Pricey homes sell well on Kauai

Kauai’s median sale price for houses last month almost hit $1 million, according to industry data released Thursday that also reported gains for Hawaii island’s housing market.

Single-family homes on Kauai sold for a median $985,000 in September, or 45% more than the $680,500 median in the same month last year.

The jump appeared to be driven by more sales of luxury residences in resort areas, according to the Hawaii Information Serv­ice report based on Kauai Board of Realtors data.

For instance, there were 21 homes that sold for a median $1.5 million in Kauai’s Hanalei region last month. A year earlier there were nine Hanalei sales for a median $1.2 million, and that pushed the islandwide median higher last month.

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

There also were 17 sales in the Koloa region, which includes Poipu, for a median $1.2 million last month compared with 14 sales for a median $791,250 a year earlier.

In Lihue four homes sold for a median $627,000 last month compared with four sales a year earlier for a median $675,000.

Overall, there were 63 single- family home sales on Kauai last month, up 37% from 46 sales a year earlier.

In Kauai’s condominium market the number of sales dropped by 30% to 32 last month from 46 a year earlier. The median Kauai condo sale price was $562,500 last month, up 1% from $556,000 a year earlier.

On Hawaii island, sales and median prices were up for both housing categories, according to Hawaii Island Realtors data in the report.

There were 278 single-family home sales in September on the Big Island, up 28% from 217 a year earlier. The median price was up 16% to $406,250 from $350,000 in the same period.

Big Isle condo sale volume was up 4% to 81 last month from 78 a year earlier while the median price rose 24% to $450,000 from $363,500.