November 26, 2018
Maine existing home sales looking at another record year
By Staff
Latest figures for existing home sales indicate Maine could have another record-setting real estate year.
October sales of existing homes were 3.44% higher than last October and 2.7% ahead of what they were at this time last year, the state real estate industry’s “strongest year ever,” said Kim Gleason, 2018 president of the Maine Association of Realtors, and broker/owner of McAllister Real Estate in Hallowell.
Home sales in 2017 were a 20-year high, which is as long as the association has been tracking the data.
The sales increase bucked the national and Northeast regional trend, where the month’s sales compared to last October, dropped. Median prices were up both in the state, region and nationally. Median means half were higher and half were lower.
Figures released by the association Wednesday show sales in the three-month August through October period skyrocketed in Piscataquis County, showing a 30.48% increase — 137 homes sold as opposed to 105 in the three-month period in 2017.
Also showing a sharp increase was Oxford County, at 10.37% — 290 homes sold this year, 245 last year.
Other counties with an increase in existing home sales in the three-month August to October were Aroostook (8.79%), Somerset (4.86%), Lincoln (6.9%), Knox (4.52%), Kennebec (4.47%), Penobscot (1.88%) and York (0.21%).
The biggest decrease, 10.04%, was in Hancock County, where 269 homes were sold in the period last year as opposed to 242 this year.
“We expect a strong 2018 finish. Traditionally, the holiday season continues to be an active time to transact real estate because buyers and sellers are motivated for decision-making before year’s end,” Gleason said.
Median sales price increases
The state association also reported that the median sales price for existing homes sold in October was $215,000, a 4.88% increase compared to the same month last year, when the median price was $205,000.
The sharpest increase in price in the three month August to October rolling quarter was in mid-coastal Lincoln County, where median price rose from $209,250 to $249,500, a 19.24% increase.
Downeast Washington County had a 17.38% increase, from $115,000 to $135,000. Sales in the county did not increase or decrease — 123 homes were sold in the county for the same period in both 2017 and 2018.
Oxford County, on the state’s western border, had a 16.60% increase, from $150,000 to $174,900. Knox County, on the coast just north of Lincoln County, had a 16.11% increase, $211,000 to $245,000.
The only county showing a drop in sales price was Hancock County, also Downeast, to the south of Washington County, with a 2.79% drop, from $230,000 to $223,590.
Gleason said that overall, Maine Maine home values continue to appreciate. She said that, for many, owning a home is more affordable than renting because of the tax benefits and accumulation of equity.
Nationally, single family sales eased 5.3% for October, compared to October 2017. The National Association of Realtors statistics indicate a national MSP of $257,900 — a 4.3% increase. October sales in the regional Northeast dipped 6.8% compared to a year ago, while the regional MSP of $280,900 represents a 3.0% rise.
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