Maui’s housing market started the new year with choppy sales and median prices, according to a report from the Realtors Association of Maui.

The number of sales and the median price last month rose for single-family homes but fell for condominiums.

There were 63 single-family home sales in January, up 26 percent from 50 sales in the same month last year. The median price surged about 38 percent to $550,000 from $399,000 in the same period.

For condos the number of sales plunged 34 percent to 60 in January from 91 a year earlier. The median price fell nearly 12 percent to $292,000 from $330,000.

The median price is a point at which half the sales were at a higher price and half at a lower price. Differences in the quality, size, age and location of homes sold in the month can produce dramatic swings in the median price, especially when there are relatively few sales.

In the single-family home market, the median was bolstered by fewer sales at the low end in Lahaina. Last month, one home sold in the area for $653,800. A year earlier there were seven sales for a median $372,500.

There also were more high-end home sales in the Wailea/Makena area last month — three sales for a median $2 million compared with one sale for $1.5 million a year earlier.

Some of the opposite factors were at work in the condo market. For instance, two condos sold for a median $546,250 last month in the Wailea/Makena area. A year earlier the area produced 10 sales for a median $600,000.