Kauai and Big Isle housing markets up in March

All the major parts of two neighbor island housing markets moved in unison last month with sale volumes and prices rising on Hawaii island and Kauai.

The biggest part of these two markets, single-family homes on Hawaii island, had the smallest gain, according to data from Hawaii Island Realtors and the Kauai Board of Realtors reported by Hawaii Information Serv­ice.

These single-family homes sold for a median $387,000 in March, up 3 percent from $377,500 in the same month last year. The number of homes sold rose by 4 percent to 244 from 234 in the same period.

In Hawaii island’s condominium market, the median sale price rose 16 percent to $425,000 last month from $365,000 a year earlier. Sales rose 5 percent to 85 from 81.

The median price gain for the Big Island condos was driven primarily by transactions in the North Kona region where 41 condos sold for a median $369,000 last month compared with 48 sales for a median $285,000 a year earlier. That was offset somewhat by sales in South Kohala where 34 condos sold for a median $497,000 last month compared with 27 sales for a median $550,000 a year earlier.

On Kauai there were 58 single-family homes sold in March, up 29 percent from 45 a year earlier. The median price was up 13 percent to $753,500 from $669,000.

Kauai condo sales jumped 33 percent to 44 last month from 33 a year earlier. The median price edged up 4 percent to $441,500 from $425,000.

The two neighbor island housing markets often have rather large and erratic swings in median prices and sale volumes because the markets are relatively small and because the real estate agent trade associations include new homes and previously owned homes in their data. The median price is a point at which half the sales are for more and half for less. This measure can be swayed by the age, size, location and quality of homes more easily in small markets.