I thought it might be interesting to take a look at Maine waterfront real estate pricing now compared to the peak market conditions in 2005. I decided to analyze the 3 areas I am most familiar with in Maine… the Southern, Greater Portland, and Lower Mid Coastal regions given I am a broker based out of Portland. This is by no means a comprehensive analysis, but taken as a whole I feel one can get a good sense of where pricing and volume are currently compared with the heyday.
The regions sampled include: Southern, Maine– York, Kittery, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport; Greater Portland – Portland, South Portland, Falmouth & Cape Elizabeth; Mid Coastal – Yarmouth, Brunswick, Bath, Harpswell and Phippsburg.
The Analysis:
Prices on average are higher in Southern Maine and thus fell further with approximately a 20% pricing drop seen compared with 15% in mid coastal regions and 18% in the greater Portland ME marketplace. Asking prices also continue to remain out of line with reality with median asking prices 30% to high compared to what homes are actually selling for. The List/Sales ratio currently hovers around 93% compared with 96% in 2005
Median Asking Prices 2010 Sold Prices
Southern            1.2 Million                           725K
Portland              899K                                       657K
Coastal                549K                                     334K
As one can see from the chart below…. transaction volume is well off and at approximately 65% of 2005 results. Waterfront homes continue to sell and inventories remain stable, but there are simply transactions and the transactions that do close are taking longer with the current median days on market hovering around 135 compared with 70 or so in 2005.
Total Properties Sold
2010 (9 mos)Â Â Â Â Â 2009 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2005
Southern: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 31 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 39Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 66
Portland:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 22Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 37Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 50
Coastal:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 64Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 80Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 117
None of this is necessarily ground breaking news, but prices do not appear to be dropping any further and thus despite the significantly lower volume the marketplace  appears to have stabilized.
This housing data was derived from the MREIS information system for the period of 2005 to 2010 and then interpreted by John Herrigel, an associate Broker with Green Tree Realty in Portland ME.
For additional information please contact me directly at johnherrigel@gmail.com or 207-650-5383.
Thanks for reading!
Here is a quick snapshot of how the greater Portland ME real estate markets fared over the peak summer months including Falmouth, Cape Elizabeth and South Portland.
lower priced homes sales due to the ending of the first time home buyers tax credit.