The mostly tame performance of O'ahu's housing market this year continued in May, with fewer sales and modest median price fluctuation compared with the same month last year.

Existing single-family homes sold last month for a median $650,000, down 2.7 percent from $668,300 a year earlier, according to the Honolulu Board of Realtors. A total of 357 homes were sold, a 4.5 percent decline from May 2006.

The median condominium resale price last month was $325,000, up 6.2 percent from $306,000 a year earlier, while sales declined 10.2 percent to 543.

The activity last month continues what industry leaders view as a stabilization of the market after median prices doubled from 2002 to 2006.

In November, the year-over-year median price for single-family homes fell for the first time in more than five years, and since then has alternated up and down by single-digit percentage point changes.

"Median prices continue to plateau and activity is good," said Berton Hamamoto, president of Property Profiles Inc. and the Board of Realtors. "Our expectation is that the market will maintain the current pattern for the rest of the year, subject to interest rates staying stable."

Some real-estate market watchers had been speculating about a potential rebound in the market after an 8 percent surge in April's median single-family home price that was $3,300 shy of the $668,300 record set in May 2006.

April's gain was modest in contrast to 15 percent to 30 percent comparable gains seen in recent years, but was strong compared with a median that had not been up or down more than 2 percent since December.

For the first five months of this year, the single-family home median price is up 0.8 percent to $635,000. The condo median price is up 5.6 percent to $322,000.

The number of single-family home sales from January to May totaled 1,564, a decrease of 5.2 percent from the same period last year. Condo sales were down 15.5 percent to 2,431.

Harvey Shapiro, research economist for the Board of Realtors, said the general price upswing, albeit a slight one for single-family homes, is running counter to the national trend for lower prices.

"After this big spurt we had where home prices doubled, we're sailing along at a more balanced point between supply and demand," he said.

According to the National Association of Realtors, the combined median price for homes including condos and single-family homes have been 0.3 percent to 3.1 percent lower every month this year through April, the latest month for which data is available nationally.

On O'ahu, the pace of sales and inventory have been relatively healthy recently, according to Board of Realtor data.

For a second straight month in May, homes sold faster than they did earlier in the year. Single-family homes spent a median 42 days on the market before selling last month, the lowest since April 2006 and down from a recent peak of 70 in February.

Condos spent a median 38 days on the market before selling last month, the lowest since July 2006 and down from a recent high of 59 in February.

Inventory has been fairly stable this year with about 1,800 single-family homes and 2,250 condos available for sale.

Single-family home inventory is off from a nine-year high of 2,052 in November, and had been below 1,000 for much of 2004 and 2005. Condo inventory was at a nine-year high of 2,750 in September, and had been under 1,000 in mid-2005.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.