In today's Honolulu Advertiser, the story reads that Oahu's single family home median sale price in January was down 2.4% from January 2006. By comparison, Maui's single family home numbers, according to the Realtors Association of Maui, were down 9% from January a year ago. This data can only be seen to be the roughest sort of approximation. Sales in Wailuku and Kahului represented 43% of all home sales this January, where they represented only 37% last January. More expensive locations like Maui Meadows had no sales this January and five last January. Finally, Wailea's numbers would claim that median sale price is down 74% from a year ago. 74%!!! Of course it isn't true. Those statistics represent the closing of pre-construction sales on Residential Condominiums like Kai Malu and Kanani Wailea at prices set two years ago. They aren't even single family homes for crying out loud! One must really scrub the data to get the true story and understanding the mix of sales is essential to the analysis.

Here's the real scoop on Maui. Condominium unit sales remain slow across the board as do single family home sales. Condominium prices are down single digits from a year ago in places like Kihei and Napili. In the major resorts like Kapalua and Wailea/Makena, condominium values are 10-12% higher than a year ago but are not moving any higher at the moment. The oceanfront complexes are doing better that non-oceanfront ones and oceanfront homes are doing best of all.

For the real story, look for our research reports which will arrive in your mailboxes in the next few weeks.

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