Alas January did not post the numbers that anybody who wants  real estate markets to appreciate would like to see.  For the southern Maine real estate markets, specifically York and Cumberland county, transaction volume was down 12% and 41% respectively, with only about 100 residential home transactions occurring in Cumberland County, home to Portland Maine.  Pricing continues to trend downward, but not at an alarming rate.

In Maine coastal real estate markets including Sagadahoc and Lincoln country transaction volume was down at even more alarming rates, 30% and 50% respectively!  Given extremely small sample populations it is hard to discern true pricing patterns but it is safe to say prices are also trending downward.

The month of Janurary was cold, snowy and a tough one for Maine real estate.  Keep an eye out for the Maine Association of Realtors figures that should be released soon.

Thanks for reading,

John

The month of January did not treat the southern and greater Portland Maine real estate markets kindly.  In most communities transaction volumes were a fraction of what they were a year prior or even a month earlier.  For instance South Portland saw 7 home sell vs 13 from a year prior and Freeport saw one transaction relative to 8 in 2008. Falmouth was the only community that had an increase with 8 homes trading hands vs 5 the year prior.

This southern Maine real estate slowdown can partially be attributed to colder temps and more snow than average this past January although I feel it is more largely attributed to the general state of our economy and housing marktets. Optimism is not dead yet though and with the entire system being psychologically driven in many ways…KEEP THE FAITH.  For more housing statistics on Maine please visit www.mymaineproperty.com

The coastal Maine real estate markets are slow and staying that way for the time being. Homes in Bath Maine are selling extremely slowly as for the entire month of January only 2 residential properties traded hands as an average sales price of 137K, down 4% from a year prior’s average home sold price of 141K.  The days on market continue to lengthen and clocked in at 154 in January.  Inventories have fallen slightly. Currently there are 100 properties for sale in Bath compared with 105 in December.