By Janis L. Magin – Senior Editor, Pacific Business News
Home sales on Hawaii Island and Kauai began to see the effects of the coronavirus in April, especially condominiums, which posted declines in both the number of sales and median prices, while single-family home prices increased despite a drop in sales, according to statistics provided by Hawaii Information Service on behalf of Hawaii Island Realtors and the Kauai Board of Realtors.
The number of single-family homes sold on Hawaii Island dropped 18.52% to 176 homes, from 216 homes sold in April 2019, but the median price rose 3.55% to $365,000, from $352,500 a year ago.
On Kauai, sales declined to 41 single-family homes, a 29.31% drop from 58 homes sold last year, but the median price rose 16.47% to $725,000, from $622,504 last year.
Condominium sales on Kauai declined by 21.95% to 32 units sold, from 41 units sold in April last year, while the median price declined 9.59% to $497,250, from $550,000 in April 2019.
On Hawaii Island, condo sales dropped 60.55% to 43 units sold, from 109 sold in April of last year, while the median price of those units declined by 16.49% to $349,900, from $419,000 last year.
A strong first quarter helped keep the year-to-date numbers mostly positive, especially for single-family homes, despite the Covid-19 shutdowns that started in late March.
Sales of single-family homes on Hawaii Island increased 11.13% during the first four months of the year, compared to 2019, but Kauai sales were relatively flat. Median prices increased by double digits on both islands for the January-April period — Kauai saw its single-family median price rise by 16.27% to $765,000, from $657,925, while Hawaii Island’s median price rose 10.81% to $410,000, from $370,000.
Year-to-date condo sales on Hawaii Island declined 22.44% to 235 units, from 303 units sold in the first four months of 2019, while on Kauai sales dipped just 3.88%. The median condo price on Kauai during the first four months of the year was $576,500, a 7.16% gain from $538,000 during the same period last year, while the median price on Hawaii Island was relatively flat during the January-April period, rising just 0.81% to $375,000, from $372,000 during the same period last year.