Posted on: Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Neighbor Isles home resales surge

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Previously-owned homes on the Neighbor Islands sold at a higher volume and at higher prices last month, led again by the smaller, more volatile Kaua'i market where prices were up nearly 50 percent over a year ago.

Median sales prices for single-family homes and condominiums on the Garden Isle in April were more than $100,000 higher than they were a year earlier, but that didn't slow buying largely from Mainland investors snapping up vacation homes.

There were 51 condos sold last month on Kaua'i, up 70 percent from the 30 sold in April 2003, according to Hawaii Information Service, which compiled the sales data. The median price, or the price where half the condos sold for more and half for less, was $389,000, up from $262,500.

The condo median was higher than March's $329,000 price, but still below the February record of $420,000, which eclipsed the median price for a single-family home for that month.

The single-family home median price on Kaua'i in April was $477,500, up from $326,495 a year earlier. Resales numbered 70, up 30 percent from 54, during the same year-over-year period.

Increases in the bigger markets of Maui and the Big Island were less dramatic, but still in the double-digits.

The Realtors Association of Maui said condo resales rose 29 percent, to 203 in April from 157 a year earlier, while single-family home resales rose by the same margin to 117 from 91 during.

Median prices on Maui rose 24 percent for condos, to $310,000 last month, up from $250,000 in April 2003. The single-family home median was $500,000, up from $436,739 in the same period.

On the Big Island, single-family home resales rose 25 percent to 227 last month, compared with 182 that month a year ago. Condo resales were up 32 percent to 100, compared with 76 last year.

Big Island median prices were $276,000 for single-family homes last month, up from $214,500 in April 2003, and $230,000 versus $199,000 in the same period for condos, according to Hawaii Information.

The data are for completed sales, which trail signed purchase contracts by two to four months.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.