Homes sales across Maine up during February

Fri, 03/22/2024 - 8:00am

More single-family homes for sale in Maine compared to a year ago, coupled with strong demand from buyers, resulted in higher sales figures and home prices in February. According to Maine Listings, home sales jumped 11.44 percent in February, year-over-year, across Maine’s 16 counties. The median sales price for homes sold reached $354,000 in February 2024, an increase of 7.52 percent over February 2023. The MSP indicates that half of the homes were sold for more and half sold for less.

“After 31 consecutive months of year-over-year declines for the number of sales, February 2024 showed an increase over the sales volume from a year ago—for the first time since June 2021,” says Paul McKee, 2024 President of the Maine Association of REALTORS® and Broker affiliated with Keller Williams Realty in Portland.

“The recent uptick in listing activity has led to a higher sales volume in February. Buyer demand remains steady and strong, outpacing supply in many local markets, which maintains pressure on pricing,” he adds.

Nationwide sales of single-family existing homes dipped 2.7 percent in February 2024 compared to February 2023. The National Association of Realtors today reported a national MSP of $388,700, up 5.6 percent. Regionally, sales in the Northeast eased 7.7 percent, while the regional MSP reached $420,600—an increase of 11.5 percent since last February.

“If you have equity in your current home, it’s an opportune time to sell,” said McKee.  “REALTORS® are working with state and local governments across Maine advocating for increased housing supply through new development and adaptive reuse to bring a better balance to our housing markets. Currently supply sits at 3.2 months, which is a strong sellers’ market; a balanced supply would be six months.”

Below are two charts showing statistics for Maine and its 16 counties. The first chart lists statistics for the month of February, statewide. The second chart compares the number of existing, single-family homes sold (units) and volume (MSP) during the rolling quarter of December (2022/2023), January (2023/2024) and February (2023/2024). 

FEBRUARY ONLY CHART

February 1-28, 2023— February 1-29, 2024

 

                               Number of Units Sold

Median Sales Price

 

 

2023

2024

%Change

2023

2024

%Change

 

Statewide

708

789

11.44%

$ 329,250

$ 354,000

7.52%

 

ROLLING QUARTER

December 1, 2022—February 28, 2023 and

December 1, 2023—February 29, 2024

 

                               Number of Units Sold

Median Sales Price

 

County

2022-23

2023-24

%Change

2022-23

2023-24

%Change

 

Statewide

2557

2556

-0.04%

$ 326,000

$ 353,000

8.28%

             
             
             
Androscoggin

190

202

6.32%

$ 300,000

$ 300,000

0.00%

Aroostook

120

118

-1.67%

$ 132,750

$ 145,000

9.23%

Cumberland

473

484

2.33%

$ 459,000

$ 513,250

11.82%

Franklin

63

70

11.11%

$ 225,000

$ 275,000

22.22%

Hancock

118

110

-6.78%

$ 366,500

$ 375,000

2.32%

Kennebec

230

228

-0.87%

$ 260,000

$ 286,000

10.00%

Knox

106

79

-25.47%

$ 372,500

$ 435,000

16.78%

Lincoln

67

85

26.87%

$ 375,000

$ 419,000

11.73%

Oxford

141

138

-2.13%

$ 275,000

$ 289,950

5.44%

Penobscot

289

261

-9.69%

$ 206,000

$ 250,000

21.36%

Piscataquis

57

53

-7.02%

$ 166,000

$ 185,000

11.45%

Sagadahoc

56

67

19.64%

$ 371,500

$ 385,000

3.63%

Somerset

95

110

15.79%

$ 170,000

$ 209,867

23.45%

Waldo

84

64

-23.81%

$ 314,500

$ 335,000

6.52%

Washington

70

76

8.57%

$ 211,000

$ 213,625

1.24%

York

398

411

3.27%

$ 430,000

$ 470,000

9.30%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Maine Real Estate Information System, Inc. (d/b/a Maine Listings).  Note: Maine Listings, a subsidiary of the Maine Association of REALTORS®, is a statewide Multiple Listing Service with over 6,200 licensees inputting active and sold property listing data.  Statistics reflect properties reported as sold in the system within the time periods indicated. Contacts: Maine Association of REALTORS® President Paul McKee (Keller Williams Realty ,Portland) – 207-831-3929  pmckee@kw.com or Maine Association of REALTORS® President Elect Jeff Harris (Harris Real Estate, Farmington) – 207-491- 600. jeffharris@harrisrealestate.net. For additional contacts: suzanne@mainerealtors.com