Home sales continued to mostly boom in August on the neighbor islands, though some steam came out of prices in a few market segments.
Data from real estate agent trade associations showed that the number of single-family home and condominium sales last month on Kauai, in Maui County and on Hawaii island rose between 9% and 216% while median sale prices mostly were higher but slipped in a few instances when compared with a year earlier.
Perhaps most notable was the single-family home median sale price on Kauai, which took a break from a seven- month run at or above $1 million.
In August the figure was $910,000. That represented a 21% gain from $750,000 in the same month of 2020 but was down 30% from the $1.3 million record set in July.
Big shifts in the median sale price aren’t unusual on the neighbor islands, given that relatively small numbers of sales are involved and the trade associations count sales of new homes in addition to previously owned homes.
The median price is a point at which half the sales were for more and half for less. The quality, size, age and location of homes can affect the measure, depending on the mix of homes sold in a given month.
Last month there were 72 single-family homes sold on Kauai, up 53% from 47 a year earlier.
In Kauai’s condo market there were 60 sales for a median $485,000 in August. Compared with a year ago, the volume count was up 216% from 19 sales, and the median price was up 17% from $415,000.
On Maui the median single-family home sale price jumped 30% to $1,040,000 last month from $799,000 a year ago. There were 121 sales, up 22% from 99 in the same comparable period.
August represented the fourth straight month where Maui’s median single-family home sale price was between $1 million and $1.1 million.
In Maui’s condo market the median sale price slipped 2% to $650,000 in August from $663,500 a year earlier. The number of sales surged by 59% to 187 from 118.
Maui’s market data, produced by the Realtors Association of Maui, typically includes a couple or so sales on Lanai and Molokai.
On Hawaii island the median price for single-family homes sold in August rose 16% to $507,500 from $439,000 a year earlier while the number of sales edged up 9% to 262 from 241.
Condos on Hawaii island sold for a median $450,000 last month, down 5% from $475,000 a year earlier. Condo sale volume on the island rose 39% to 90 from 65 in the same period.
Market statistics for Hawaii island and Kauai are published by the Hawaii Information Service based on data from Hawaii Island Realtors and the Kauai Board of Realtors.