As winter continues to rear its ugly head here in the great state of Maine.. I though tit might be interesting to take a look at how the foreclosure world was faring in Cumberland County, home of Portland Maine, and the largest county in the state.  Thanks to my friends at RealtyStore.com I was able to get some fantastic information and accurate data on how many actual foreclosure listings are currently available.

As of 2/23/2011… 62 total foreclosure properties in Maine are for sale and listed at a median sales price of $129,000. Of these 62 properties… 41 are bank owned, 10 are owned by the government and there are 11 shadow listings, meaning they are not being actively listed.

Luckily Maine has fared significantly better than other parts of the county and although foreclosures due exist they are definitely not the norm!

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.

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.

The month of November marked another great month for the southern ME real estate housing markets, specifically Cumberland and York counties.  Transaction volume was up 44% and 55% respectively whilst median prices month over month continued lower, off 6% and 12%.

Pricing continues to stabilize month over month with little to no price depreciation seen for the past 6 months.   The month of December thus far has been pretty quiet however, but assuming interest rates remain low and that the harsh winter storms don’t hammer us too too badly I believe in the new year we will continue to see strong rebounding of volume and pricing in  all market segments including the single family, condo and multi unit markets.

Inventories for the southern Maine markets are lower than they were a year prior and many individual towns, including Portland Maine even saw  a bit of price appreciation month over month in November.

For more detailed Maine housing statistics and analysi please contact me directly at 207-650-5383 or via email john@greentremaine.com or sign up for a complemantary Maine real estate buyers packet.

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

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