The markets of Southern Maine seem to have cooled off a bit as of late… I guess to be expected since the frenzy and urgency of the first time home buyer tax credit is gone.  Buyers continue to look (and buy), but at a much more relaxed and comfortable pace although if a home is priced appropriately it will sell quickly and within a matter of days still!  The Portland ME real estate housing market continues to be the strongest segment in the region with over 80 residential transactions transpiring in May 2010, the most in 2 years, whilst homes for sale in the mid coastal regions are beginning to see better action, but buyers are still a bit hesitant to pull the trigger fully.

Thanks for reading and feel free to contact me at anytime for more in depth analysis.

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 month ending February 2010, the southern Maine real estate markets posted mixed results as most of the markets suffered from post-holiday hangover.  Some communities were up in prices, others were down.  Overall volume continues to be higher throughout the region.

As I write the markets are as hot as they have been in well over 3 years thanks largely to the first time home buyer tax credit as well as the continued low interest rates, under 5% in most cases!  As March, April and May housing statistics become available be sure to check back in as I suspect we are going to see some very encouraging results. Many homes in the greater Portland Maine housing market continue to see multiple offer situations, sold prices at or above asking prices and extremely healthy buyer interest.

As we enter the March spring season, (Note: March is Maine’s snowiest month! )  it seems the residential Portland Maine real estate markets have significantly heated up as attractively priced first time home buyer properties are selling in days with multiple offers at above asking prices!  What a change from a year prior!!  It is this authors belief that this mini-frenzy will continue to pick up momentum throughout the expiration of the housing tax credit on April 30th.

As of today there are approximately 380 homes and condo’s on the market in Portland with a median asking price of 249K.  To date in 2010 a total of 80 residential real estate transactions have transpired with a median sales price of 210K with the homes sitting on the market for a median of 60 days and selling at approximately 96% of their asking price.

Click here for a complete list of Portland Maine homes for sale.
Thanks for reading!

How did the largest city in Maine fare in 2009.  It seems on average most municipalities  lost about 10% of their market value in 2009 compared with 2008.  Overall prices in the southern and mid coastal real estate markets have retraced to 2003/2004 values.  Portland Maine real estate appears to have fared a bit better than the average.  Combined single family and condo values were down approximately 5% whilst broken out single family homes lost only 3% to4% of their value and condo’s were closer to 10%.

Transaction volume was down slightly relative to 2008, but most of this drop came from less condo’s selling as single family transactions were flat to slight up.

Going forward it seems the stage is set for a buying and selling frenzy in the real estate markets of southern Maine with prices having stabilized, the deadline of the tax credit looming and continued low interest rates.

The residential real estate markets of Portland Maine posted another solid quarter of results for the 3 month period ending Dec 2009.  A total of 147 single family homes and condos sold, up 19% from the 4th quarter  2008.  At a median price of 207K, values were only down 4% from a year prior and for the most part values have held stable with pricing for the first 3 quarters of 2009 being 206K, 219K, 203K.

The median days on market had a surprising uptick in the 4th quarter coming in at 80 days compared with previous reading in the first 3 quarters of 68, 44 and 47. Watching this metric in the first and second quarters of 2010 will help determine if this is an anomaly or a larger trend forming.

December and this first week of January have been a bit slow from my own perspective and personal business activity, but I am optimistic the lower interest rates and first time tax credit will help keep the Portland housing and real estate markets moving forward.

For more information on Portland Maine homes for sale and/or the tax credit please reach out anytime at 207-650-5383 or by email at john@greentreemaine.com

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!

Today Bloomberg released a report that housing values were up on 20 cities throughout the nation for the 5th consecutive month.  For the last 5 months starting in July the median sold portland Maine home prices have been 207K, 198K. 204K, 200K, 212K repsectively.  Thus one could infer that our region market is fairly stable.  Volume on the other hand has been way up both in Portland and the surrounding neighborhoods. The first time tax credit coupled with historically low interest rates have helped keep a healthy supply of buyers in the marketplace.

Going forward anything could happen though and it seems volatility and media hype, both positive and negatively, will continue to dominate the industry.

For more detailed housing statistics on Portland or Southern ME real estate in general please feel free to contact me at 207-650-5383 or john@greentreemaine.com

Wow… we are off to a great start as I begin tabulating the monthly housing statistics for the southern maine real estate markets.  Portland Maine posted 55 closed transactions for the month of November whilst South Portland added another 27.  These volume was up about 8% for Portland year over year and almost 100% in South Portland where only 14 homes sold in November 2008!!

The more exciting news though is the median pricing for the 2 communities. South Portland actually saw a 4% increase from 2008 whilst the Portland Maine real estate market saw a 4% drop year over year, still lower but half as much as the 10% year over year drops we have been seeing!  Month over month, a 4% increase was even seen, but the monthly figures fluctuate a bit more and the bigger story is that prices have not been deceasing for over a half year and may even be seeing a slight rebound.

Thanks for reading,

John Herrigel
Portland Maine real estate agent

Currently in the Portland Maine real estate market there are 219 single family homes on the market offered at a median price of 299K and 214 condos for sale in Portland offered at median list price of 214K.  To date through 2009, a total of 561 residential units including both single family and condos have sold at a median price point 210K after sitting on the market for about 50 days.

The Portland Maine residential markets overall remain healthy as we enter the winter season.  If a property is priced right it will sell quickly, but overpriced inventory has and continues to clog the market place as well as continuing short sales and foreclosures.

Thanks for reading,
John
Maine Buyers Agent
Green Tree Realty

For the 3 months ending September 2009, the greater Portland real estate markets saw market improvement over the first half of the year.  The towns of Portland, South Portland, Westbrook, Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth saw a combined total of 431 transactions compared with 372 in the 2nd quarter and 399 for the same period 2008, representing a 7% year over year increase.
The average median price for all 5 communites was 238K, down 12% from266K in 2008 for the same 3 month period.  Median prices in the 1st and 2nd qtr 2009 was 263 and 250K respectively.

You can view the entire report with individual Maine community housing statistics here.

Thanks for reading!

John

Maine Buyers Broker