Hancock County real estate is on the upswing
PHOTO / MAUREEN MILLIKEN
Home sales in July continued to increase in a strong market, according to the Maine Association of Realtors.
If numbers released Wednesday are any indication, homes in Hancock County are selling like hotcakes.
A Maine Listings comparison of residential real estate sales from May through July versus the same quarter in 2018 shows the number of units sold in Hancock increased 20.1%.
That was the greatest rate of increase among all 16 Maine counties. Most counties saw a decline in the number of units sold.
The increase coincides with ongoing investment on Mount Desert Island in residential properties for conversion to vacation rentals.
The quarterly median sales price in Hancock County is also up, by 12.57%, from $208,750 to $235,000.
But it’s Piscataquis County that saw the greatest increase in median sale price. The price there rose 44.44%, from $99,000 to $143,000.
All counties except one were up in median sales prices for the quarter. Most of the increases were in the 2% to 9% range. After Piscataquis County, Washington County saw the next-highest increase, of 18.18%.
Only Knox County saw a decline, of 7.63%.
Overall, sales of single-family existing homes in Maine remain stable and positive, according to a news release.
There was a 0.16% rise in sales comparing July 2019 to July 2018. The median sales price for the 1,866 homes sold in July reached $230,000, an increase of 2.22% compared to July 2018.
Up and down
“For-sale inventory has crept up slightly, though competition for entry-level homes remains high,” Peter Harrington, president of the Maine Association of Realtors and broker/partner with Malone Commercial Brokers in Portland, said in the release. “With increasing for-sale inventory levels and very affordable mortgage interest rates, we expect markets to remain steady.”
According to the National Association of Realtors, sales across the country rose 1% in July. The national median sale price increased 4.5% to $284,000. Regionally, sales in the Northeast dipped 4.3% in the past year, and the median sale price reached $305,800, down 1%.
“Sales volume has been up-and-down over the first seven months of 2019 and is running only 1.6% below the comparable time period for 2018, Maine’s record-breaking year,” Harrington said.
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