Oahu Real Estate Market

The Oahu real estate market continues to face strong economic repercussions from the recession that started well over a year ago. One particularly visible example of the continued weakness in the area was reported by a March 9, 2010 article in the Maui News, which reported that “A foreclosure auction has been scheduled for 72 units of a 99-unit industrial condominium complex on Oahu. The units at the Waipio Business Center are to be sold in bulk March 24. The complex developed at a cost of an estimated $60 million was completed two years ago.” The piece noted that “The developer, WIC Partners LLC, sold 27 units in 2008 for close to $22 million. But then the market dried up with the financial crisis, and no units sold last year. Lender GE Business Financial Services Inc. filed a foreclosure lawsuit in June.”

There is some sense of hope for Oahu homes for sale, in the form of a nationwide effort to alleviate foreclosures. According to a March 26, 2010 article from KITV 4 News, “Hawaii banks and other lenders said Friday President Obama’s new initiatives to prevent foreclosures could be a great help in keeping local residents in their homes. Hawaii foreclosures are at record highs with 11,164 homes in foreclosure in the state, 5851 on Oahu, 2215 on Hawaii Island. 2141 on Maui and 957 homes on Kauai.” The article, composed by Denby Fawcett, continued to say that “Bank of Hawaii said the new features in the Obama plan should help prevent more foreclosures. ‘It will give our customers another tool they can use to help keep them in their homes.’ said Tim Padgett, Bank of Hawaii Senior Vice President for Loan Management Services.”

The resort market, which is crucial to Oahu real estate for sale, has started to improve, according to a March 25, 2010 article in the Pacific Business News. The piece continued to state that “Home sales in Hawaii’s resort market began to show a rebound in 2009, with just a 2 percent decline in sales from the previous year, according to a new report. The 2 percent decline followed a 37 percent drop in 2008 and was the smallest decline since the market began to drop in 2006, according to the residential resort market report from Data @ Work.”

Lahaina Real Estate

Lahaina, Hawaii, a beautiful seaside city on the island of Maui in the South Pacific state, has a generally high-priced real estate market with its highly desirable location and the beautiful oceanside view from many homes and condos. The market, like so many, has suffered in recent years after the effects of the economic downturn on the U.S. mainland made their way out to the island.

The Lahaina real estate market has shown several signs of stabilization in recent months, with just slight increases and decreases in both price and volume. According to the local Coldwell Banker statistics, at the end of 2009, in December, the median price of properties sold in Lahaina was $1.21 million, which was up slightly from November’s figure of $1.12 million but down from December of 2008′s figure of $1.34 million. Lahaina’s median price for single-family homes was the second-highest of all of Maui.

Total sales volume in December in Lahaina was $6.05 million, with four Lahaina homes for sale closed upon. These figures were up from November, when the total volume was $4.82 million with three homes sold and from a year ago, when total volume was $4.47 million, also with three homes sold.

The condo marked showed great signs for improvement, more so than the single-family home market.  The median price of a condo sold in Lahaina in December was $398,000, up from November’s $396,500. The total sales volume for condos in December was $4.89 million, with eight condos sold. Sales activity picked up significantly, with eight condos sold in December, up from just two in November and zero one year ago. Condo prices in Lahaina were the fourth-lowest of all Maui markets.