PROVIDENCE - Sales of single-family homes in Rhode Island rose more than in any other New England state in 2009 compared with a year earlier, according to a report released Thursday by RE/MAX of New England.

RE/MAX said sales of single-family homes climbed 14.4 percent in 2009. The state also posted the region’s biggest rise in multi-family home sales, at 35.6 percent.

But the median price of a single-family home in Rhode Island slid to $202,000, down 13.3 percent from $233,000 in 2008. Multi-family homes fell by even more, falling 32 percent to average $94,000, down from $133,000 in 2008.

Across the border in Massachusetts, year-over-year sales of single-family homes rose 5 percent while sales of multi-family homes went up by 6.8 percent. RE/MAX did not provide median sales price information for the Bay State.

In general, RE/MAX said the federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers, sliding sales prices and low interest rates pushed people to buy despite high unemployment and a rough economy. Congress last year renewed the tax credit through April and expanded it.

“The tax credit is certainly good news and the market will show its affects in the first and second quarters,” Jay Hummer, executive vice president and regional director of RE/MAX of New England, said in a statement.

“However, while unemployment rates still hover around 10 percent nationally, the economy will remain conservative,” he continued. “Another factor is that the majority of consumers are unaware of the new tax credit for existing homeowners. As they become educated and as the media begins to cover this topic more closely, we could see an additional spike in activity.”

One sector slow to recover has been the condominium market. Condo sales fell 1.3 percent in Rhode Island and dropped 2.6 percent in Massachusetts. Condo prices in Rhode Island fell 17 percent last year, from $208,000 in 2008 to $173,000 in 2009.

Still, Rhode Island Association of Realtors President Karl Martone held out hope the worst might be over for the Ocean State’s real estate market.

“I’m seeing a balanced market right now at six months of inventory for single-family homes,” he said. “Condos and multi families are closer to a year’s worth of inventory. However, the growth we’re experiencing is a healthy growth that is happening a little at a time.”

Additional information is available at remax-newengland.com.