Sales of previously owned homes on the Big Island and Kauai last month were higher than the same month a year earlier, though median prices were mostly lower.

The activity based on sales data from Hawaii Information Service followed similar general movement in Oahu's housing market that has begun to show a consistent rise in demand that often represents the first stage in a housing market recovery.

There were 120 single-family homes sold on the Big Island in October, up 48 percent from 81 a year earlier. The median price fell 5.8 percent to $282,500 from $300,000 in the same period.

Condominium sales on the Big Island rose 21 percent to 29 last month from 24 a year earlier. The median price bucked the general trend with a 26 percent increase to $357,000 from $282,450. However, the small number of sales allows a relative few transactions to more easily skew the median, which is a point at which half the sales were higher and half were lower.

For instance, there were 12 condo sales in South Kohala for a median $546,950 last month, which compared with nine sales a year earlier for a median $299,000. Much of the difference in the median often has to do with the age, quality and size of homes sold. In South Hilo, the median last month was $78,750 on four condo sales compared with $122,000 on four sales a year earlier.

On Kauai, 32 single-family homes sold last month, up 39 percent from 23 sales in the same month last year. The median price was down 13 percent to $446,500 from $515,000.

Kauai condo sales nearly doubled to 16 in October from nine a year earlier. The median price fell 24 percent to $395,000 from $520,000. The median decline was due in large part to significantly more condos sold in Líhue where condos are not as expensive as they are in the resort areas that represented nearly all condo sales in October 2008.