Kahului is the most populous city on the Hawaiian island of Maui, home to a population last estimated to be around 20,000. It is home to the island’s primary airport and is on the island’s north shore on the bay of the same name. In recent years, the market for Kahului real estate has struggled as so many cities on the Hawaiian islands have, affected by an overheating in real estate prices that was brought crashing back down once the U.S. economic downturn set in.

Local real estate statistics show that at the end of 2009, the central area of Maui, which includes Kahului, the monthly median price of Kahului homes for sale stood at $438,000, up from $430,000 the previous month in November, but down from one year earlier, when that figure was $525,000. Sales volume in the area for the month of December saw 31 homes change hands, an increase from the previous month and of a year ago, when it was both at 27.

The market for condos in Kahului is a smaller one, so statistics on the condo market are subject to wild fluctuations based on only a couple of sales. Nonetheless, condo sales volume was up at the end up of 2009. In December, there were five condos sold, and the previous month saw 13 condos sold. At the end of 2008, in December, there was only a single condo sold. The median price for the condos in December was $443,600, up from November’s $275,500. In December 2008, the figure was just $75,000, but it was based on just one low-priced sale.

For the whole of 2009, the central Maui region saw 242 single-family homes sold, a drop of 46% from 2008′s total sales volume, which was 448 units. This trend was typical across the island, as all of Maui saw a 24% drop in sales volume during 2009. The yearly median price in the central region was down only slightly from a year earlier. For the year it was $471,250, down just 4% from 2008′s median of $490,000. The condo market saw an improvement on sales for the year, with 77 condos sold versus just 61 in 2008. This also reflected the trend throughout the island, as Maui saw a 4% increase in condo sales volume. The central region saw the median sales price for condos down a full $100,000 for the year, at $190,000 versus $290,000, a good sign for buyers but a worrisome drop for sellers to swallow.