The Lahaina housing market, a substantial portion of the larger Maui real estate market, has been holding relatively steady over the last few tracking periods despite an increase in the number of foreclosures. According to an October 16, 2010 report from Pacific Business News, “What that means is the median-price home on Maui last month was $440,000, the same as it was in September of last year, but nearly $100,000 less than two years ago, and more than $150,000 less than September 2007, according to the numbers recently released by the Realtors Association of Maui. In 2006, that median-priced house went for $769,000. Some neighborhoods actually saw prices rise, but places like Kihei, which has seen a lot of foreclosure and short-sale activity, are still seeing lower median prices. For example, the median-priced home in Kihei that sold for $450,000 in September 2009 sold for $381,000 last month, a 15 percent discount. Real estate experts say that once the level of inventory is reduced that prices will start to rise again. We’re already seeing that on Oahu, where prices have been going up as the inventory goes down. But no one can say when that will happen on the Neighbor Islands, especially since nationally, some in the industry expect more foreclosures to come.”

Lahaina homes for sale continue to be adversely affected by the high percentage of foreclosures on Maui and in the state. According to an October 14, 2010 report from the Honolulu Star Advertiser, “In Hawaii, much of the foreclosure trouble has occurred on the neighbor islands, where investors rushed to buy vacation property during the real estate frenzy. Most of the foreclosure filings counted by RealtyTrac still involve property owners struggling to keep their homes. Of the 1,617 Hawaii filings last month, 80 were default notices and 1,046 were sale notices. Another 491 were repossessions by lenders. By county, Maui had the worst foreclosure rate in September, at one filing per 191 households, or 347 filings in all. The Hawaii island had the next worst rate at one filing per 194 households, based on 411 total filings. Kauai's rate was one filing per 246 households, based on 121 filings. Honolulu real estate had the most filings with 738, but it had the lowest rate, at one filing for every 457 households.”