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October 20, 2023

Even with more homes for sale in Maine, prices rose again last month while sales fell

By Laurie Schreiber

Despite the supply of Maine homes for sale growing slightly last month, the number of properties changing hands plummeted again while prices continued to soar.

The Maine Association of Realtors reported Thursday that 1,410 existing, single-family homes sold in September, down 25.4% compared to the total in September 2022. 

The median sales price last month increased 14.17% over the September 2022 level, from $330,000 to $376,750. 

The MSP is the price at which half of the homes sold for a greater amount and half sold for less.

For-sale inventory in September ticked up 2% from the August level and was slightly more than a year ago, according to the association.

person in red dress smiling
Courtesy / Maine Association of Realtors
Carmen McPhail

However, the number of homes for sale, 3,855, was 57% below the pre-pandemic level of 9,026 in September 2019, noted Carmen McPhail, 2023 president of the Realtors organization and associate broker at United Country Lifestyle Properties of Maine in Bangor.

The Maine Association of Realtors is advocating at the state and local levels to boost production of additional housing units.

“Whether through new construction or adaptive reuse, we are focused on creating a more balanced market in regard to supply and demand,” McPhail said.

“While we wait to feel the impacts of supply-side solutions, the number of buyers continues to outpace the number of sellers,” she added.

National, regional numbers

The trend of declining sales and rising prices also continued nationally last month, although not as sharply as in Maine.

Home sales across the U.S. fell 15.8% from the September 2022 level, while prices increased 2.5% to an MSP of $399,200, according to the National Association of Realtors.

At the regional level, sales in the Northeast decreased 16.7% and the MSP rose 5.2% to $439,900.

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