Housing markets on Hawaii island and Kauai had volatile starts to the year with several swings over 25% for sales and prices in January, according to a report released Wednesday.

The biggest change was a 44% jump in the number of single-family homes sold on Hawaii island, with 213 sales in January compared with 148 in the same month last year.

These homes sold for a median $450,000 last month, up 25% from $359,850 a year earlier.

Hawaii Information Service produced the report for Hawaii Island Realtors and Kauai Board of Realtors trade associations representing real estate agents.

Outsized changes are not uncommon for the two neighbor island housing markets because relatively few sales are at play and batches of new homes sold by developers can produce bulges in the data. Also, median prices can be swayed by the size, location, age and quality of homes sold.

The median price is a point at which half the sales were for more and half for less.

The smallest change in the primary measures of the two housing markets was an 8% decline in the number of condominiums sold on Hawaii island. There were 59 such sales in January, compared with 64 a year earlier. The median price for these condos, however, surged 32% to $430,000 from $325,000 in the same comparable period.

On Kauai, single-family home sales dropped 29% to 34 last month from 48 a year earlier. The median price rose 16% to $795,000 from $685,750.

Kauai condo sales slumped 29% to 22 last month from 31 a year earlier. The median price fell 18% to $468,750 from $570,000.