Median prices for homes sold on Maui last month were down a little for single-family homes and up a little for condominiums on transaction volume that moved in the same direction.

The Realtors Association of Maui reported that the median price of single-family homes sold in October on the island was down 4.4 percent to $487,000, from $509,500 in the same month last year.

The number of single-family home sales was down 11.3 percent to 71 from 80 in the same period.

For condos, the median price was up 4.1 percent to $400,842 last month from $385,000 a year earlier. Sales were up 24.5 percent to 61 from 49.

Though demand may be influencing prices, the small changes in median prices appeared to result from choppy median prices in different parts of Maui, according to the sales data that includes purchases of new homes as well as previously owned homes.

For instance, in Maui's largest single-family home submarket, Central Maui, the median price was $450,000 on 21 sales last month compared with $446,185 on 39 sales a year earlier.

The second-biggest submarket, Kíhei, had 16 sales for a median $470,000 compared with eight sales for a median $810,000 in the same comparable period.

In the condo market, the most sales occurred in Kíhei, where 26 units sold for a median $336,013 last month compared with 19 sales for a median $315,000 a year earlier. The next biggest condo submarket, Näpili/Kahana/Honokowai, had 11 sales for a median $445,000 compared with nine sales for a median $519,000.

The median is a point at which half the sales were at a higher price and half were at a lower price. The measure is influenced not only by inherent property values but also by the quality, size and age of homes sold.