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Southern Maine 2009 Year in Review
For the 4 counties followed Cumberland and Sagadahoc posted the best results dropping only 6% and 8% respectively in median prices compared with 2008 figures. The southernmost real estate markets of York county lost 14% of their value whilst mid coastal Lincoln county dropped a whopping 17%. Volume in all 4 counties held strong in 2009 posting similar transaction volumes to those seen in 2008 thanks to a 2nd half surge resulting from the tax credit and low interest rates.
Despite these price drops home values did stabilize throughout the year. Inventories across the board are currently lower than where they were last year at this time and the median days on market average has dropped in all counties except for Sagadahoc.
Going forward I expect the first half of 2010 to be quite strong as rates remain low and buyers continue to take advantage of the housing tax credit that expires April 3oth.
The complete Maine real estate report can be viewed at www.mymainepropety.com as well as individual reports on the greater Portland Maine residential markets and the Maine coastal housing markets.
Coastal Maine 2009 Housing Year in Review
The focus of this coastal Maine real estate market report is on the lower mid coast region including Bath, Brunswick, Freeport, Phippsburg, Georgetown and Arrowsic.  The median sold price for the region as a whole in 2009 was 228K, down about 9% from 250K in 2008. Thanks in large part to the strong 2nd half of the year, volume remained relatively unchanged, actually up 2% from 2008 levels.   The City of Ships, Bath Maine saw the largest swings in volume, up 50% whilst the coastal waterfront peninsulas of Phippsburg, Georgetown and Harpswell were hit the hardest with volume down about 20%. The real estate market of Brunswick Maine is the largest in the region accounting for approximately 1/3 of all volume.  The time it took to sell a home aka the Days on Market (DOM) was down about 3% for the entire region with Bath seeing a 49% decrease helping to lead the way.
Please click here for the complete 2009 mid coastal real estate housing report.
Thanks for reading.
4th Quarter Analysis of Portland ME Residential Housing Markets
The residential real estate markets of Portland Maine posted another solid quarter of results for the 3 month period
ending Dec 2009. A total of 147 single family homes and condos sold, up 19% from the 4th quarter 2008. At a median price of 207K, values were only down 4% from a year prior and for the most part values have held stable with pricing for the first 3 quarters of 2009 being 206K, 219K, 203K.
The median days on market had a surprising uptick in the 4th quarter coming in at 80 days compared with previous reading in the first 3 quarters of 68, 44 and 47. Watching this metric in the first and second quarters of 2010 will help determine if this is an anomaly or a larger trend forming.
December and this first week of January have been a bit slow from my own perspective and personal business activity, but I am optimistic the lower interest rates and first time tax credit will help keep the Portland housing and real estate markets moving forward.
For more information on Portland Maine homes for sale and/or the tax credit please reach out anytime at 207-650-5383 or by email at john@greentreemaine.com
Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!