The Maine association of Realtors released their 2008 year in review statistics today.  On average transaction volume was down 20% and pricing was down 7% compared to a year prior for the state as a whole.  This is similar to figures seen for the greater Portland Maine real estate market as well as the lower mid coastal Maine housing markets.  Compared to the nation as a whole Maine transaction volume is off a bit more than avereage,  but the pricing has not fallen as much.  The first time homebuyer market remains strong and the 2nd home market has sufferred the most.

For the year ending 2008 I compiled a rough data set of all Maine waterfront real estate around Portland and up through Bath to get a sense of how this sub market was faring.

103 transacations at an average price of 550K compared to 148 at an average price of 636K in 2007 thus representing a price drop of 15% and a transaction volume decrease of 30%.

Conclusion the southern and coastal maine residential real estate market for waterfont property has been hit harder  than the state averages of about 20% less volume and 10% lower prices.

For more information on Greater Portland Maine real estate please visit www.mymaineproperty.com

For the year ending 2008, the York County real estate market was hit harder than its counterpart Cumberland to the North. 2009 residential transactions transpired at an average sold price of 270K. This is off about 20% in volume and close to 11% in pricing compared to 2007.  The average days on market is also significantly higher in York vs Cumberland at 129 in 2008 for York vs around 100 for Cumberland.  A factor most likely in the lower prices and longer days on market is the stagnation in Maine waterfront real estate as a large portion of York county is on the water.

For additional info, please contact me directly at 207-650-5383 or john@greentreemaine.com
Thanks for reading,

John

Ending 2008 Cumberland County Maine saw 3060 transactions occur at an average price of 275K. This is down from 3703 at a price of 302K in 2007 representing a volume and pricing drop of 17% and 9% respectively.  Thus the southern Maine real estate markets are not immune to the economic/housing/financial crisis that has rocked this nation although less than a 10% drop is better than most areas in the nation and hopefully with lower interest rates and come spring fever, Maine along with the rest of the country will pull itself out of this mess.

For complete Maine real estate housing data please go to www.mymaineproperty.com

2008 was not such a bad year relative to other markets in the nation. Portland Maine Real Estate saw 406 homes and 247 condos sell. This is down approximately 15% from 2007 transaction volume levels.  The average sold prices for home and condos in Portland Maine were 268K and 225K respectively, whilst the median prices were 227K and 208K.  These prices are off about 8% on average from 2007 figures. Thus the real estate in Southern Maine is holding its own better than many other regions in the nation. For more information and additional housing statistics on Portland Maine, please visit www.PortlandMaineHome.com or www.myMaineProperty.com or contact me directly at john@greentreemaine.com.  Thanks for reading.
Here are a couple year by year graphs for the Home and Condo Markets.

Portland SF Home Average and Median Prices

Portland Condo Average and Median Prices