Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian islands and the third-most populated, with about 120,000 residents, just northwest of the Big Island. Kahului is the island's largest town, and the island is popular with both residents, tourists and real estate investors, as Maui real estate tends to run quite high in price and can be seen as a good long-term investment.
The Maui market, however, has seen many ups and downs in recent times. The area, like so many in this island state, was hit hard by the wider U.S. economic downturn, and it saw many negative effects to the local real estate market. The number of homeowners behind on their mortgages as well as the number of foreclosures in Maui rose steadily, and many properties saw their values come crashing down to levels not seen in several years.
Since late 2008, when the market began to tank, there have been some improvements in Maui, but the sector isn't quite out of the hole yet. In the first half of 2010, Maui had one foreclosure filing per every 245 households, with a total of 270. Some sales prices have risen, though those figures can be very volatile and fluctuate quite widely from month to month.
According to monthly statistics, in July, the median sales price for single-family homes for sale in Maui was $500,000, up just $1,000 from the previous month and down by $32,000 annually. The figure was based on 61 homes that sold over the month, a slowdown from June's 79 sales but an improvement year-over-year from 59. The condo market saw similar signs. The median sales price was $390,000 in July, down $45,000 from June's figures and down $27,000 annually. The number of condos moving also fell. July saw just 69 condos sold versus June's figure of 106; in July of last year, there were 78 sales.