According to Maine Listings (Maine Real Estate Information System) statewide single-family existing home sales jumped 26.24 percent in 2014, compared to figures from October 2013. The median sales price (MSP) for those homes eased a very slight 0.71 percent to $175,000. The MSP indicates that half of the homes were sold for more and half sold for less.

The National Association of Realtors released statistics indicating a 2.9 rise in October’s national single-family existing home sales. Sales prices across the country were up 5.6 percent to a national MSP of $208,700 last month. Regionally, the northeastern United States witnessed a sales increase of 4.4 percent, and the regional MSP rose 1.2 percent to $246,900.

“The rise in units sold seems to echo what I’ve been hearing from Realtors all across the state,” said Angelia Levesque, president of the Maine Association of Realtors. “Many buyers hoped to be settled into their new homes before winter, so Realtors have been very busy showing their clients options.”

Levesque, a Realtor with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate/The Masiello Group in Bangor, has also seen “steady activity in the marketplace currently.  I’m optimistic that 2014 will end positively, and activity will continue throughout 2015.”

Check out the statistics, by county, at www.mainerealtors.com/page/974-849/statistics.