of those escrows were actually developer units that were still under construction, like Honua Kai, Opukea or West Maui Brakers.
86 escrows , that is 21.1% of the total number of escrows currently opened are short sales. 59 escrows (14.1%) are bank owned properties. This means that the remaing 64.8% of escrows are very motivated sellers, that recognized the new market conditions.
Almost half of the number of escrows are RESIDENTIAL, while 37% are condos. Less than 10% of the current escrows are for LAND and a lot of them are parcels that await final subdivision approval.
Only a handful of people seem to be buying timeshares. They are all resales, since the developer timeshares are not included in the Multiple Listing Services.
We surely hope this trend continues and that the short sale and foreclosures share of the market stays low!
Disclaimer:All raw data was obtained from Maui Multiple Listing Service.
On May 1st 2009, the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct came into force, with major consequences on your real estate transaction.
Here are the main issues:
- appraisals are not ordered directly by the bank or the realtor, but rather through a "clearing house" that uses a roster and a rotation system to decide which appraiser will be completing the appraisal. Even if appraisers have their area of expertise, that expertise wont come into play.
- realtors can not communicate with the appraisers. Realtors can not offer information about the property,suggest comparable properties or dispute/question the result of the appraisal. Since sometimes it is hard to find recent sales in a neighborhood, realtors could help by suggesting comps in areas that may be overlooked otherwise. In the past three months, I have received many calls from appraisers that simply needed to " pick on my brain" in an effort to find comps for a subject property or to learn why a certain unit in the complex would be worth $50,000 more than another one with the same square footage, for instance. Or whether a credit was given to the buyer at the time of purchase and the information is not public.
In a nutshell, if you are a buyer or a seller, here is what you can expect, as a result of the implementation of this new code:
- longer turn around time for appraisals. Estimated time now is 2-3 weeks, compared to 2 to 3 days, previously;
- longer time for a loan to be put together. Typical financing process will require 45 to 60 days;
- longer escrow times, that is 45 to 60 days;
- direct communication with the appraiser, in an effort to make sure that the property is appraised justly. This may be challenging when you are an out of state owner and you may need to do your own research in regards to market values.
- higher appraisal fees, since someone will have to be paid to do the job of maintaing the list of appraisers and ordering the appraisals according to the rotation system.
While I see the need to prevent further abuse and misuse of appraisals in the real estate business, I also think that the code is an exaggerated reaction to what happened in the past. I surely hope that a balance between preventing fraud on one hand and doing business in an efficient way on the othe hand, can be attained.
To see all Maui listings, please check www.westmauihome.com
Pineapple Hill is one of the high end subdivisions in Kapalua, where homes have consistently sold for somewhere around $1,000/sf.
406 Monarch Pl was foreclosed on and listed by the bank at $1,700,000. And of course, it sold right away, since the actual market value is somewhere around $2.3mil.
Please click here to see all details on this beautiful home.
Well, sure enough the new owner turned around and relisted the property for sale, for $2.3mil the day after closing. Who would have thought that flipping properties is still possible. of course, we will wait and see what this home will sell for first.
The good news is that investors and specualtors are back in the market. They see the opportunities and they dont miss them. After all, nobody will appear on the evening news to say: buy now, this is the bottom, tomorrow prices will be higher. The news about hitting the bottom will always be in hindsight:-)))
To see other beautiful homes on Maui, please visit www.westmauihome.com
One of my fellow colleagues pointed out the following article that appeared in US Today, on Monday, April 27th, entitled "Maui, Hawaii, home prices still high but falling". Please read the whole article here.
Two different experts are quoted in the article, Terry Tolman, the REALTORS Association of Maui chief executive and Byron Gangnes, University of Hawaii economist. While using different words, they both seem to agree that real estate prices are falling. Which means that prices are going down this very second.
During a private coversation with Terry Tolman, he actually said that the article does not reveal the whole story. It makes a headline saying that prices are going down, but failed to also express his opinion that this is a perfect time to buy. Large inventory, sellers with various motivations that are aware of market conditions, low interest rates: all these factors may not flash a red big light saying: THIS IS THE BOTTOM, JUMP ON THE BAND WAGON! But they are pointing to you that this is the perfect time to negotiate. We only see the bottom of the market in hindsight, there will be no news on it, that is for sure!
And while I dont claim to be a clairvoyant or have the ability to say where is this market going, I do know that the number of opened escrow are on the rise, even with all the challenges on the mortgage market. The number of pending contracts on Maui increased 25%, compared to the end of last year. I also notice a significant increase in the number of showings and inquiries that I get for my listings.
There are many opportunities out there, which inspired me to start a new series of blogs, called "What I Would Buy Today". So watch for those posts :-)))
Aloha from beautiful Maui,
Mihaela Stoops
"Save Honolua Coalition" was created by members of the community in an effort to preserve Honolua and put an end to future development in the area.
To read the latest update about the works of this non profit organization, please click on the link below:
To learn more about Maui real estate, including Honolua area, please check www.westmauihome.com
 |
|
|
Specializing in investment properties on Maui, including, but not limited to vacation rentals, long term rentals and spec homes.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2009 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
