Statistics released this morning by the Honolulu Board of Realtors paint a relatively dismal picture of January's resale market.

The single-family median dropped to $315,000, a decline of 9.5 percent from January 1996. Last month's price was the lowest since December 1989, when the median was $305,000.

Single-family sales totaled 109, a 21 percent plunge from a year earlier and the lowest level since February 1996.

Condominiums didn't escape the price thrashing: the $145,700 median was off 21.2 percent from January 1996.

About the only bright spot was in condominium sales. The 162 total was up 16.5 percent from a year earlier, thanks to the steep price drops.

"It's pretty clear that lower prices were a motivating factor for both single-family home and condominium buyers," said C. Scott Bradley, president of the board.

"Even with the currently favorable mortgage rates, the lack of demand for housing means that sellers must be willing to negotiate to move their properties. We expect that the current weak state of the housing market will continue until there is at least a perception that the economy in Hawaii is back on the upswing and getting healthier."

Bradley called the increase in condo sales encouraging and said it may signal that weakness in that segment of the market is coming to an end. The increase was attributed entirely to a rise in fee-simple sales, especially in East Oahu.

The board's statistics reflect home sales that closed in January but were agreed to two to four months earlier.

Some brokerages, however, say their sales activity increased in January, which wouldn't be reflected until March or April data is reported.

George Stott, owner of ERA Stott Real Estate in Kailua, said his agency's volume last month was the best in several years. But the sales surge, he said, came precisely because sellers substantially lowered their prices.

"In this market, price is the answer," Stott said.

With about 6,000 Oahu homes for sale and Leeward developers continuing to churn out new dwellings at discounted prices, Stott said he expects resale prices to continue falling this year and probably into 1998.

The market won't rebound until prices drop further or people's incomes rise, he said.

"Unfortunately, we're going in the wrong direction," Stott added, noting that last year's combined total for Oahu condo and house resales was the worst since the board started keeping statistics in the early 1980s.

The board data does not include new home sales, but that market also is depressed.