Sales and median prices for previously owned homes on the main Neighbor Islands were mostly lower in June, though for the first half of the year, prices were largely higher.

The single-family home market on the Big Island had the softest performance, with sales declining 37 percent last month compared with a year earlier. Total sales were 101. The median price declined 18 percent to $299,000, according to sales data from Hawaii Information Service.

Howard Dinits, an agent with RE/MAX Island Surf Realty in Pahoa, said there are still a good number of transactions, but inventory is high and prices are down.

"The market value is not the same," he said. "That is a condition of the market."

For instance, a 1,600-square-foot house in the Hawaiian Shores Recreational Estates subdivision in Puna is listed for $299,999 and has been on the market since late February.

Property records show that the asking price is 18 percent less than the $365,000 the seller paid in December 2006, though the asking price is still higher than the $245,000 an initial buyer paid in 2004 when the home was built.

Dinits said reduced prices in the market are attracting buyers, including people from the Mainland who are planning to retire in a few years but are buying property now because of the perceived value.

"It's a fabulous time to be a buyer," Dinits said. "Every single subdivision has a glut of inventory."

Annette Aiona of Aiona Island Realty LLC in Hilo said some sellers are stubbornly trying to make sales at prices more consistent with the height of the market that has passed, while motivated sellers competing on price typically don't have trouble selling their homes.

The Big Island's condominium market was down in June with a 33 percent drop in sales to 31, and a 12 percent drop in the median price to $355,000.

On Kaua'i, there were 28 single-family home sales in June, down 39 percent from a year earlier.

The median price was up 5 percent to $687,500.

There were 21 Kaua'i condo sales last month, down 13 percent from the same month last year. The median sale price was down 1 percent to $569,000.

On Maui, single-family home sales were down 34 percent to 74, and the median price was down 8 percent to $616,000, according to the Realtors Association of Maui.

There were 53 Maui condo sales in June, down 53 percent from a year earlier, but the median price was up 22 percent to $580,000. The median price rise was largely because the year-ago median of $475,000 was the second-lowest of any month last year.

The median price is a point at which half the sales were for more and half for less. Because Neighbor Island home markets are relatively small with few sales each month, median prices are susceptible to significant swings that don't necessarily reflect inherent property values.

For the first six months of the year, sales were lower for single-family homes and condos on all three islands, but the median price was lower only for single-family homes on the Big Island and Maui.

This year through June: