Despite the expiration of the housing tax credits, the real estate markets in Portland Maine continue to buzz along at a healthy clip.  Many first time home buyers I have been working with were actually kind of relieved to have the pressure off of finding a place prior to April 30th.  Interest rates continue to remain low and if we can avoid 1000 point stock market drops everything will be just fine in the greater Portland and southern ME real estate markets.

For the month ending April 30th the region as a whole was up about 40% or more in transaction volume compared to a year prior and relatively flat compared to March figures.  Median pricing in Portland and South Portland was actually up 6% and 27% respectively year over year but the small sample sizes can be a bit misleading and overall pricing is stable to slightly increasing in the city whilst holding steady in the surrounding suburbs like Cape Elizabeth, Yarmouth and the real estate markets in Falmouth.

For more detailed overviews on the individual communities please visit my southern ME real estate or mid coastal Maine housing overview pages at www.mymaineproperty.com.

Thanks for reading,

John

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 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.

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

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.

For the year ending 2008 I compiled a rough data set of all Maine waterfront real estate around Portland and up through Bath to get a sense of how this sub market was faring.

103 transacations at an average price of 550K compared to 148 at an average price of 636K in 2007 thus representing a price drop of 15% and a transaction volume decrease of 30%.

Conclusion the southern and coastal maine residential real estate market for waterfont property has been hit harder  than the state averages of about 20% less volume and 10% lower prices.

For more information on Greater Portland Maine real estate please visit www.mymaineproperty.com