Two neighbor island housing markets turned in mostly better results for single-family homes but not condominiums in August, a new report shows.
Sales and prices for residential real estate on Hawaii island and Kauai mostly were up for single-family homes and down for condos, according to the report from Hawaii Information Service based on Hawaii Island Realtors and Kauai Board of Realtors data.
On Hawaii island the number of single-family home sales jumped 22% to 237 in August from 195 in the same month last year. But for condos, sale volume slipped 6% to 75 from 80 in the same period.
Median prices for Big Isle single-family homes rose 13% to $400,000 last month from $355,000 a year earlier yet dipped 2% to $325, 000 from $330, 000 for condos.
On Kauai, single-family home sales edged up 2% to 54 last month from 53 a year earlier while condo sales slumped 36% to 23 from 36 in the same period.
The exception to these movements was for Kauai median sale prices. For single-family homes the median price declined 6% to $657,000 in August from $695,000 a year earlier. For Kauai condos, the median price surged 32% to $582,500 from $440,000 in the same period.
It's hard to draw conclusions for activity in monthly reports for the two markets because relatively few sales are involved.
For instance, a large part of the reason for the 32% spike in the Kauai condo median price last month was a bigger drop in sale volume in the island's lower-priced Lihue and Kawaihau regions. Fewer sales at the lower end of the market boost the median price, which is a point at which half of all sales are at a higher price and half at a lower price.
Hawaii Island Realtors and the Kauai Board of Realtors also include sales of new homes and previously owned homes in their data. New homes typically sell for more than otherwise comparable used homes, which pushes up median prices that also are affected by residences' size, location and quality.
