Once again the southern Maine real estate markets posted extremely strong residential housing results for the month ending April 30th.  Housing volume for the more populated counties of  York and Cumberland was up 72% and 65% whilst the mid coastal  markets of Sagadahoc and Lincoln were up 36% and 44%.

Median pricing rose year over year in all 4 counties with York and Lincoln counties leading the way up  8% and 11% respectively.  Cumberland County, home to Portland, remained steady seeing a 2% rise in median pricing.  Additionally the  days on market average continued to drop throughout the region.

The general feeling in the market place is encouraging.  Homes are selling if priced right, many active buyers are looking and sellers have for the most part have accepted what their homes are worth and thus are listing at realistic prices.

Please feel free to read the entire southern ME housing report here.

Thanks for reading,
John

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

As the deadline for the housing tax credit looms communities here in Maine have benefited greatly thus far as the southern ME real estate market has been quite healthy and very active since about mid way through January.

The southern and lower mid coastal Maine region as a whole has seen stabilizing prices with the past 3 quarters median prices clocking in at 228K, 229K and 225K respectively.  Transaction volume has also been strong, up 29% in the 1st quarter 2010 compared with the 1st quarter 2009.

The entire Maine real estate report can be obtained here or by contacting me directly at john@greentreemaine.com

Going forward look for continued growth in transaction volume coupled with steady pricing, but  if rates continue to tick upwards this  market will see an end to its borderline euphoric state.
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.

For the month ending January 2010 the York County residential Maine real estate markets saw 119 transactions transpire at a median sales price of 209K which represents an increase of about 13% year over year  when the median sold price in January for 185K.  Volume was also higher by 30% year over year.  Inventories clocked in about 100 higher in February compared to January.
For more information on southern ME real estate please visit www.mymaineproperty.com or feel free to contact me directly at 207-650-5383 or via email at john@greentreemaine.com

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!

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.

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.

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

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.