The median price, the point at which have of the homes sold for more and half for less, was up sharply from $469,000 during the same three-month period a year ago. A total of 1,324 homes were sold in the third quarter, up from 1,287 a year earlier.

The median condominium price rose to $280,000 in the third quarter, up from $215,000 a year earlier. A total of 2,286 condominium units were sold in the third quarter, up from 2,205 a year ago.

State to suspend cable TV fee for Oceanic customers

Customers of Oceanic Time Warner Cable in Hawai'i will save an average of $3.85 over the next 14 months as a result of a state department's decision to suspend its cable franchise fee.

The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Cable Television Division charges the fee to cover the department's administrative costs.

"The department's Cable Television Division, however, determined that maintaining the fee at its current level for many years had resulted in the accumulation of more funds than the division needed to cover its current costs," DCCA said in a news release. Oceanic Time Warner collects the fee and forwards it to DCCA.

"We want to keep cable fees as low as possible, while ensuring that subscribers are getting the best value for their money," DCCA Director Mark Recktenwald added.

As a result, the department has reduced its portion of the cable franchise fee from 1 percent to 0 percent, beginning Nov. 1.  The department will determine when and to what extent the fee should be reinstated, but expects to suspend it through the end of 2006. Total savings to customers will be $1.5 million.

Airlines agree to drinking water improvements

Airlines agreed to better test and cleanse drinking water aboard jets, after the Environmental Protection Agency found water on 15 percent of planes failed to meet quality standards.

The agreement with 24 U.S. and foreign airlines, including Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines, followed tests of 327 airplanes at 19 airports last year, the agency said in a statement.

The tests in the 15 percent of planes found total coliform bacteria, an indicator that other disease-causing organisms may be in the water, the EPA said. "Water passengers drink on a plane should be as safe as the water they drink at home," said Ben Grumbles, an EPA assistant administrator, in the statement.

The airlines agreed to regularly monitor aircraft water systems and notify the EPA and the public of any contamination, the EPA said. Airlines also agreed to regularly disinfect aircraft water systems and transfer equipment and to look for possible contamination sources outside the aircraft.