A total of 331 single-family homes were sold last month at a median price of $360,000, the Honolulu Board of Realtors reported today. The number of homes sold was up 27 percent from a year ago but down slightly from the 342 homes that sold in August.

"The O'ahu housing market continues to perform well," said Guy Tamashiro, chairman of the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

In the condo market, 455 units sold last month, up 36 percent from a year ago, but down from the 557 units that sold in August. The median price for a condo was $158,500, up from $150,000 in August.

The speed at which condos sold, the time between the listing date and the contract date, fell to just 26 days.

"The last time condominium sales posted a sales speed this rapid was in 1990, at the end of the Japanese bubble," said Harvey Shapiro, research economist at the Board of Realtors.

Shapiro also noted that the number of condos listed is up sharply. In September, 730 condos were listed, compared with 459 last year.

Interest rates at record lows and a declining stock market, which makes investing in real estate more attractive, have been driving the home sales in recent months.

Total dollar sales volume for the first nine months of this year was $1.862 billion on O'ahu, a 23 percent increase above last year sales, or an additional $350 million in housing sales, the Board of Realtors said.