Real Estate and Resort News: February 2011

Real Estate and Resort News

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Maui Homes for Sale - Market Update

Maui Homes for Sale
The West Maui real estate market, part of the larger Valley Island and Hawaii housing markets, saw a disappointing performance in the most recent tracking periods. According to statistics provided by the Realtors Association of Maui and the Honolulu Star Advertiser, there was a larger quantity of sales but a lower median price in December 2010.

The median sales price for single-family homes on Maui was $460,000 in December, marking a decrease of approximately eight percent from $498,106 in December 2009. The median price is even further off the market’s peak, which was achieved in 2006 with a figure of $690,000. Condominiums, on the other hand, saw a substantially larger decline in median price.

Condos declined from $450,000 to $377,500, marking a decrease of about sixteen percent from year-ago levels. The highest point of the condo market was reached in 2007, peaking at $550,000. This lackluster performance generally matched that of the Big Island and Kauai, although it was considerably weaker than the relatively strong Oahu housing market.

There were more home sales on Maui in December 2010 compared to December 2009 – 814 in 2010 compared to 693 in 2009, representing an increase of about seventeen percent. Similarly, there were 1,147 condominium sales on Maui in December 2010, showing a larger increase of about thirty-nine percent from December 2009’s 826.

It is important to note that the West Maui and Maui homes for sale analyzed by the Realtors Association of Maui statistics analyzed both new and pre-owned properties, although Oahu’s numbers dealt with solely previously owned homes.

A January 2011 article by Pacific Business News characterized the cumulative numbers for 2010 as possibly indicative of a nascent recovery, noting the higher sales volume throughout the Neighbor Islands. One local economist noted that the recovery of the Outer Islands is projected to be slower than Oahu, although the “bottom” of the market may be gradually forming on Maui. The overall sluggishness of Maui’s recovery can be at least partially attributed to a continually lackluster job market, as well as the hesitancy of many banks to extend additional lines of credit as they continue to recover from the recession.
### from Jeff Manson, ADRHI

Compare Hawaii homes to Myrtle Beach homes for sale and Albuquerque real estate.

posted by Jan Chilton @ 12:01 AM 0 comments

Friday, February 04, 2011

AOL Real Estate Talks Foreclosure Hot Spots

AOL Real Estate had an interesting article yesterday describing some cities in the US having a surprisingly large number of foreclosures - cities that many people wouldn't think of having a problem with housing woes.

They noted that one out of every nine homes went into foreclosure in Las Vegas last year. ONE OUT OF EVERY NINE...WOW.

As an aside, they also quoted the president of RealtyTrac as saying 2011 would likely set another record for the number of foreclosures. That isn't such good news for anyone.

Some of the places mentioned were in our immediate area and as such are of interest to Myrtle Beach real estate folks. One of these was - guess? Myrtle Beach itself. Yes, we made AOL News, and not in a good way. According to AOL, foreclosures increased 44 percent in 2010, mostly from vacation property. One thing that was said that I do not agree with though...

"But the city's major industry, tourism, was hurt by the recesssion." {in 2010). Now that's the first I've heard of that, particularly in North Myrtle Beach, where several of the condo companies reported a record year last year. They also said we were the nation's ELEVENTH fastest-growing city!

Charlotte NC was another city on the list, predicted to see a 37% increase, and one out of every 50 homes in foreclosure this year.

Spartanburg was said to be the fastest growing region in SC, but also with the fastest growing foreclosure rate. They are predicting a 228% increase, and one out of every 60 homes to go into foreclosure. Nearby Greenville and Lake Greenwood property apparently was less affected by the real estate crash. The Greenwood SC MLS only shows 22 active foreclosures at this writing.

Virginia Beach was mentioned as having had foreclosures to the tune of 31 percent or one in 54 homes last year. They didn't mention predictions for the upcoming months.

New Orleans was said to have one in 57 homes in foreclosure, a 36% increase just this past month, which followed 36% last year and 79% in 2009. They described this southern resort city as being one of the 100 worst cities in the US for foreclosures.

Tulsa made the list, as well as Savannah GA, and followed by a report on the woes of Albuquerque real estate. Albuquerque is said to have had one out of 46 homes go to foreclosure in 2010. This is blamed largely on the loss of construction jobs rather than the usual mortgage fraud and over-enthusiatic investment attempts. Albuquerque foreclosures increased over 60 percent in last year.

posted by Jan Chilton @ 5:29 AM 0 comments