One simple word can be used right now when it comes to dealing with Maui real estate trends; “rocking.!” That’s right, current real estate trends on Maui are nothing short of fantastic and the future shows nothing but good news for the island when it comes to Real Estate. Sales are up and prices are up for both single-family homes and condos, and this trend looks like it may continue to take shape over the rest of 2012 and beyond.

Most people know that interest rates are at an all-time low, but if you don’t you do now. The current interest rates are so low that it has never been a better time to buy a single-family home, townhouse or condo on Maui. Fortunately many people do know this, and the statistics prove it. These rates will be around for a while still, but you need to act now, as it is a great buyer’s market.

While seller’s are still on the outside looking in a bit, trends are also starting to point to the seller being able to make money again, as the housing market continues to climb out of the 2008 crisis. While the seller’s market is not quite where it needs to be on Maui or anywhere else, things are starting to trend in a way that will benefit both buyers and sellers.

Here are some stats from Maui that are worth looking at. These are from the last few months and will probably hold true for the coming year. 

  • Overall on Maui 28 percent of the properties sold in the last year have been distressed (Bank-owned or Short Sales). By comparison only 17% of the current inventory is distressed with the majority of that being pending Short Sales (10%). As you can see, distressed sales and short sales are trending down and should continue this trend. 
  • In Central Maui, distressed properties are a whopping 47 percent of total sold. The good news is that active and pending listings, while still high at around 28 percent, they are more on par with the overall numbers on Maui.
  • South Maui seems to be at the head of the pack in trends by hitting peaks and valleys first. 29 percent of all sales in the last year were distressed. However, the area has the lowest number of active distressed properties coming in at only 4 percent.  Part of that is caused because they also have a really shortage of inventory so deals are snatched up in days! 
  • West Maui had just 20 percent of properties SOLD that were distressed with both low active and pending numbers (13% distressed) too. 21 percent of Upcountry properties sold were distressed but the future looks like that number will escalate with 18 percent of active/pending market showing as distressed.

The main thing to take away from all of these numbers is the fact that the overall real estate trends on Maui are really starting to shape up in the right direction. We should continue to see drops in foreclosures and other distressed sales over the next year.

This, combined with the lower than ever interest rates, are both excellent reasons why now is the best time to purchase single-family homes, townhouse or condos on the island of Maui.