Well.. despite the clouds, rain and snow.. Spring is doing its best to reach us here in Maine!  The first quarter of 2011 yielded little surprise as the region as a whole was down about 25% in transaction volume compared with the same time period a year prior whilst prices continue stabilize  with real estate in Portland Maine actually showing a statistical 8% increase in median pricing compared to 2010 as the median price clocked in at 222K compared with 206K last year.. however this is probably more the result of less first time home buyers in the market place than of actual price appreciation.  Alas the mid coastal area including homes in Bath and Brunswick continue to see slackened demand overall, but prices here are fairly stable as well.

For the year ending 2010 the real estate markets in greater Portland and mid coastal Maine posted solid and stabilizing housing results. Overall transaction volume was almost identical to that seen in 2009 whilst median pricing actually rose 3% on a statistical basis, although in reality it seems housing prices are not really increasing or deceasing.  Many signs point to a strong year ahead of us in 2011.. the economy is improving, inventories are low, rates remain stable and the general overall vibe is strong.

Below are detailed housing statistics on all the communities within the region.

It always amazes me how one can find such incredible affordable and wonderful homes for sale in Bath Maine.

Having lived there myself, but now opting for the more active pace of life that Portland offers I strongly encourage any would be buyer to give Bath a shot if you are looking for a home or condo in the  mid coastal ME real estate markets.

Fantastic homes with water views can be found for under 200K and deep waterfront property on the Kennebec starts in the 300′s, take for instance this fully renovated home with guest cottage offered at $449,000.

From an investment point of view, multi units can be found for as cheap as 40K a unit and with a healthy supply of Bath Iron Works employees always looking for places to rent I encourage any would be investor or current investor to take a look at the numbers, they work great!

I think Bath often gets overlooked because of the stigmatism of having a large ship building operation in the city, but ironically this is what makes Bath such a great place to live offering a wonderful mix of of working class individuals, born and bred locals and now many retiring baby boomers, like my parents.

A vibrant and growing down town, minutes to area beaches and still only 35 minutes to Portland… reach out anytime for some more information and real estate listings on Bath Maine.

For the month ending March 2009, the real estate markets of Bath and Brunswick saw 15 total residential transactions occur compared with 16 a year prior.  The median pricing was actually down a whopping 47% in Bath but only 3% in Brunswick and the Bath number can perhaps be attributed to a small sample size overall.

The coastal Maine real estate markets have been extremely slow through the winter months, but activity on lower priced, first time homebuyer real estate has heated up and many buyers “from away” have started to look again at higher priced offerings.

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.

In the month of June for Southern Coastal Maine real estate the transaction levels remained down 20-25% as they have been and the pricing continues to level off and stabilize. In York and Cumberland counties which include Portland and Brunswick a 1% price fluctuation was seen from a year prior while Sagadahoc and Lincoln which includes Bath saw price variation of 5-6% attributed generally to smaller sample sizes. The Average Days on Market for all properties in all regions is increasing. Going forward I believe demand for smaller homes will increase and a decrease in demand for mid sized homes will decrease as uncertainty over the economy and energy ensues.