LEWISTON – Out-of-state investors bought more than $30 million in leased office buildings within the past six months, a testament to the stability of the local market, according to industry observers.

Several buildings in Fairgrounds Business Park have changed hands, including those that house state agencies, Spare-Time Recreation and a medical services company. Joining them in out-of-town ownership are the former DHS building on Main Street, the former IRS building on Main Street and portions of the Trolley Medical Building.

“This is a very good thing,” said Greg Mitchell, a development consultant with Eaton Peabody. “It frees up capital for local developers to reinvest, and it establishes a higher benchmark for the values of those properties. As the values increase, they generate more tax revenue for municipalities. There’s a lot of upside and very little downside.”

The sales were noted during the annual Maine Real Estate and Development Association forecast conference Thursday in Portland. Mitchell is a member of that board.

The transfers started with a bundle of properties sold in June by Nick and Nerys Bayley to Lewiston Properties LLC, a limited liability company based in Boston. Included in the sale were 5 Mollison Way (the Department of Labor CareerCenter) for $2,048,000; 15 Mollison Way (the Department of Health and Human Services) for $1,024,000; 18/24 Mollison Way (Spare-Time Rec and TD Banknorth offices) for $3,584,000 and 36 Mollison Way (Department of Motor Vehicles).

The couple also sold some downtown properties, 217 Main St. (the old IRS and Peoples Bank building) for $2,560,000 and 77 Bates St. (two office condos within the Trolley Medical Building) for $2,560,000.

Combined, Lewiston Properties paid almost $13 million for the Bayleys’ property.

They were not alone. Last August, Roger Michaud sold the former DHS building and the adjacent office property at 198 Main St. for $9.3 million to Rubicon, an international real estate investment trust.

In November, developer George Schott sold 19 Mollison Way, the building that houses McKesson (formerly Per-Se Technologies and Medaphis) to a Boston-based investor, STAG Capital Partners, for $6 million.

“Lewiston’s become a viable investment option for people,” said Craig Young, a broker with CBRE Boulos, who specializes in commercial transactions and handled the McKesson transaction. “It means Lewiston is growing and prospering.”

Behind the transactions is a shifting investment landscape. Investors are seeking greater returns by putting their money in real estate management, a hedge against the more volatile stock and bond markets or other vehicles.

“I think it goes through cycles,” said Kenneth Auclair, a partner in Lewiston Properties. “With individual income properties, the key is having a solid tenant. These do, and that makes them a fairly good investment.”

The Lewiston investments stack up well compared with pricier properties in places like Boston, said Auclair. Real estate investors consider something called cap rates when comparing properties. A cap rate is determined by dividing the property’s net operating income, by its fair market value.

A property that is leased and bringing in a net operating income of $20,000 and offered for sale at $500,000, has a cap rate of 4 percent. A property priced at $110,000 with a net operating income of $10,000 has a cap rate of 9 percent.

For an investor, the higher the cap rate, the better the investment.

“The cap rates are in the 7 percent or below in the Boston market,” said Auclair. “With these (Bayley) properties, it’s a little over 10.”

Auclair said his company already has some properties in Maine and throughout New England. He expects they will continue to look for good investment properties outside the metro Boston area.

Kevin Fletcher, a commercial broker with Team Fletcher/Millett Realty, said what’s happening locally with out-of-state investors has been a national trend for the past five years or so. He expects it will continue as long as interest rates remain low.

“The biggest driving force has been affordability,” he said, noting that the recent drop in interest rates by the Fed can only help the real estate markets. “As long as cash is relatively cheap, these investments will continue.”