O'ahu's housing market regained some stability last month with median prices that were modestly lower or roughly flat after a slide of about 10 percent in September.

Previously owned single-family homes sold in October for a median $625,000, which was down 4.6 percent from $655,000 a year ago but identical to the year-to-date median price.

The decline, while significant, also represents a rebound from a 9.2 percentage point drop in September that had some observers believing the market was in store for a more severe fall than the soft landing predicted by local economists.

In the condominium market, the median resale price last month was $325,000. That was up 0.8 percent from $322,500 a year ago, but is also equal to the median price this year through October and represented an even bigger rebound from an 11.2 percentage point drop in September.

The market is still moving too slowly for some homeowners trying to sell their properties.

Mary Mason, a retiree who moved to Washington State and listed her 'Ewa Beach home for sale on Oct. 1, said she had hoped that her 1,160-square-foot home rebuilt five years ago would be a quick seller at $495,000 advertised as negotiable.

"I was hoping that it would be ready to leave my hands by now, but it hasn't happened," she said. "The market has been kind of slow still. We're hoping (for a sale) this month."

Mason said she's received six calls inquiring about the home, which is encouraging to her, considering that she got fewer inquiries when she listed the property in September 2006 at $489,500 for 168 days before withdrawing the offer.

Dana Chandler, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors, said the sale price statistics released yesterday by the trade association are a good sign for O'ahu's housing market.

"The median prices climbed back up last month after declining in September," she said.

BIG DROP IN SEPTEMBER

September's median price fell to $590,000 from $650,000 a year earlier. The median price has not been below $590,000 since April 2005.

The median condo price in September fell to $296,000 from $335,000 a year earlier, and had not been below $300,000 since April 2006.

Still, October's single-family home median price decline was the third biggest after September and an 8.8 percent drop in June.

To be fair, the $655,000 median price of October 2007 remains the second-highest median since the June 2007 record was set, which helped make last month's decline larger than most this year.

For the first 10 months of this year, the single-family home median price was down 3.7 percent at $625,000. The median condo price in the same comparable period was unchanged at $325,000.

Chandler said another positive development last month was the rate at which single-family home sales have been slowing. The number of sales dropped 8.3 percent to 243 in October from 265 a year ago. The percentage point decline was the smallest this year, and followed recent months where declines have been around 30 percent.

"We hope to see the market volume stabilize in the coming months as the economy adjusts to the current financial climate," she said.

Condo sales dropped 25.3 percent to 316 last month from 423 a year earlier, and continued to be within the range of 20 percent to 35 percent this year.

The Honolulu Board of Realtors said homes sold in October spent a median 52 days on the market before selling, which was up from 41 days a year earlier but down from 55 days in September.

Condos sold in October spent a median 53 days on the market, which was up from 37 days a year earlier and 51 days in September.

SLOW EXPANSION

Inventory of homes for sale was close to where it was a year ago — 2,017 single-family homes and 2,663 condos last month, compared with 1,973 and 2,444 a year ago.

"Even though sales have declined, the inventory expansion has been quite slow," said Harvey Shapiro, research economist for the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

But the time it would take to sell present inventory has lengthened when based on October's sales pace.

At October's pace, it would take 9.8 months to sell every single-family home listed on the market. That's up from 7.7 months a year earlier. A level of six to 10 months of remaining inventory is generally considered to be the range where prices tend to remain more or less flat.

Months of remaining inventory for condos last month was 8.7, up from 5.9 a year earlier.

Some observers note that the effects of the recent global financial turmoil haven't been reflected fully in the latest housing market report because the statistics represent sales completed last month. Completing a sale typically takes one to three months once a contract is signed.