honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Big Isle condo resale price up 58% to record high

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

The median resale price of Big Island condominiums rose last month to a record, but sales and prices for all other main segments of the residential market on the Big Island and Kaua'i were down compared with a year earlier.

Previously owned Big Island condos sold for a median $609,900 in April, up 58 percent from a year earlier to break the prior record of $587,500 set in February 2006, according to sales data from Hawaii Information Service.

The jump was driven by a greater preponderance of condo sales at higher prices in the luxury South Kohala resort area, where the median sale price was $915,900 last month, up from $708,200 a year earlier.

There were 19 condo sales in South Kohala last month, up from 16 a year earlier, making the region the largest condo market on the island after North Kona, where there were 17 sales at a median price of $415,000.

A year ago, North Kona dominated the Big Island's condo market with 31 sales, or about twice as many as in South Kohala.

Overall, there were 41 condo sales on the Big Island in April, down 23 percent from 53 sales in the same month last year.

There were 113 single-family home sales on the Big Island last month, down 19 percent from 140 sales a year earlier. The median single-family home was $385,000, down 7 percent from $412,000.

The median is a point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less.

On Kaua'i, single-family home sales were down 56 percent to 19 last month from 43 a year earlier. The median price was $620,000, down 15 percent from $730,000 in the same period.

Only 14 Kaua'i condos sold last month, a 53 percent decrease from 30 a year earlier. The median condo was $416,000, down 39 percent from $682,000 a year earlier as prices and sales at resort areas of Koloa and Hanalei were lower.

Maui housing market data for April hadn't been released as of yesterday afternoon.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.

• • •