O'ahu single-family home prices dipped slightly in August but sales volumes were down by nearly a third.

According to the Honolulu Board of Realtors, the median price for an existing single-family home fell 2.3 percent to $635,000 last month, from August 2007's median price of $650,000.

But the number of single-family home sales fell 33.1 percent last month to 255, from 381 in August 2007.

The price decline was mild compared to the double-digit drops experienced in some cities in California and Florida. But it marked the seventh time in eight months that the median price for a single-family home dropped on O'ahu on a year-over-year basis.

"The number of residential sales during August shows that the O'ahu housing market continues to cool, but the median prices paid for island properties are being maintained," said Dana Chandler, president of the Honolulu board.

The local condominium market continued to hold its value during the month. The median price for a single-family condo increased 0.9 percent to $328,000 from August 2007's $325,000.

Like single-family home sales, the number of condo sales fell sharply in August, dropping 30.3 percent to 345 closings, from the year-earlier's 495.

Jill Freitas sold her three-bedroom Hawai'i Kai townhouse in August after a relatively short time on the market, but not before dropping her asking price a bit from $574,000 in May to $565,000 in June.

Freitas, a nurse who moved her family of four to Texas to be near relatives, said that last summer real estate brokers were knocking on her door saying they had buyers willing to pay $600,000.

"That was then, this is now," she said. "(The market) definitely has dropped."

For the first eight months this year, the median price for a single-family home was down 2.8 percent; the median price for single-family condos during the same eight-month period was up 1.5 percent, the board said.

Median means half the homes sold above and half the homes sold below the given price.

Harvey Shapiro, research economist for the Honolulu Board of Realtors, said the number of new listings also was down in August.

A total of 514 single-family homes and 622 condos were put on the market in August. That compares with 622 new home listings and 914 new condo listings in the year-earlier months.

"Sales are not the only measure showing contraction, but the number of new listings for properties coming onto the market is also shrinking," Shapiro said.

"These conditions limit the inventory expansion, which probably accounts for prices holding steady at current levels."