Maine home sales increase for 2nd time after 31-month slide
By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff
After a 31-month slide, Maine has seen home sales increase for two straight months.
Buyers scooped up 888 homes in March, an 3.5 percent increase compared with the 858 sold in March 2023, according to the Maine Association of Realtors.
Meanwhile, the median sales price for a Maine home rose nearly 12.6 percent to $380,000, compared with $337,500 in March 2023.
Paul McKee, the president of the Maine Association of Realtors and a broker affiliated with Keller Williams Realty in Portland, said Thursday that more homes are coming onto the market while buyer demand remains strong.
“Due to pent-up demand across Maine, markets remain brisk and multiple offers remain a common occurrence for properly priced and presentable properties,” McKee said.
The March sales bump bucked a general fall in home sales in the Northeast and across the country.
Nationally, home sales fell 2.8 percent in March, compared with the same time the year before. In the Northeast, home sales were down nearly 3.8 percent in March, compared with March 2023, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Like in Maine, the median sales prices for homes have been rising nationally and in the Northeast. Nationally they are up 4.7 percent to $397,000, while for the Northeast broadly they have risen 9.9 percent to $434,600.
On the county level, the most significant increase in median home prices was in Piscataquis County, where the median price has risen 43.6 percent to $237,000 for the three-month period ending March 31, compared with the same time last year. The highest median home price for the period was in Cumberland County, where it reached $533,500.
No county saw a fall in its median home price. Aroostook had the lowest median home price overall ($155,000).
On the sales front, Androscoggin County saw the largest sales bump over that three-month period, increasing 39.7 percent. It was followed by Lincoln (25.5 percent) and York (20.7 percent) counties. Sales fell most sharply in Waldo County, where they are down nearly 34 percent.