July home sales and values strong, spurred by pandemic
Sales of single-family existing homes continue to recover from the impact of the early months of COVID-19.
Maine Listings has reported a sales jump of 12.4% in July, compared to July 2019.
Values rose 10.8% to a median sales price of $254,900, comparing July 2020 to July 2019.
Maine’s real estate markets were hot in July for a number of reasons, Tom Cole, 2020 president of the Maine Association of Realtors and managing broker of Brunswick-based Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate The Masiello Group, said in a news release.
“Maine’s quality of life, our nation-leading low COVID-19 metrics, and mortgage interest rates hovering at 3% and below (increasing buying power), are contributing to very strong demand for residential real estate,” he said. “The July statistics indicate pent-up demand from the initial drop-off impacts of the pandemic.”
Rural areas surge
Maine’s rural counties to the east, north and west saw the steepest increase in sales when comparing 2020 for the May 1 through July 31 quarter:
• Washington County buying was up 23%.
• Oxford County was up 16.9%.
• Piscataquis County was up 16.1%.
• Somerset County was up 15.3%.
• Aroostook County was up 12.9%.
By contrast, more-populated areas saw a decline in buying:
• Cumberland County was down 17.5%.
• Hancock County was down 13%.
Flying off the shelf
Earlier this month, real estate brokers in Aroostook County’s Houlton told Mainebiz that homes were flying off the shelf to out-of-state buyers, and that days-on-market and inventory are shrinking.
“I’m seeing more out-of-staters, but also people from Downeast moving up,” said Scot Walker, owner of Houlton’s First Choice Real Estate. “There are more people interested in getting out of more-populated places and coming to rural areas.”
Sales were up 38% at Houlton’s Mooers Realty.
“When COVID happened, suddenly you didn’t get as many new listings,” said owner Andrew Mooers. “People said, ‘We’re not going to make any big moves.’ They either pulled their listing or didn’t list at all, so there was shortage of inventory. That created pressure. Suddenly, things that were on the market for a while flew off the shelf.”
Reasons for buying? Perceived safety from the coronavirus, geographic space, excellent broadband access for remote work, cheaper prices.
Cole said for-sale inventory is nearly 40% below a year ago. Prospective buyers who sat out for the past few months “are feeling more confident financially and comfortable with the safety protocols. They have become active again.”
With July’s sales rebound, the number of single-family homes sold from January through July 2020 is only 1.1% below 2019, which was Maine’s best year ever.
National, regional sales
According to the National Association of Realtors, sales nationwide were up 9.8% in the past year.
The national median sale price rose 8.5% to $307,800.
Regionally, single-family home sales in the Northeast eased 5.9% while the regional median sale price increased 4% to $317,800 comparing July 2020 to July 2019.
“We are seeing evidence of increasing out-of-state buyer activity,” Cole said. “Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Maine Realtors have been noticing an influx of buyers from out-of-state looking at properties in Maine. Recent data indicates a 5.5% increase of sales to buyers from out-of-state comparing July 2020 to July of 2019.”
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