SOUTH PORTLAND – Existing home sales in Maine fell last month by nearly 25 percent from June 2007 and the median sales price dropped by nearly 6 percent over the one-year period.

The figures were announced Friday by the Maine Real Estate Information System, which monitors home sales throughout the state.

Realtors sold 996 homes last month, down from 1,316 in June of last year. During the past 12 months, the median sales price of an existing single-family Maine home fell from $199,950 to $188,000.

Declines in median prices were recorded in 11 Maine counties over the past six months, while prices increased in Aroostook, Franklin, Oxford, Waldo and Washington counties.