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