Prices rise but sales drop for Big Isle, Kauai homes

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Median home prices did better than sales volume in the residential real estate markets on Hawaii island and Kauai last month, according to industry statistics released Sunday.

Data from Hawaii Island Realtors and the Kauai Board of Realtors distributed by Hawaii Information Service showed that median prices were mostly up while sales were mostly down in the two neighbor island housing markets in September.

The biggest median price gain happened for single-family houses on Hawaii island: a 21 percent surge to $335,000 last month from $277,500 a year earlier.

Most of the increase was driven by the island’s most active area for sales, Puna, where there was a 20 percent gain in the median price to $210,000 from $175,000. There was also a significant gain in North Kona where the median sale price rose 15 percent to $547,000 from $475,000.

The number of sales, however, fell 22 percent for Hawaii island single-family houses. There were 141 sales in September compared with 180 in the same month last year. Puna accounted for most of the decline with 23 percent fewer sales, or 47 last month compared with 61 a year earlier.

Industry observers attribute some of the drop in volume to Tropical Storm Iselle, which ravished parts of Puna in August. Typically, home sales that close in September involve purchase agreements arranged one to three months earlier.

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In Hawaii island’s condominium market, the number of sales jumped 23 percent to 54 units in September from 44 units a year earlier. Nearly all the condos were in North Kona and South Kohala. The median condo sale price dipped 2 percent to $299,000 from $305,000.

On Kauai the number of sales was flat or down while median prices were up.

For single-family houses on the Garden Isle, the number of sales was flat at 39 last month and a year earlier. The median price was up 14 percent to $560,000 from $490,000 in the same period.

For condos on Kauai the number of sales fell 18 percent to 23 last month from 28 a year earlier. The median price rose 12 percent to $232,500 from $207,500.

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