While prices rose, the number of single-family home resales slipped a bit, falling by one to 380, compared with October 2002.

Condominium resales increased both in price and volume, with last month’s median price up by $26,500 to $185,000 on 669 transactions, which were up 27.7 percent from 524 in October 2002.

The latest statistics, released today by the Honolulu Board of Realtors, show that Hawai'i’s primary housing market remains relatively strong despite continued appreciation in home values.

The median price, a point at which half the prices are higher and half are lower, has risen steadily all year for single-family homes — from $350,000 in January to $394,500 in August, when the median broke a 13-year high.

Harvey Shapiro, research economist for the Realtor board, said the low cost of financing has been, and should continue to be, the market’s key growth driver.

"When the Federal Reserve met in October, they gave no indication that (interest) rates would be increasing any time soon, and we should expect mortgage rates to remain affordable well into 2004," he said.

The October resale figures are for completed transactions that typically trail purchase agreements by two to four months.

For the first 10 months of the year, the total dollar volume of O'ahu home resales was $2.91 billion, up 35.3 percent from $2.15 billion during the same period last year.