The median price for previously owned homes and condominiums on Maui fell sharply in October compared with the same month a year earlier.

The decline was most pronounced in the condo market, where the median price fell to $402,500 in October from $552,000 a year earlier, according to data released yesterday by the Realtors Association of Maui. The number of condo sales plunged to 46 from 112.

The median price for a single-family home fell to $510,000 in October from $585,000 a year earlier. The volume of sales was unchanged at 79.

Because the Maui market is relatively small compared to that on O'ahu, monthly swings in median prices can be exaggerated by a few sales at the high or low end of the market.

Favorable interest rates are helping provide "plenty of options" for buyers, said Terry Tolman, chief executive of the Realtors Association of Maui.

At the same time, some sellers are holding out for unreasonable prices, Tolman added. "Unrealistic sellers continue to follow the market down and miss current opportunities that later become woefully apparent," Tolman said.

In October, about than half the single-family home sales — 39 of 79 — were in Central Maui, where the median price was $446,185. The priciest area was Lahaina, where there were four sales for a median of $2.03 million. The lowest median price was in Makawao/Olinda/Ha-li'imaile, where there were six sales for a median of $402,500.

The median October condo sales price ranged from a low of $295,000 in Kihei, where there were 18 sales, to $2.2 million in Wailea-Makena, where there were eight sales.

This is shaping up to be the second straight year in which Maui single-family home prices are lower than they were the year before.

For the first 10 months of this year, the median single-family home price is down 8 percent to $584,250 on sales that are down 19 percent.

Condo sales through October are down 30 percent, but the median price is up 2 percent to $553,500.