Home prices on Big Isle and Kauai rise as sales drop

Modestly higher prices and fewer sales largely summed up the performance of Hawaii island and Kauai housing markets in August, according to trade association statistics released Monday.

Data from Hawaii Island Realtors and the Kauai Board of Realtors compiled by Hawaii Information Serv­ice showed that most segments in the two neighbor island housing markets had median prices that edged up by 5 percent or less while the number of sales mainly declined.

Median sale prices on Hawaii island were consistent with a 5 percent gain for both single-­family homes, which rose to $370,000 last month from $353,750 a year earlier, and condominiums, where the figure rose to $299,500 from $285,000 in the same period last year.

On Kauai the median price for single-family homes rose 3 percent to $619,125 in August from $600,000 in the same month last year. The exception to the price gains was condos on Kauai that sold for a median $422,000 last month, down 10 percent from $468,000 a year earlier.

The median price is a point at which half the sales were for a higher price and half were for a lower price.

For sale volume the best results were produced in Hawaii island’s single-family home market, where there were 208 sales last month compared with 200 a year earlier, a 4 percent increase. Condo sales on the Big Island dropped 23 percent to 58 last month from 75 a year earlier.

On Kauai the number of single-family home sales fell 27 percent to 43 in August from 59 a year earlier. Kauai condo sales slipped by 12 percent in the same period to 23 from 26.