Molokai Market Snapshot – May 2026

If you’re keeping an eye on Molokai real estate, this monthly snapshot breaks down the latest MLS data across the three segments that matter most: single-family homes, condominiums, and vacant land. The goal is a straight read on what’s actually happening, not just the headline numbers.

In last month’s snapshot, April looked quiet on paper, but the pipeline was worth watching, especially in the land segment. May is where that pipeline showed up. Closings rebounded across all three categories. Homes went from zero sales to three. Condos jumped from one sale to four. And land had its strongest closing month in over a year with five sales. The pending activity flagged in April followed through, which is exactly the kind of confirmation that makes a slow month easier to read in hindsight.

All three segments remain in buyer’s market territory, though land is now sitting right at the edge of it. Let’s break it down.

Single-Family Homes

May was a Buyer’s Market.

Inventory and Activity

• 24 homes for sale, down 4% from April and up 26.3% year over year
• 3 homes sold, up from 0 in April
• 3 homes pended, up 50% from April and up 50% year over year
• 8 months of inventory based on closed sales, down from 25 months in April

After a month with no closings, the home segment came back to life. Three sales closed and three more went under contract, which is the rebound April’s pipeline pointed to. The drop in months of inventory from 25 to 8 looks dramatic, but it’s mostly a reflection of how few transactions happen in any given month rather than a sudden shift in supply. Inventory itself is up meaningfully from a year ago, so buyers still have more to choose from than they did in 2025.

Pricing

• Median sold price: $425,000, down 28.3% from May 2025
• Average sold price: $1,513,000 (see note below)
• Average price per square foot: $727
• Days on market: 61
• Sold-to-list ratio: 95%; sold-to-original-list ratio: 82%

Note: A quick word on that average sold price. The $1,513,000 average sits next to a $425,000 median for one reason: a single $3,760,000 sale, far and away the high-end outlier for the month. Hawaii Life represented the buyer on that one, and in a market this small that’s worth a note. Premium demand on Molokai tends to come from off island, and it shows up unevenly, one big closing at a time. Strip that sale out and the other two homes land much closer to the median, which is the more honest read on the typical Molokai home that closed this month. At $425,000, that median is down from a year ago.

The negotiation story is in the two ratios. Homes sold at 95% of their most recent list price but only 82% of their original list price. That gap means sellers were cutting before they found a buyer. The homes that closed got there by meeting the market, not by holding the line. Active listing prices continue to drift down too, with the median active price at $750,000 against $900,000 a year ago, which is the encouraging signal for buyers who have been waiting.

What This Means

May confirmed that April’s zero was a timing quirk, not a trend. The pipeline produced, and the homes that sold did so at realistic prices. Sellers pricing to current conditions are closing. Those anchored to last year’s numbers are still waiting.

Condominiums

May was a Buyer’s Market.

Inventory and Activity

• 41 condos for sale, up 2.5% from April and down 24.1% year over year
• 4 condos sold, up from 1 in April
• 2 condos pended, up from 1 in April
• 10.3 months of inventory based on closed sales, down from 40 months in April

Four sales is a healthy month for Molokai condos, especially coming off April’s single closing. The bigger story remains inventory. There were 54 units for sale a year ago and there are 41 today, a 24% reduction. Fewer listings against steady demand is the kind of setup that tends to firm up prices over time, even if it hasn’t fully shown up in the numbers yet.

Pricing

• Median sold price: $197,000, down 14.3% from April
• Average sold price: $206,000, down 10.4% from April
• Average price per square foot: $429, up 4.9% from April
• Days on market: 63, down from 133 in April
• Sold-to-original-list ratio: 91%

The headline prices softened month over month, but the per-square-foot figure actually rose, which is a reminder that median and average prices get pushed around by which specific units happen to close. The more telling number is days on market, which dropped from 133 to 63. Condos are moving faster than they were a month ago. The 91% sold-to-original-list ratio shows buyers are still negotiating, but the discount is far narrower than what we see in the land segment. Average active listing price sits at $270,000, down from a year ago, so the gap between what’s listed and what’s selling continues to close.

What This Means

The condo market is quietly tightening. Inventory is down, the pace of sales picked up, and properties are selling faster. None of that is dramatic on a month-to-month basis, but the direction has been consistent since early in the year. Sellers who price to where buyers are actually transacting are finding them.

Vacant Land

May was a Buyer’s Market.

Inventory and Activity

• 32 parcels for sale, down 5.9% from April and down 28.9% year over year
• 5 parcels sold, up from 2 in April and up from 1 in May 2025
• 3 parcels pended, down from 5 in April but up 50% year over year
• 6.4 months of inventory based on closed sales, down from 17 months in April

This is the standout. Five land sales in a single month is the most this segment has produced in over a year, and it’s the payoff of the pending activity flagged in last month’s snapshot. Inventory keeps shrinking too, from 45 parcels a year ago to 32 today. With supply tightening and closings picking up, months of inventory dropped to 6.4, which puts land right at the doorstep of a neutral market. It’s still buyer’s territory, but it’s the closest this segment has been to balanced in a long while.

Pricing

• Median sold price: $250,000, up 26.3% from April and up 86.6% from May 2025
• Average sold price: $305,000, up 54% from April
• Average days on market: 630
• Sold-to-list ratio: 78%; sold-to-original-list ratio: 69%

Here’s where the nuance lives. The price figures jumped, but the two numbers underneath tell you how these deals got done. Average days on market was 630. That’s not a typo. The parcels that closed in May had been sitting on the market for the better part of two years. And the sold-to-original-list ratio was 69%, meaning sellers ultimately accepted roughly 31% below their original asking price.

So yes, land activity is up, and yes, the prices look higher than April. But the deals that closed were long-listed parcels whose sellers finally met buyers well below where they started. That’s not a hot market. That’s a patient buyer’s market where the inventory that’s moving is the inventory that got realistic on price.

What This Means

The increased activity in land is real and worth noting, but read it for what it is. Buyers are stepping in, supply is tightening, and the segment is closer to balanced than it’s been in a while. At the same time, the parcels that sold did so after long stretches on the market and significant price concessions. If you’re holding land on Molokai, the takeaway is consistent: realistic pricing is what’s converting. The 630-day average is a reminder that patience remains part of the equation on both sides.

Overall Takeaway – May 2026

May was the follow-through month. April’s closings were thin, but the pipeline was full, and in May that pipeline delivered. All three segments posted more sales than the month before, with land leading the way as its pending activity finally converted to closings.

The market remains firmly in buyer’s territory across homes and condos, with land now sitting right at the edge of neutral. The common thread across all three is the same one we keep coming back to: the properties that are selling are the ones priced to current conditions. The sold-to-original-list ratios, 82% for homes and 69% for land, make it plain that sellers are coming down to meet buyers, not the other way around.

The inventory tightening in both condos and land is the trend worth watching as we move into summer. If supply keeps shrinking and demand holds, that’s the kind of setup that eventually shifts the balance. We’re not there yet, but the direction is worth keeping an eye on.

Let’s Connect

Whether you’re thinking about buying, selling, or just want to understand how the current market applies to a property you own or have your eye on, I’m always happy to talk story. On Molokai, the data matters most when it’s paired with local knowledge.

Aloha, Rob Stephenson
Hawaii Life Real Estate Advisor
Molokai