SOUTH PORTLAND – State-wide housing prices have increased by 14 percent in the past year, and the number of home sales has gone up 4 percent, according to real estate statistics.

The Maine Real Estate Information System Inc., a subsidiary of the Maine Association of Realtors, said the median selling price for Maine homes between June and August was $162,000. That’s up from $141,750 for the same three months in 2002.

Real estate agents attributed the strong numbers to low interest rates and an improving outlook for the national economy.

The priciest houses can be found in Cumberland County, where the median price was $210,000 for the June-August period, up 13.5 percent in the past year. The median house price in York County was $209,450, a 16.5 percent increase from a year earlier.

Home sales prices were much lower in central, northern and far eastern Maine than in the southern part of the state.

The least expensive homes were sold in Washington County, where the median price of $65,000 represented a 15 percent decline over the price of homes sold during the same three month period a year ago. However, only five homes were sold in the county between June and August this year.

The median price jumped more than 72 percent, from $46,200 to $79,900 in Aroostook, where 37 homes were sold during the three months this year.

Alan Peoples, president of Home Sellers of Maine, said the real estate market may experience a bit of a slowdown at the start of 2004.

“Interest rates will stay low, inventory will probably increase – which will increase market time for home owners – and the market will settle in to a more even pace,” he said. “Healthy but not unsettled.”

The median house price in Penobscot County was $118,750, a 19.4 percent increase over last year. And in Androscoggin County, the median price increased to $128,090 for the three-month period, up from $112,000 a year ago.

“I think it’s a healthy market,” said Tim Worden, a real estate agent with ERA Worden Realty in Auburn. “The real estate market is job-driven, and our economy has been healthy.”