Sales of existing homes on Oahu fell hard last month while median prices barely moved, according to statistics released this morning by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

The number of single-family home sales fell 17 percent to 241 in October from 290 in the same month last year. The median price was down 1.4 percent to $595,750 from $604,500 in the same period.

Condominium sales fell 21 percent to 310 last month from 394 a year earlier. The median price was unchanged at $300,000.

Brian Benton, president of the real estate agent association, said the sharp decline in transaction volume last month was affected by activity a year ago that was pumped up by the federal tax credit program deployed to encourage more home purchases amid the recession.

“These numbers are not surprising when you consider that last year at this time we were at the height of the first-time homebuyer tax-credit frenzy, which stimulated real estate sales in what is typically a slower period in the market,” he said in a statement.