Maine home sales down but median price continues to rise
Photo / Peter Van Allen
Home sales declined last month, but prices continue to rise. This four-bedroom house, on busy West Main Street in Yarmouth, has dropped $49,000, to $850,000 — well above the state's median price of $249,000..
The number of sales of single-family homes in Maine was down slightly in June but prices remained on the rise.
Realtors across the state sold 1,720 homes during the month — 78 fewer than in June 2019, or a 4.3% decrease, according to a news release.
But the median sales price for homes sold in June reached $249,000, an increase of 4.15% compared to a year ago.
“As Maine navigates COVID-19, our real estate industry has adapted,” said Tom Cole, 2020 president of the Maine Association of Realtors and managing broker of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate The Masiello Group in Brunswick, in the release.
“The June statistics show improvement and indicate that sellers, buyers, and our industry partners are adjusting to Maine’s health and safety protocols and have growing confidence to transact real estate business.”
Anecdotally, there have been stories of an increase in buyers from cities like Boston and New York City — people who are already working remotely and figure they could do it in a state with more space to spread out.
Historically, 75% of buyers of single-family homes in Maine are from Maine, followed by 7% from Massachusetts and 4% from New Hampshire, Cole said.
"Maine offers a quality of life that appeals to those living in highly populated and more congested areas of the U.S. We’ll be watching for these trends and will welcome new residents to Maine," he added.
County count
For June, Cumberland, Franklin, Hancock and Lincoln counties saw the greatest decline in the number of units sold, ranging from 20% to 25%.
Aroostook, Oxford, Piscataquis, Sagadahoc and Washington counties all saw single-digit increases.
The greatest price increase, 35.5%, was in Franklin County, followed by Lincoln County’s 16.4%.
Only Aroostook and Piscataquis counties saw a price decline, in the range of 2% to 5%.
National trends
Maine’s trends were reflected throughout the nation, where sales of existing homes decreased 9.9% in June 2020 compared to June 2019. But the national median sales price rose 3.5% last month to $298,600.
Realtors in the Northeast reported a 27.9% dip in the number of sales, comparing June 2020 to June 2019, while the regional median sales price increased 3.6% to $332,900.
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