The housing markets on Hawaii island and Kauai started the new year continuing mostly positive momentum with generally more sales and at higher prices in January, according to data released Thursday.

In the biggest segment of the two neighbor island markets, single-family houses on the Big Isle, sales jumped 30 percent to 151 in January from 116 in the same month last year. The median price rose 9 percent to $355,000 from $327,000.

For Hawaii island’s condominium market, the number of sales edged up 2 percent to 52 last month compared with 51 sales a year earlier. The median condo sale price, however, slipped 1 percent to $253,750 from $255,500 in a move that ran counter to other segments of the market.

On Kauai the number of single-family houses sold rose to 33 last month from 20 a year earlier, which was a 65 percent gain. The median price rose 3 percent to $497,000 from $483,750.

Condo sales on Kauai were down by seven sales, or 21 percent, to 26 in January from 33 a year earlier. The median price, meanwhile, soared 39 percent to $430,000 from $310,000.

The seemingly dramatic changes are not uncommon for the neighbor island housing markets given relative few transactions that can more easily sway the median, which is a point where half the sales were at a higher price and half at a lower price.

Hawaii Island Realtors and the Kauai Board of Realtors produced the statistics, which were released by Hawaii Information Service.