Two Neighbor Island housing markets began 2009 with big jumps in the number of home sales, though prices were mostly weaker.

Hawaii Information Service reported a sales surge for homes sold in January on the Big Island and Kauaçi.
The biggest increase occurred in Kauaçi’s single-family home market where the number of sales roughly tripled to 31 last month from 10 in the same month last year.
The number of Kauaçi condominium sales doubled to 14 from seven in the same period.
However, the median price for both Kauaçi condos and single-family homes was down 20 percent — to $204,500 from $254,000 for condos, and to $375,000 from $466,785 for single-family homes.
On the Big Island, sales of single-family homes were up 69 percent to 86 last month from 51 a year earlier. The median price was down 9 percent to $239,250 from $263,000.
Big Island condo sales rose 63 percent to 26 from 16. The median price was also up, rising 21 percent to $245,000 from $202,500.
Maui sale data for January has yet to be released by the Realtors Association of Maui. Oçahu sales were reported earlier this week.