The market for previously owned homes on the Big Island and Kaua'i posted mostly higher prices and fewer sales last year, according to a report by Hawai'i Information Service.

Similar to O'ahu, the housing market on the two Neighbor Islands softened last year mostly with dramatically fewer sales and modestly higher median prices compared with the previous year.

The exception was Kaua'i's condominium market, where sales rose 3 percent to 690 last year from 673 a year earlier as the median price declined 7 percent to $402,500 from $435,000.

Other markets — single-family homes on Kaua'i and the Big Island, and condos on the Big Island — saw sales decrease by more than 25 percent as median prices rose from 5 percent to 16 percent.

Frank Supon, owner and principal broker of Pacific Ocean Properties on Kaua'i, said business last year wasn't as good as 2005, but still was the second-best year he's had during 25 years in the industry.

"We still experienced a really positive market," he said. "It was a very good year."

Supon said Kaua'i's condo market likely experienced more sales because a couple of large new condo projects added to inventory and transactions as new buyers resold units.

Kaua'i's single-family home market saw sales decrease 29 percent to 473 last year from 670 a year earlier, while the median price rose 6 percent to $675,000 from $639,500.

On the Big Island, there was a 26 percent decline in single-family home sales to 2,027 last year from 2,756 a year earlier. The median price was up 8 percent to $417,000 from $385,000.

For Big Island condos, sales fell 39 percent to 708 last year from 1,168 a year earlier. The median price was up 16 percent to $430,000 from $369,500.

As reported earlier this week, home resales on O'ahu last year totaled 4,041 for single-family homes and 6,380 for condos, representing declines of 13 percent and 17 percent, respectively, from 2005. The median price for O'ahu single-family homes was up 7 percent to $630,000 from $610,000, and for condos was up 3 percent to $315,500 from $305,000.

Maui statistics for December and all of 2006 have yet to be released.

Because the Big Island and Kaua'i are two of the smallest real estate markets among the state's largest four islands, statistics from one month to the next tended to vary dramatically, and in December sales and prices mostly declined.

On the Big Island, December single-family home sales were down 20 percent to 160 compared with 201 a year earlier. The median price was down 18 percent to $353,500 from $431,499.

Big Island condo sales last month totaled 39, a 56 percent drop from 89 a year earlier. The median price was down 5 percent to $340,000 from $359,000.

Last month on Kaua'i, single-family home sales were down 2 percent to 44 compared with 45 a year earlier. The median price was $592,500, down 2 percent from $605,000.

There were 47 Kaua'i condo sales last month, down 10 percent from 52 a year earlier. The median price was $570,000, up 18 percent from $484,500.

Karen Agudong, president and principal broker of Aloha Island Properties on Kaua'i, said she expects a market rebound this year given moderated prices and still favorable interest rates. "There's a lot of buyers out there looking again," she said. "I'm real optimistic about this year."

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.