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Bangor Daily News
Portland’s typical home now costs $650K. Here’s what that buys you elsewhere.
By Zara Norman,
2024-04-04
The value of a typical home in Maine’s largest city was just under $650,000 in February, according to the latest data from Redfin.
That is 80 percent higher than the median home value in the rest of the state, meaning you can get a mansion or something else with a lot of land in other parts of Maine. But there are also areas that are more expensive than Portland is these days.
Here are five homes that show you the buying power needed to play in one of the state’s hottest markets.
The $650,000 you’d use to buy the average home in Portland could net you not only a home but a private island in this western Maine resort town. The home is a seasonal 2-bedroom cottage with views of the vast Mooselookmeguntic Lake and conservation land around it with almost no light pollution, the property’s listing agent said.
“It’s this one structure for sale on that whole body of water,” Jamie Eastlack of Morton & Furbish Agency, said. “It’s really sought after.”
The cabin is in great condition. It has a kitchenette and a covered porch, access to electricity, a propane stove and a hot water heater. There’s an incinerating toilet and an outdoor shower. The property also includes an island boathouse and a 1-acre lot on the mainland where one can dock and access the island.
Instead of a condo on the peninsula, you could head to the midcoast region and buy this 44-acre farm in Washington. It includes a 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom Victorian-style house with updated amenities including new plumbing, new insulation and a wood stove and a barn.
The land is used by a local farmer to grow vegetables at the moment, listing agent Rachael Umstead of Lone Pine Real Estate said. There’s a small apple orchard on site with some pear and cherry trees, too.
“It’s a beautiful house,” Umstead said. “And a big chunk of land that’s a farm, there aren’t a lot of those left near the coast.”
This 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom chalet in Bethel is a short drive to the Sunday River ski resort, and is on the market for the same price as the average home in Portland.
“The owners have beautifully maintained this as a second home,” Susan DuPlessis, the property’s listing agent, said. “There’s really [no upgrades] to be done, and it’s available turn-key.”
The fully-furnished home boasts a large, wraparound deck, screened porch and direct access to snowmobiling and snowshoeing trails from the property.
In this small central Maine town, you can get some bang for your buck. This property includes acres of woodland, three ponds, 2000 feet of access to the Sebasticook River and a 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom log cabin. It is minutes from Interstate 95 and 40 minutes from Bangor.
“It’s very rustic and original,” Carolyn Fish, the property’s listing agent, said. “It’s like your own private wildlife kingdom.”
Fish, a realtor with NextHome Experience, said that the home has updated systems and appliances, but its brick hearth and exposed wood beams make living there feel like a step back in time. The land is vast and has overwhelmed some prospective buyers, she said. A lot of it is woodland, and the previous owner worked with a local game warden to manage it.
If you’re still set on Portland and want to feel good about the average home sale price there, look to Kennebunkport, where average home values top $1 million. There, $650,000 will get you a 1,500 square foot single-family home with 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom.
This one is minutes from Goose Rocks beach, and is the only house for sale in the town for less than $900,000. That adds up to a “rare find,” according to its listing.
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