Home sales and prices were little changed on Maui last month, as activity eased away from the dramatically higher number of sales and more severe median price declines that occurred earlier this year.

There were 61 single-family home sales in July, just two more than the 59 sales in the same month last year. The median price was $500,000, down 6 percent from $532,000 in the comparable period.

For condominiums there were 69 July sales, an 11.5 percent decrease from 78 sales a year earlier. The median price was down 6.5 percent to $390,000 from $417,000.

"I think we’re in for a slow recovery," said Bruce Faulkner, owner of Maui HI Realty and president of the Realtors Association of Maui, which compiles the sale statistics.

The relatively small changes in July contrasted with greater movement in the market over the first seven months of the year. Year to date, the number of single-family home sales is up 37 percent, and the number of condo sales is up 52 percent. Year-to-date median prices are down 9 percent for single-family homes and are down 28 percent for condos.

Some of the recent slowdown in sales activity might be due to the end of a federal stimulus program that provided a tax credit of $6,000 to $8,000 to buyers who signed home purchase contracts by April 30. Most of those sales have been completed.