Down to the wire in a few local races

Hawaii had its own election drama with tight races on Tuesday night — into Wednesday morning. William Aila’s bid for Office of Hawaiian Affairs at-large trustee fell short, when, after faring well in early printouts, he suddenly slipped below the winning vote threshold. Kurt Fevella became the only Republican state senator on a razor-thin margin. Most spectacularly, City Councilman Trevor Ozawa was re-elected overnight on the strength of a 22-vote differential.

But don’t expect a recount. Hawaii’s law will force a recount only if someone sues over fraud or some other flaw, and the state Supreme Court agrees.

Median home prices down — for condos

Amid an ongoing climb in the median sales prices for single-family houses and condominiums here, even a small dip can be an attention-getter. While half of the Oahu houses changing hands in October went for above $800,000, and half below (marking a 6 percent bump-up compared to October 2017), the median for condo sales fell to $390,000 (a nearly 2 percent drop).

Swings on neighbor islands were more dramatic. For example, Kauai’s median for condo sales was $402,500 last month, down 13 percent from a year ago. However, its volume of sales is smaller and, unlike on Oahu, the trade association for real estate agents on Kauai counts sales of new homes in addition to those previously owned.