For the third time this year, the monthly median sale price for single-family homes hit a new high for Maui County.

Single-family homes mainly on Maui sold in August for a median $837,500 — a 20% gain from $700,000 in the same month last year, according to recent data released by the Realtors Association of Maui.

Prior high marks earlier this year were $819,500 in April and $790,000 in February, and took down a more than decade-old record that was set at $780,000 in May 2005 and matched in July 2006.

The 20% spike in August was largely driven by significantly fewer sales at the more affordable end of the market, which includes Lanai and Molokai within Maui County.

For instance, there was just one sale on Molokai last month for $776,000 compared with nine sales for a median $309,900 a year earlier.

And in Wailuku there were 12 sales last month for a median $709,444 compared with 26 sales for a median $697,128 a year earlier.

Fewer sales at the low end effectively boost the median price, which is a point at which half the sales are at a higher price and half are at a lower price.

Overall, there were 98 single-family home sales in August, down 10% from 109 a year earlier.

In Maui County’s condominium market, sale volume sank 22% to 117 last month from 149 a year earlier. The median condo sale price slipped 1% to $496,950 from $500,000 in the same period.

Maui’s median condo price record was set in January 2009 at $805,000.

The Realtors Association of Maui counts both new and previously owned homes in its sale data. Including new homes can tend to make median prices jump around more, particularly when developers close relatively large numbers of sales at a project in bulk.

For the first eight months of the year, the median sale price for single-family homes was $755,000, up 8% from $700,000 in the same period last year. The median condo sale price this year through August was $515,000, up 4% from $497,500.

HOME SALES

The number of homes sold on Maui in August with the median price and percentage change from the same month last year.

HOMES

SALES MEDIAN PRICE

August 2019 98 $837,500

August 2018 109 $700,000

Change -10.1% 19.6%

CONDOS

SALES MEDIAN PRICE

August 2019 117 $496,950

August 2018 149 $500,000

Change -21.5% -0.6%

Source: Realtors Association of Maui