Big Island home prices dip

Though the Big Island garnered national publicity for being one of the hottest second-home markets earlier in the year, residential real estate on the Big Island last month more closely resembled the old adage -- what goes up, must come down.

All single-family home markets on the Big Island posted significant declines last month except for Kau and South Kohala, according to figures released yesterday by the Hawaii Information Service. However, June figures indicate that Kauai -- which was one of Hawaii's earliest markets to increase -- has entered into a more stable period.

The number of previously owned single-family homes sold on the Big Island was down 18.83 percent for the first half, with the June figure falling by 22.6 percent. The number of condominiums sold on the Big Island was down 37.79 percent for the first six months of 2007 and down 44.44 percent in June.

Big Island prices also dropped. In June, more than half of the single-family home buyers on the Big Island paid $363,000, a 20.21 percent drop from year-ago June. The median price, $405,000, paid for a Big Island condominium in June represented a 9 percent drop from the prior year.

For the first six months of the year, the median price paid for a Big Island single-family home fell by 4.75 percent and it fell by 14.74 percent for condominiums.

But on Kauai, the June median price paid for a single-family home and a condominium rose by 6.72 percent and 33.45 percent respectively. More than half of the single-family homes sold in Kauai in June traded above $637,250 and more than half of the condominiums sold at $572,500. During the first six months of the year, the median price dropped 3.9 percent for single-family homes on Kauai, but rose by 41.13 percent for condominiums.

In June, the number of single family home sales on Kauai rose 9.52 percent; however, condominium sales fell 64.18 percent. For the first half, single-family home sales on Kauai have fallen by 1.21 percent and condominium sales have dropped by 62.44 percent.