Median prices for homes sold on Hawaii island and Kauai in April were mostly flat or down, as was the volume of sales in the two neighbor island housing markets, according to data released Friday.
The biggest change in the two markets was a 30 percent drop in the number of single-family houses sold on Kauai last month. There were 33 such sales in April, down from 47 in the same month last year.
However, the median price for those Kauai single-family home sales rose 18 percent in a positive move that bucked April’s trend. The homes sold for a median $650,000 last month, up from $550,000 a year earlier.
Hawaii Information Service distributes the data from the Kauai Board of Realtors and Hawaii Island Realtors trade associations, which report sales of previously owned homes as well as new homes. Often, changes in the median price are swayed more by the mix of quality, age, size and location of homes as opposed to inherent changes in property values.
For instance, there were six single-family home sales in Kauai’s Koloa region for a median $930,000 last month compared with 12 sales for a median $465,000 a year earlier. And in the Waimea area, there were three sales for a median $225,000 last month compared with two sales for a median $559,000 a year earlier.
The median price is a point at which half the sales were at a higher price and half at a lower price.
Kauai’s condominium market was pretty flat with 33 sales for a median $430,000 last month compared with 34 sales for a median $429,975 a year earlier.
On Hawaii island the number of condo sales fell 17 percent to 69 last month from 83 a year earlier. The median sale price slipped 9 percent to $315,000 from $345,500 in the same period.
Single-family home sales on the Big Isle edged up 7 percent to 209 last month from 196 a year earlier while the median price dipped
4 percent to $349,900 from $365,000.