WARWICK – Sales of single-family homes in Rhode Island rose 10.5 percent year-over-year from January through September, while prices slid 18.7 percent, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

The association reported 5,604 sales in the first nine months of this year, up from 5,071 during the first nine months of 2008. The median sale price fell to $197,264, down from $242,500 in 2008.

The association attributed part of the uptick in sales to the federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers, which Congress last week extended through April 30 and expanded to make some current homeowners eligible.

“The $8,000 tax credit was the incentive that buyers needed to enter the market,” said association President Paul Leys. “We’re very optimistic that the newly extended and expanded tax credit just signed into law will encourage further recovery.”

In Rhode Island, sales increased most dramatically in Providence, where they rose 54 percent year over year to 531, compared with 344 in 2008. Close behind was Tiverton, which saw sales jump 51 percent jump to 91, and Johnston, where the number of sales rose by half to 206.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the number of sales in Jamestown fell 38 percent to 27 and the number of sales in Bristol fell 32 percent to 73.

The Rhode Island Association of Realtors has more than 4,700 member Realtors, who in 2008 were involved in more than 10,000 transactions totaling $2.8 billion. Additional information is available at RILiving.com.