More sales of higher-end single-family houses on Kauai produced a median sale price surge in May that stood out from otherwise near-flat housing prices on Kauai and Hawaii island.
Hawaii Information Service released data from the Kauai Board of Realtors and Hawaii Island Realtors on Friday for single-family house and condominium sales completed last month.
The biggest change occurred for Kauai’s median single-family house sale price, which rose 16 percent to $615,000 in May from $530,000 in the same month last year.
The jump was driven by more sales in pricier resort areas and fewer sales in areas where median prices are lower.
For instance, in Hanalei there were 16 sales for a median $802,500 last month compared with 13 sales for a median $975,000 a year earlier. Even though the median in Hanalei was down, the islandwide median got a boost because there were three more sales at the high end of the market.
The median price is a point at which half the sales were for more and half for less.
The same effect was at play in Koloa where there were 11 sales for a median $660,000 last month compared with nine sales for a median $835,000 a year earlier.
Kauai had 51 single-family house sales in May, up 9 percent from 47 a year earlier.
In Kauai’s condo market there were 40 sales last month compared with 37 a year earlier. The median price slipped almost 1 percent to $382,500 from $385,000.
On Hawaii island the median single-family house sale price edged up 2 percent to $298,500 last month from $293,000 a year earlier. The number of sales surged 20 percent to 196 from 163 in the same period.
The median condo price on Hawaii island eked out a less than 1 percent gain to $332,000 in May from $330,000 a year earlier. The number of sales fell 19 percent to 56 from 69.
