Single-family home prices and transactions also were stronger than they were a year ago, but the 418 sales at a median price of $545,000 in April were not records, according to Honolulu Board of Realtors statistics released today.

There were 754 April condo sales, a 10.1 percent increase over the 682 sold a year earlier. Last month's volume was the second-highest in the last 12 months that included the summer season when home sales typically peak.

The condo market's $243,000 median price, which means half sold for more and half for less, was 18.5 percent higher than the $205,000 median in April 2004. The previous high was $235,000 in February.

Hawai'i banks follow Fed, raise prime rate

Several of Hawai'i's banks announced today they will raise their prime lending rates to 6 percent from 5.75 percent following the Federal Reserve's move to increase short-term interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point.

Central Pacific Bank raised its prime rate effective today, while increases at Bank of Hawaii, First Hawaiian Bank and American Savings Bank are effective tomorrow. The prime rate is benchmark for interest rates on many types of consumer and business loans.

In Washington, D.C., the Federal Reserve, worried about rising inflation, pushed a key interest rate to 3 percent from 2.75 percent and signaled that Americans' borrowing costs are likely to keep climbing in the months ahead.

Visitor arrivals from developing markets up in 2004

Australia and China were among the countries that posted the sharpest increases in visitor arrivals to Hawaii last year, according to figures released today by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

The number of visitors from Australia and New Zealand grew 38.2 percent to 132,048 visitors compared to 2003. Visitors from China, excluding Hong Kong, were up 34.3 percent to 34,172.

Arrivals from "Other Asia" — Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore — not including Japan were 98,425, about the same as the year before. Arrivals from Europe were up 3.2 percent to 114,678, with more than half from the United Kingdom.

Latin America (Mexico, Brazil and Argentina) visitor arrivals were down 2.8 percent at 13,734.

Combined, arrivals from these "developing international markets" accounted for 5.2 percent of total arrivals in 2004.