Vitalius Real Estate report: Greater Portland residential sales a mixed bag

A rendering shows a long building with multiple doors.

RENDERING / COURTESY MAINE COOPERATIVE DEVELOPERS PARTNERS Portland’s condo market was strong in 2024. Construction on the affordable condo development Dougherty Commons in Portland got underway earlier this year.

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By Laurie Schreiber

Vitalius Real Estate Group launched a 2025 market report that provides an overview of multifamily, condo and single families in Greater Portland and the midcoast region.

Brit Vitalius, the firm’s designated broker and principal, has written a multifamily report for 17 years. Elise Loschiavo has produced a condo report for the last 11 years.

The overview includes a new residential report from Katie Brooke and John Mullen on the Portland neighborhood market.

Portland condos

The Portland condo review includes inventory, the pace of the marketplace, what’s selling, new development and forecasts

Key findings:

Portland’s condo market showed surprising strength in 2024, both in activity and value. The number of condo units sold was up 28% from 2023 across all of Portland.
Off peninsula, prices increased 10% on a price per square foot basis while peninsula price per square foot was relatively flat.
Despite high interest rates and a mid-year slowdown, only 5% fewer condos were sold in 2024 versus 2019.
While days on market went up by a week, there were 22% fewer unsold listings than the year before.
Luxury condos appear to have fueled the market, with 70% of buyers paying cash for condos priced over $800,000.

Greater Portland residential

The Greater Portland residential report discusses the housing market across Greater Portland and Cumberland County, with market trends, pricing fluctuations, inventory levels and demand drivers.

Key points:

There was a 53% increase in home prices in Cumberland County from 2019 to 2024.
Portland, Scarborough and Gorham saw continued growth in median home price from 2023 to 2024 while towns like Falmouth and Yarmouth saw slight dips.
Data show significant home price growth across nearly all neighborhoods in Portland since 2019, with some areas experiencing more dramatic appreciation than others.
One of the biggest drivers of the significant home price growth in Maine has been the influx of out-of-state buyers during and after the pandemic, as well as shifting priorities in what homebuyers value.

Multifamily

In the multifamily report, key takeaways from an analysis of 2024 data include:

Slowing price increases;
High prices in some areas but indications of a slowdown in others;
Increase in unsold listings.

Buyer demand in the Portland multifamily market was hard to predict from one listing to the next, said Vitalius. There was a leveling of prices in the 2- 4-unit market.

The other large markets in southern Maine showed more strength than Portland. Lewiston/Auburn prices were still up over 10% across the various sectors. Saco and Biddeford increased at a lower rate, about 9% overall, but with a decline in the commercial market.

Dramatic increase in values from 2019 to today is apparent in the median prices in all towns, although it appears that a leveling-off has begun, said Vitalius. That’s likely due to several factors:

Persistently high interest rates;
Slowing rent increases, with new rental inventory possibly starting to have an effect on rental rates;
Affordability, with first-time buyers hitting some affordability limits.

To see the report, click here.