It’s amazing how the real estate market on Maui has drastically changed over the past couple of months. This past week, 2 more Wailea Condos went into escrow at Ho’olei, both listed over 2M.

Panoramic View from Ho'olei 75-4

Villa 75-4 (MLS #346609), the premier Plumeria floor plan in the entire neighborhood, went into escrow yesterday after 54 days on the market.

There seems to be a landmark shift taking place in our local marketplace. Since January 1st 2011, there have been 371 closed real estate transactions on Maui. Of those 371 home and vacant land sales, 194 were paid for with all cash, representing over 50% of all purchasers in the marketplace.

Across the nation, the number of buyers paying cash for real estate is increasing. According to the National Association of Realtors, 28 percent of home sales were all-cash transactions in 2010 compared with 14 percent in 2008.

Hawaii’s high-end cash buyers have historically been foreign investors: especially those from Canada, Japan, China and Korea, who are taking advantage of favorable exchange rates.