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Updated: 6 hours ago

Broker report: Residential real estate seasonal slowdown expected

By Laurie Schreiber

Maine’s residential real estate market could be moving from a frenzy of year-round buying over the past five years back to a more typical season market, according to Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Realty, a real estate firm headquartered in Portland.

Over the past five-plus years, Maine has experienced a real estate cycle that has outperformed the country in terms of home sale prices, with Maine ranking No. 1 in price gains of more than 73% from the first quarter of 2020 through the fourth quarter of 2024, said Legacy, which attributed the data to the National Association of Realtors.

Other states in the top five were Florida, Montana, New Hampshire and Vermont. 

“Maine’s relative success, much like that of Montana, New Hampshire and Vermont, stems from being a small state with a limited inventory of homes for sale and a surge of buyer interest in both primary and second homes,” said Chris Lynch, Legacy’s president and owner.

Excess demand relative to available inventory has resulted in strong prices year-round.

“However, I sense a change taking shape this year,” Lynch said. “Historically, the period from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day has offered buyers and sellers a reprieve from the frenzied pace of the spring and fall market activity. I predict that we are moving closer to experiencing a seasonal slowdown ahead.”

Although the number of active listings is only about 35% of pre-2020 norms, that’s still triple the number from the low number of listings seen during the pandemic, he said.

Although the number of active listings is growing, Lynch predicted some people will wait for mortgage rates to decline before buying a home.

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