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

The greater Portland Maine real estate markets posted a very solid May and continue to trend upward with regard to transaction volume and median pricing.  South Portland residential real estate saw 31 transactions transpire at a median price of 189K, compared with 210K a year prior and 164K in April 2009.  The real estate in Falmouth Maine and also Cumberland saw 17 and 7 homes trade hands compared with 11 and 11 respectively from a month prior. Median pricing for these neighborhoods clocked in at 485K and 279K in May 2009.  Within the Cape Elizabeth residential home market, 9 homes sold in May compared with 16 a year prior. The median price was 245K.

The month of January did not treat the southern and greater Portland Maine real estate markets kindly.  In most communities transaction volumes were a fraction of what they were a year prior or even a month earlier.  For instance South Portland saw 7 home sell vs 13 from a year prior and Freeport saw one transaction relative to 8 in 2008. Falmouth was the only community that had an increase with 8 homes trading hands vs 5 the year prior.

This southern Maine real estate slowdown can partially be attributed to colder temps and more snow than average this past January although I feel it is more largely attributed to the general state of our economy and housing marktets. Optimism is not dead yet though and with the entire system being psychologically driven in many ways…KEEP THE FAITH.  For more housing statistics on Maine please visit www.mymaineproperty.com

Following suit with the rest of the state of Maine, real estate in South Portland saw significantly decreased transaction levels for the year ending 2008. 265 residential properties traded hands at an average price of 226K compared with 2007 when 344 properties were sold at an average price of 245K.  This represents a volume drop of 23% and a pricing drop of 8%.  South Portland’s median price in 2008 was 199K compared with 215K in 2007.  The days on market inched upwards again adding 8 days to the 2007 figure of 73.  In this graph one can see the continued upward trend in the days on market over the past few years.

Please reach out to me to learn more about this greater Portland Maine real estate market and to obtain greater housing analysis and charts on the area.

Thus far in 2008 the South Portland Maine real estate market has seen 272 properties sold at an average transaction price of 255K after sitting on the market for 62 days.

Contrasting this with what is currently on the market:  159 properties: 108 single family with an average asking price of 298K and 51 condos with an average asking price of 230K one can see that the asking prices in this market are a bit too high and thus contributing to a significantly longer days on market for current listings: 222 for condos and 91 for single family homes.
You can find more information on Greater Portland Maine real estate here.