Maui a safer bet than other regions of US

Maui is a safer investment area compared to other regions of the US as the sub-prime fiasco hasn't affected the property market here to that degree.

The Hawaiian housing market may avoid much of the slowdown that the remaining US housing market will see. That was a comment made by Janel Yellen, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco as reported in Star Bulletin.

According to her, "It seems that in many ways, because housing is stronger and that's not a source of such drag in Hawaii as it is elsewhere in the country, that Hawaii should perhaps do better than the country as a whole."

The United States faces a likely slowdown in the real estate market here, as well as in the overall economy. One of the reasons that the Hawaiian market will do better is because of the lesser amount of subprime lending that is seen in Hawaii as compared to other regions.

Still, sales of homes in Maui and Lanai did fall to their lowest levels in several years last month. In January, only 55 properties sold in Maui, which is down from 106 in January of 2007. This is according to the Realtors Association of Maui. The number is the lowest it has been in five years.

The median price of this type of property also fell to US $574,113 which is down from January 2007's numbers of US $602,000.

Condo sales have also dropped in Maui, just slightly from 89 units in 2008's January from 99 in January of 2007.