Strong surges of demand hit Hawaii island and Kauai housing markets in March, though buyers generally purchased less expensive property that resulted in mostly lower median prices, according to a report released Tuesday.

The report, produced by Hawaii Information Service and based on data from Hawaii Island Realtors and the Kauai Board of Realtors, showed the highest demand appeared concentrated at the lower end of the market.

For instance, most of the single-family houses bought last month on Hawaii island were in Puna, where 75 homes were sold for a median $155,000 compared with 43 sales for a median $165,000 in March 2015.

At the high end on the Big Isle, there were five single-family home sales in North Kohala that sold for a median $885,000 last month compared with five sales for a median $700,000 a year earlier.

Overall, there were 204 single-family home sales on the island last month, up 37 percent from 149 a year earlier, and the median price slipped 6 percent to $310,000 from $330,000.

In Hawaii island’s condominium market, the number of sales jumped 32 percent to 75 in March from 57 in the same month last year. And the median price fell 21 percent to $267,000 from $339,000.

Most of the condo activity occurred in South Kohala and North Kona where there is a big mix of resort and primary residential housing. In South Kohala, there were 26 sales for a median $435,000 last month compared with 17 sales for a median $572,000 a year earlier. In North Kona, there were 41 sales last month for a median $264,900 compared with 32 sales for a median $302,500 a year earlier.

The median price is a point at which half the sales were at a higher price and half at a lower price. The quality, age, size and location are major factors in where a median lands, especially when dealing with a relatively small number of sales. Median home prices also tend to move up or down more on the neighbor islands because the real estate trade associations there count sales of both new homes, which tend to be more expensive, and previously owned homes.

On Kauai, the biggest change in the median price last month was a 29 percent drop to $683,500 from $967,500 a year earlier for single-family homes. The number of sales was up 53 percent to 52 from 34 in the same period.

Kauai condos sold for a median $300,000 last month, about even with the $297,504 median a year earlier. There were 36 condo sales, up from 32 in the same period.