The southern Maine real estate markets posted continued solid results in the month of January.  I think most Realtor’s including myself  are a bit relieved after seeing a VERY slow holiday season and early January.  Lately things have picked up significantly with many active first time home buyers in the market as well as parties looking to relocate to the region.

Year over year transaction volume in January was way up in all 4 counties of York, Cumberland, Lincoln and Sagadahoc.. a trend that has been underway for quite some time.   Pricing continues to stabilize and in the city of Portland median home prices were surprisingly up 6% month over month in January.

Please visit my Maine real estate site for the complete report as well as housing statistics for the various communities in the region.

Thanks for visiting and reading!

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.

As of November 1st  all Maine home buyers will be asked to sign at the closing a document certifying that smoke detectors are installed in the home they will be purchased. In addition, any new construction or substanstial renovations done to a home since September 12th, 2009, will be required to have Carbon Monoxide detectors installed in the home.   Here is a good video on it all from Linda Gifford, the Maine Association of Realtor’s legal counsel.

The coastal and southern Maine regions including the counties of York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc and Lincoln saw more of the same for the month period ending in September 2009.  Housing inventories continue to decrease as do the days on market for residential real estate!  Median prices were down a bit more significantly year over year this September but on a 3 month rolling average, prices are off about 10%.  The markets have for the most part been pretty stable since the start of the summer and since January 1, little pricing decrease has been seen and volume has been steadily increasing, both great signs for a continued improvement.  The full Maine housing report can be seen here.
Thanks for reading,

John Herrigel
A southern and mid coastal Maine buyers agent.

The summer southern Maine real estate markets continued to trend south in August as transaction levels remained off 20%-30% from a year prior and pricing was down 10%-15% on average for the 4 counties followed.  Cumberland with Portland and Brunswick real estate markets saw a 9% reduction in average prices whilst York county saw homes lose 15% of their value from a year prior.  A small silver lining this month was seen in an ever so slight reduction in the DOM combined with a drop in inventories.   The Maine housing markets continue to chug along, but with the sharp interest rate drop last week coupled with continued tumultuous financial markets the future is anybody’s bet.  Real the overall coastal Maine housing market report for greater details and information,.

In May the average sold pricing for York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc and Lincoln county single family real estate markets was down on average 3% to 5% in contrast to the significant price drops Southern and Coastal Maine saw in April.   Comparing May 2008 to May 2006 the current sold prices are 3% higher than 2 years prior whilst Cumberland is off 6%. Current transaction levels in the Southern coastal real estate markets remains significantly lower and continues to trend downward. Spring inventory levels are on the rise and current levels are almost identical to those seen in 2006 whilst about 3% less than those seen in 2007. Optimism as always is in the air within the greater Portland Maine real estate community though.  With the significant energy crisis on hand be ready for   for continued slumping of overall sales.
View all housing statistics for Maine May numbers here.

Following the trend seen last month the total properties sold in the 4 counties remained significantly down from a year prior. Avg. pricing for both Southern Maine (York and Cumberland) and mid coastal Maine (Sagadahoc and Lincoln) remained flat throughout. A slightly higher price in Sagadahoc can be attributed to a small sample size. (Note: York million dollar home sales were removed from data due to abnormal high number, actual avg. sold price was 338K). Days on Market continue to fluctuate greatly throughout all areas followed. Inventories were down significantly in all 4 counties which is typical for this time of year. Get the complete Maine newsletter with housing statistics here.

   October 2007 (October 2006) (Yearly % Change)
                        # Sold                          Avg. Price

York                210(249)(-16%)         286K (290K)(-1%)
Cumberland    280 (357)(-22%)      312K (313K)(0%)
Sagadahoc      35 (31)(12%)            236K (216K)(14%)
Lincoln            44 (45)(-3%)           286K (294K)(-3%)

Despite chaos in the national and local credit and financial markets, Maine posted strong results for the month of August with healthy transaction volume in all 4 counties, increasing 16%  and 11% in York and Cumberland respectively from a year prior.  Average prices were also up in all 4 counties followed as inventories decreased in 3 out of the 4 markets for the first time in many months.  Relocation and retirement buyers throughout the area continue to help Maine fare better than most other parts of the country. See the complete Southern Maine report here.

Southern Maine Housing transaction volume remained down holding steady for the 2^nd month in a row at 82% of its 2006 levels.   Average prices were down in 3 out of the 4 counties with a cumulative weighted sales price drop of  2% overall, but one should take note in York County 10 properties sold for over 1 Million in June; an abnormally high number.  Removing these from the equation brings the average sales price in York down to 282K and more in line with the other 3 counties.  The net result then being a 5-7% overall price drop for southern Maine real estate in June

The verdict is in once again, 48th out of 50 on best places to do business. Well at  least it can’t get much worse.  The only states outranking us were Louisiana and West Virgina.  Coming as no big surprise since as 2 years prior we tallied a 46th ranking in the same pole.  Broken down into 5 categories, the one area we did rank in the 25, a 16th in quality of life, so just because nobody wants to do move their business here, plenty still want to relocate and retire in Maine.  We ranked 27th on labor (educational attainment, net migration and projected population growth), 30th in economic climate (current job, income and gross state product growth, unemployment and the presence of large employers), 42nd in growth prospects (projected job,…income and GSP growth, business openings and closings, and venture capital investment), 43rd on business costs (labor, energy and taxes) and  we bottom out at 46th on regulatory environment (regulatory and tort climate, incentives, transportation and bond ratings) 

Oh well, the Maine Lobster will have its day.. Read the complete story here