The O'ahu single-family median home price slipped to $600,000 in January as the housing market continued to cool from record highs.

The Honolulu Board of Realtors said the median was down 2.4 percent from $615,000 in January 2006, although it noted the market, which has seen a recent resurgence, remains good.

O'ahu's sales activity has been cooling over the past 16 months as home prices spiked out of the price range of some buyers.

Harvey Shapiro, the board's research economist, is projecting that the number of homes and condominiums sold on O'ahu this year will fall for a second consecutive year, but remain at healthy levels compared to the low transaction rates of the mid-1990s.

He's forecasting single-family home prices remaining in the $600,000 to $650,000 price range this year.

Richard Rice, an Olomana resident who has his four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath Uluhala Street home on the market for $759,000, said he believes prices won't dip much farther based on his experience with Hawai'i real estate and what he's read from experts.

He said he believes prospective buyers visiting his open houses in recent weeks have the "buy-before-it-takes-off again" mentality.

"They're not just walking around (at open houses), they're looking," said Rice, who is moving to the Mainland to be closer to his grandchildren. "So people are in the market."

Shapiro said there is still enough demand for housing to keep prices at the same levels, though the median price will move around on a monthly basis depending on whether there are more transactions in the pricier East O'ahu neighborhoods or if more sales occur in West O'ahu.

In January, prices declined for only the second time in the past year and a half.

"There's nothing to suggest on O'ahu to say that prices are falling out," Shapiro said. "They're going to stay at current level."

The slowing market showed up in sales volume for single-family homes.

Last month, there were 263 sales, or 13 percent fewer than January 2006. The average days on market, a measure of how fast properties are selling, grew to 60 days, from 40 a year earlier.

Condominium sales activity was also lower as monthly sales fell on a year-over-year basis for the 15th time in 16 months. The 418 sold in January compared with 504 sold in the same month a year prior.

The median O'ahu condominium sales price was $320,000, or 8.5 percent higher than a year earlier. The median is the point at which half of the sales are for more and half are for less.

Both condominium and single-family home prices are below record highs of $329,000 and $668,300 set in July 2006 and May 2006, respectively.

"The market is cooling off as we've seen for over a year now, and it will probably continue to cool, but prices are holding," Shapiro said. "I think it will stay this way at least through 2007."

Rice said he's hopeful that his ranch-style house will sell soon after two months on the market.

"Definitely I can see a turnaround from December to now," said Rice, who is selling the home without the help of an agent. "There's a fire in their eyes that there wasn't before."

Reach Greg Wiles at gwiles@honoluluadvertiser.com.