The median price and number of homes sold on Hawaii island and Kauai have mostly been higher this year, but in August the opposite was true.

Data from the Kauai Board of Realtors and Hawaii Island Realtors released Friday by Hawaii Information Service showed a dip in the trend this year for most parts of the two neighbor island housing markets.

The biggest drop-off occurred in the number of condominium sales on Hawaii island. There were 44 sales in August, a 29 percent decline from 62 sales in the same month last year.

The number of single-family houses sold on Hawaii island last month declined 7 percent to 163 from 175 a year earlier.

Median prices also were down on Hawaii island. For condos, the decline was 12 percent to $247,500 last month from $280,000 a year earlier. For single-family houses, the decline was 6 percent to $300,000 from $320,000 in the same period.

On Kauai, median prices and sales volume were mixed. The number of single-family house sales was up 32 percent to 49 last month from 37 a year earlier. But the median price was down 24 percent to $521,500 from $685,000.

The opposite was true for Kauai condos. The number of sales was down 26 percent to 20 units last month from 27 units a year earlier. The median price was up 10 percent to $300,000 from $274,000.

Relatively big swings in neighbor island home median prices are not unusual given the relatively small number of transactions each month.

The median price is a point at which half the sales are for a higher price and half for a lower price. So the inherent value of real estate can be less of an influence on the median price than the age, size, quality and location included in the mix of homes sold, according to real estate analysts.

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