Sales and prices of homes on the neighbor islands last month moved largely out of step with Oahu’s housing market, with gains concentrated in the condominium market for Kauai, Maui and Hawaii island.
Some of the largest increases occurred on Kauai, the county with the state’s smallest real estate market.
The increases on the Garden Isle included a 49 percent jump for the median condo price to $312,000 in April from $209,665 in the same month last year. That was based on 33 sales last month, up 43 percent from 23 a year earlier, according to data from Hawaii Information Service.
In Kauai’s single-family home market, there were 29 sales in April, up from 27 a year earlier, and the median price soared 60 percent to $680,000 from $425,000 in the same period.
The small number of sales on Kauai influenced the outsize gains in the median price, which can be pushed up or down by different attributes such as age, size and quality of homes in the mix of sales. The median is a point at which half the sales were for more and half for less.
For instance, in the biggest submarket for Kauai single-family homes, Kawaiahau, there were 11 sales last month for a median $280,000. That compared with 13 sales for a median $420,000 a year earlier. That median price decline was overshadowed by gains elsewhere on the island. In Koloa there were nine sales for a median $825,000 last month compared with five sales for a median $400,000 a year earlier. In Hanalei there were eight sales for a median $1.2 million last month compared with five sales for a median $814,500 a year earlier.
Unlike Oahu’s housing market, which is overwhelmingly resident housing, the neighbor islands are influenced heavily by resort home sales, a good amount of which involve condos.
Condos on Maui sold for a median $399,000 last month, up 18 percent from $338,603 a year earlier. The number of sales rose 7 percent to 128 from 120.
The median single-family home price on Maui last month slipped 4 percent to $479,500 from $500,000 a year earlier. There were 78 sales, down 12 percent from 89 in the same period.
One note for Maui’s home sales data, which is reported by the Realtors Association of Maui, is that it includes new homes in addition to previously owned homes, representing another factor that affects median prices because new homes typically cost more than a comparable used home.
On Hawaii island the median condo price was $280,000 last month, up 14 percent from $245,000 the year before, according to Hawaii Information Service. There were 66 sales, up 78 percent from 37 a year earlier.
Most of the surge in Big Isle condo sales volume occurred in North Kona where there were 35 sales last month for a median $215,700 compared with 18 sales for a median $176,000 a year earlier.
The median single-family home price on Hawaii island was down 7 percent to $241,500 in April from $259,950 a year earlier. The number of sales was down 4 percent to 135 from 140 in the same period.
