The southern Maine real estate residential markets once again posted solid results for the month ending May 2010.  The Portland market  continued to lead the way with 50% volume increases year over year and also month over month. The overall region was up about 25% year over year per the Maine association of Realtor’s statistical release.  The mid coastal region, specifically the real estate markets of Sagadahoc county sprang to life posting a 141% transaction volume increase year over year! Prices continued to stabilize throughout most of the region with minor month to month fluctuations.  Another encouraging sign of the improved conditions is that the days on market continue to decrease in most communities.

View all homes in southern ME for sale here or read the complete real estate report here.

Thanks for reading,

John

Green Tree Realty

Doing a bit of research this AM for a client looking to purchase a home perhaps in a rural location within 30 minutes of Portland Maine, here is a real estate snapshot of the current inventory of Maine homes for sale and the median sold prices for these neighborhoods.

As one goes a bit west and north of Portland Maine, property values tend to hold their own but you do get a lot more for your money, both in sq footage and land with your purchase.

The county of Cumberland located in southern Maine posted extremely strong Maine residential real estate figures for the month of June 2009. Pricing and volume were both down 3%, the first single and not double digit decrease in many months!  318 homes in Cumberland County sold at an average price point of 265K compared with 328 at 274K in June 2008.

Interest rates have remained low and the ME first time homebuyer segment continues to remain strong, perhaps even heating up a bit as the year end deadline fast approaches.

For the year ending 2008, the York County real estate market was hit harder than its counterpart Cumberland to the North. 2009 residential transactions transpired at an average sold price of 270K. This is off about 20% in volume and close to 11% in pricing compared to 2007.  The average days on market is also significantly higher in York vs Cumberland at 129 in 2008 for York vs around 100 for Cumberland.  A factor most likely in the lower prices and longer days on market is the stagnation in Maine waterfront real estate as a large portion of York county is on the water.

For additional info, please contact me directly at 207-650-5383 or john@greentreemaine.com
Thanks for reading,

John

For the month ending November 30th 2008 the  Cumberland Maine real estate markets saw 7 transactions transpire at an average price of 277K after sitting on the market for 159 days. in 2007  6 homes sold at an average price of 405K in November representing a transaction volume increase of 17% and a pricing decrease of 32%.

For more information on this southern Maine market please visit www.mymaineproperty.com or contact me directly at 207-650-5383 or via email at john@greentreemaine.com

Not a huge surprise for this time of year, but nonetheless a good sign for the overall health of the Maine real estate markets. Inventory levels have fallen in most communities, Portland for example fell from close to 500 residential units to a current level around 400.  Most coastal regions have seen declines by approximately the same 20-25%.

For a complete overview of the regions. Visit Southern Maine or Coastal Maine sections of www.mymaineproperty.com

For the month of November 2008, here is a market snapshot of the Southern Maine real estate transaction volume,  average sold prices and days on the market for most greater Portland and lower mid coastal Maine housing communities.
                       Current         Avg         Avg
Inventory    # sold    Sold Price    DOM
Portland                425          51          249K              75
South Portland      148          14           203K             126
Cape Elizabeth        87           9            459K             101
Falmouth               162         11           432K             142
Cumberland            85           7            277K             159
Yarmouth               68           2            412K             138
Freeport                 89           3            195K              99
Brunswick              167          8            263K              58
Bath                      120         5            112K             147
Coastal                  150          7            375K             209
(Includes Harpswell,
Phippsburg, Georgetown
and Arrowsic)

As one can see southern maine real esatate transaction volumes for the area are low in all communities but for Portland.  For a greater analysis, please visit www.mymaineproperty.com or for Portland Maine real esate visit www.portlandmainehome.com or simply contact me anytime at 207-650-5383

Recently doing some research on waterfront real estate in Harpswell, here is what I found.

Current waterfront listings total 67, 40 if you limit to properties over 500K and 8 over a million.  In the 12 trailing months Harpswell Maine real estate  saw 42 homes sell at an average price of 510K with a DOM average of 199 days.  In 2007 there were 61 homes sold with an average price of 657K and DOM of 127 days.

In the month of February similar conditions to January were seen in the Southern Maine housing markets. Transaction volume remained down by approximately 25% in York and Cumberland county whilst sample sizes are too small in Sagadahoc and Lincoln to draw strong conclusions from. The average prices remained moderately stable with an overall trend downward albeit for a 4% increase in York. The Days on Market vs a year ago decreased significant, but remain on par with January’s numbers.

View the complete report here.
More information on Coastal Maine communities 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%)