Home prices see increase on Hawaii island and Kauai

It took six years, but annual median home prices finally rebounded in 2012 on Hawaii island following the economic recession and housing market fall.

And on Kauai, median home prices rose for a second time in three years.

Hawaii Information Service published December and full-year home sales statistics Saturday, showing new strength in the two neighbor island markets following lingering weakness.

The median single-family home price last year on Hawaii island rose 5 percent to $260,000 from $247,000 the year before. The improvement followed five years of declining prices from a 2006 peak of $421,000.

Hawaii island’s condominium median sale price was $260,500 last year, up 23 percent from $212,500 the year before. The peak was $426,498 in 2006 and had slid over the next five years.

The number of home sales on Hawaii island was mostly flat. There were 1,609 single-family home sales last year, down 1 percent from 1,619 the year before. Condo sales were down 2 percent to 590 from 605 in the same period.

For December, Hawaii island’s median single-family home price was up 7 percent to $306,650 from $287,500 in the same month the year before. The number of sales was up 27 percent to 156 from 123.

The condo median price in December was up 53 percent to $328,500 from $215,250 a year earlier. The number of sales declined 17 percent to 52 from 63.

On Kauai last year the median sale price for single-family homes inched up 1 percent to $457,500 from $455,000 the year before. The median price peaked in 2006 at $675,000 and then fell three years before rising to $500,000 in 2010.

The Kauai condo median price surged 28 percent to $289,500 last year from $226,000 the year before to mark a rebound after four consecutive years of decline. Kauai’s median condo price peaked in 2007 at $565,000.

The number of sales on Kauai rose last year — up 17 percent to 422 from 362 a year before for single-family homes, and rising 10 percent to 320 from 291 for condos.

In December, Kauai’s median single-family home price was down 13 percent to $458,750 from $527,750 in the same month the year before. The number of sales more than doubled to 48 from 22 in the same period.

For Kauai condos in December, the median price was up 25 percent to $272,500 from $218,500 in the same month last year. The number of sales was up 18 percent to 26 from 22.