SOUTH PORTLAND (January 23, 2015)—Snowy weather certainly didn’t hinder buyers of Maine real estate in December; sales across Maine were up 9.09 percent last month. Median sales prices (MSP) for those homes reached $181,800—a rise of 6.78 percent. The MSP indicates that half of the homes were sold for more and half sold for less.
Nationally, sales of single-family existing homes increased 4.0 percent and the national MSP was up 6.3 percent to $210,200 in December. The National Association of Realtors today reported a regional Northeastern sales increase of 3.1 percent and a 3.2 percent rise in the regional MSP to $246,600.
Marie Flaherty, 2015 President of the Maine Association of Realtors, said, “More homes sold in 2014 than 2013, but after such a long period of instability, sellers were happy to have a sale at a realistic price, and in most cases weren’t pushing the envelope on price. The year ended strongly, which is indicative of an even healthier market ahead for 2015.”
Flaherty, a Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northeast Real Estate in Westbrook, added, “Activity in the last quarter of 2014 was one of the strongest in recent years. Some buyers were willing to risk buying their replacement home before selling their existing home—something that few have been comfortable doing in some time. Sellers who seek to downsize appear more confident in their ability to sell their home; just a year ago, many believed their home might not sell at the price they want—or need to get—in order to move on to the next phase of their life.”
Below are two charts showing statistics for Maine and its 16 counties. The first chart lists statistics for the month of December only, statewide. The second chart compares the number of existing, single-family homes sold (units) and volume (MSP) during the full 12 months of 2013 and 2014.
