Sales of existing homes and condominiums, along with prices, rose in tandem for the first time in three and a half years in September, according to new figures from the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

Other figures released yesterday show home and condo sales volume rose on the Big Island, while sales increases were confined to the condo market on Kaua'i.

"I've been hearing that the number of sales were going up," said Joy Cabildo, First Hawaiian Bank senior vice president in charge of residential lending.

"It's a combination of low interest rates and maybe values getting close to where people believe we're near the bottom — opportunity and price kind of converges."

The Honolulu Board of Realtors numbers show the number of single-family dwellings sold rose to 244 from 215 in September 2008, while the median home price nudged up to $600,000, or $10,000 more than a year earlier.

The number of condominium transactions jumped to 345 from 315, while the median price, or the point at which half of the sales were for more and half were for less, rose to $305,000 from $296,000 in September 2008.

The September sales report is good news in what has generally been a rough year for residential real estate. Both Cabildo and Dana Chandler, a broker at Hawaiian Island Homes, said they couldn't project that things would continue to improve, but that conditions were favorable for some buyers currently.

The report compares to September 2008, when Wall Street had a meltdown, sending financial markets into a tailspin and accelerating people's fears about a recession. While there have been some glimmers of a possible recovery, Hawai'i's unemployment rate remains around the 7 percent range and talk of furloughs to teachers and other state workers continues to dampen the state's economic outlook.

O'ahu sales data through the first nine months show home sales fell 16 percent, while condominium purchases were down by a little more than one-quarter compared to the same period a year earlier.

"Home sales in 2009 to date were essentially at a 10-year low," said Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors chief economist, in a press statement. He said the residential resale market has suffered from stricter mortgage underwriting guidelines and a credit freeze taking place in the jumbo mortgage market and second-home purchase.

But Yun noted the market may be changing.

"Consumer psychology appears to be decisively turning for the better as the housing market has been showing signs of bottoming, if it is not already past a bottom point," he said.

"Affordability conditions are now at multiyear highs thanks to lower home prices and very low mortgage rates on conforming mortgages."

Chandler, who is immediate past president of the Realtors board, said she's heard anecdotally that Realtors are busy with putting in offers and negotiations. She said the market under $750,000 has been active with listing agents sometimes receiving multiple offers.

"As they say, 20 percent of the Realtors do 80 percent of the business," Chandler said. "And that 20 percent have been working hard and fast lately."

She said an $8,000 federal tax credit for people who haven't owned a home in the past three years, is helping condominium sales, while other people are attracted by low interest rates.

Those were 4‹ percent for a 30 year mortgage at First Hawaiian yesterday, said Cabildo, who also serves as president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Hawaii. She said that's only a quarter percent higher than the lowest rates in recent decades.

Big Island home sales volume rose to 124 in September, or 38 more than a year prior, while the median price tumbled by 30 percent to $226,500.

Condominium prices in Hawai'i County were unchanged from September 2008 at $315,000. The number of units sold rose by four over a year earlier, to 29.

Kaua'i County's home sales shrank by six to 15, while condominium volume rose to 14 from eight.

Median prices fell for both homes and condominiums in September. The single family price was $499,000, or $26,000 less than the $525,000 of a year earlier.

Condominium prices on Kaua'i were off $157,500 to $337,500.