By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

Housing prices continue to rise, according to three-month figures provided by a real estate information agency.

In Androscoggin County, the median sales price for a single-family home in June, July and August hit $150,000, a gain of more than 7.5 percent over last year.

Franklin and Oxford counties posted even higher percentage gains, with Oxford County sales prices closing in on prices in much more heavily populated Androscoggin County.

Sheryl Gregory, a broker with Homestead Realty in Winthrop and a past president of the Maine Association of Realtors, said prices are being fueled in part by long-time Mainers moving into bigger or better homes.

She called the market “fairly robust” in a Realtors association press release touting the new figures.

Gregory said a combination of interest rates, taxes and general market increases have allowed people to cash out of their traditional family homes and “move into a more specialized home.”

However, she’s also seen effects from Hurricane Katrina beginning to ripple through Maine’s economy.

“As gas prices increase,” she said, “a new consideration of distance to employment and services may develop.”

Before the Katrina-induced spike in gasoline prices, other real estate professionals had said many people were willing to trade off longer commutes in order to buy a home they could afford.

Still, Gregory said the Maine market remains strong “and I expect that we will continue to have both buyers and sellers for properly priced properties.”