Posted on: Saturday, October 9, 2004

Outer Island home prices up

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

The sales prices of previously owned homes continued to rise on the Neighbor Islands last month, but sales volume fell on Maui and Kaua'i.

Maui had the highest-priced single-family homes: Median sale price rose to $600,000 in September from $464,000 a year earlier. Maui's median condo price rose to $330,000 in September from $222,000 in September 2003.

Patti LeGary, 61, a photographer who moved to the Valley Isle from California five years ago, said she thought she might never be able to afford a home on Maui.

"It's kind of been my ultimate goal to end up with a condo," she said. "But that's completely blown out of the water (because of prices)."

LeGary lucked out, however, when her name was among 214 selected to purchase homes priced between $225,000 and $275,000 in a lottery of 3,576 applicants last month.

"To win this lottery almost gave me a heart attack," LeGary said. "To be able to own a home — it's wonderful."

On Kaua'i, the median price of an existing single-family home rose to $535,000 in September from $425,000 the previous year.

The island had the priciest condominiums, with a median sale price of $415,000, compared with $286,500 in September 2003.

Both islands saw a decline in single-family home sales in September, with Maui sales falling 28 percent last month, to 97 from 134 a year earlier. Kaua'i single-family home sales fell 32 percent from a year earlier, to 46 from 68.

Maui condo sales declined 31 percent last month to 127, down from 185 a year earlier, while Kaua'i condo sales fell 18 percent to 41 from 50 during the same period.

High prices and limited inventory are the main reasons for the slowdown in sales, according to brokers.

Bucking the trend was the Big Island, where the number of single-family homes sold rose 11 percent. Big Island condo sales were unchanged from a year earlier.

The median price for condos on the Big Island rose to $325,000 last month from $184,950 a year earlier, while the median price for a single-family home climbed to $270,000 from $215,000 in the same period.

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