Hawaii’s vacation home market appears under pressure to sustain a rebound begun last year after somewhat subdued sales activity this year through June, a new report shows.

The report by local housing market researcher Ricky Cassiday said the sales volume of residential real estate within resorts statewide slipped 8 percent during the first half of this year to 718 properties from 780 properties during the first half of last year.

The average sale price eked out a 2 percent rise to $1.22 million from $1.20 million in the same period.

While sales volume so far this year is off last year’s pace, Cassiday said he expects a gain in sales and prices for the full year that will extend the rebound into a second year.

"Near term, the market’s up cycle should continue," he said.

Last year was the start of a recovery for the average price of Hawaii resort home property, which rose 15 percent to $1.09 million and ended four consecutive years of declines.

The number of sales last year also jumped 32 percent to 1,583 and represented the highest volume for any year since 2007.

"Indeed, it has taken a long time for the recovery in the local, national and international economy to show up in the form of higher resort sales and prices," Cassiday said in the report.

Last year’s rebound was fueled by record tourism, low interest rates, the strengthening economy and rising real estate values in primary housing markets in Hawaii and on the mainland. Buyer confidence and some increased new-home production by developers also played a part. All these conditions are holding up this year.

Cassiday had expected a rebound to happen before last year, more in line with what occurred in Hawaii’s general housing market, which picked back up in 2012 after lingering effects from the recession. However, he said the resort housing market downturn lasted longer in part because developers in 2012 had difficulty financing new development.

During the first half of this year, sales of new resort home properties by developers continued to lag. There were 89 such sales compared with 96 at the same point last year and 117 at the midpoint in each of the two years before that.

Cassiday’s report counts sales of new and previously owned single-family houses, condominiums and residential lots at master-planned resorts such as Wailea on Maui, Princeville on Kauai, Mauna Lani on Hawaii island and Ko Olina on Oahu.

Maui accounted for the most sales, with 255 this year through June, down from 273 a year earlier. There were 220 sales on Kauai, up slightly from 218 a year earlier. On Hawaii island, sales slipped to 217 from 237. And Oahu had only a smattering of sales: 26 this year through June compared with 52 at the same point last year.

The more expensive residential resort properties sold through midyear were on Maui, where the average price was $1.5 million. Hawaii island’s average was $1.4 million. The average was $758,729 on Kauai, and it was $744,284 on Oahu.

The single most expensive sale during the first half of this year was a home at Hualalai Resort on Hawaii island that sold for $17.9 million in April. The 11,071-square-foot house on a 1.6-acre lot amid a golf course includes two swimming pools, a detached guesthouse, a gym and a wine cave with room for 3,000 bottles.

Rob Kildow, director of sales for Hualalai Realty, said the residential real estate market at the resort is improving this year. "Our prices are creeping up in all categories," he said.

One indicator of the ongoing rebound at the resort has been more demand from speculative homebuilders. Kildow said builders have bought property on which to build and sell 21 homes since late last year.

"We couldn’t be more excited," he said.