October was a dynamic month for Neighbor Island home resales, with a big drop for Maui single-family home transactions, a price record for Big Island condominiums and mostly moderate changes in the Kaua'i market.

There also was a price record set for Maui condos and a nine-month price low for Big Island single-family homes.

Perhaps the most dramatic change was that sales of previously owned Maui single-family homes plummeted in October, ending five months of higher sales on Hawai'i's priciest island for housing.

The median sales price for single-family homes on the Valley Isle was $695,000 last month, up from $580,000 a year earlier but well off the $780,000 record set in May, according to the Realtors Association of Maui.

Maui condos sold for a record median of $445,000 last month, up from $367,500 a year earlier. The previous record was $430,000 in January.

Keone Ball, president of the Realtors Association of Maui, said he believes prices have more or less leveled off, but remain high enough that many residents can't afford single-family homes.

"Prices of homes have gone up so much that people can only afford condos," he said.

Fred Asuncion, broker-in-charge with Maui Realty Co., said it also appears that rising interest rates and tight inventory are ham-pering sales along with prices.

"I think the market is kind of softening up right now," he said. "(Buyers) are kind of cautious."

Asuncion said that in Central Maui, the island's biggest housing market where prices tend to be lower than luxury resort areas, it is challenging to find attractive homes priced under $600,000.

The Realtors Association of Maui said there were 25 single-family home sales in Central Maui last month, down from 38 in September. The area's October median price was $625,000, compared with $610,000 in September.

The median is a point at which half the sales were for more and half for less.

For the whole island, there were 83 single-family home sales last month, down from 125 a year earlier. The 34 percent drop was the third decline for the year, but was dramatically more than the 7 percent to 9 percent decreases in February and April.

October condo sales on Maui totaled 117, down 6 percent from 124 a year earlier. It was the sixth decline for Maui condo sales this year, but the third smallest drop.

On the Big Island, the median condo price was $474,500, a record that was 47 percent higher than the October 2004 median of $322,250, according to the Hawaii Information Service.

There were 79 Big Island condos sold last month, down 10 percent from 88 a year earlier.

The median price for single-family homes sold on the Big Island last month dropped to $363,333, its lowest since January and well below the August peak of $440,450.

There were 204 Big Island single-family homes sold last month, down 2 percent from 209 a year earlier.

On Kaua'i, the median single-family home price last month was $652,500, which was below the September record of $750,000 but above the year-ago median of $567,500, Hawaii Information Service data showed.

Kaua'i single-family home sales totaled 54, down 13 percent from 62 a year earlier.

Condos sold for a median of $455,000 on Kaua'i last month, which was below the August record of $475,000 but above the year-ago median of $419,000.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.