Maine saw home sales increase for 3rd straight month

Maine saw home sales increase in April, marking the third straight month of rising sales following a 31-month slide.

Buyers scooped up 993 homes in April, an 17.5 percent increase compared with the 794 sold in April 2023, according to the Maine Association of Realtors.

Meanwhile, the median sales price for a Maine home rose nearly 4 percent to $382,000, compared with $367,500 in April 2023.

Paul McKee, the president of the Maine Association of Realtors and a broker affiliated with Keller Williams Realty in Portland, said Wednesday that increased availability of home is likely contributing to this sudden rise in sales.

“Qualified buyers are actively searching and are ready to purchase when homes are listed for sale. As we head into Maine’s busiest months for real estate activity, if we experience a spring surge of sellers listing their homes, the statistics will likely show an increase of sales over the coming months,” McKee said.

The April sales bump bucked a general fall in home sales in the Northeast and across the country.

Nationally, home sales fell 1.3 percent in April, compared with the same time the year before. In the Northeast, home sales were down nearly 4 percent in April, compared with April 2023, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Like in Maine, the median sales prices for homes have been rising nationally and in the Northeast. Nationally they are up 5.6 percent to $412,000, while for the Northeast broadly they have risen 8.5 percent to $458,500.

On the county level, the most significant increase in median home prices was in Piscataquis County, where the median price has risen 46.3 percent to $234,000 for the three-month period ending April 30, compared with the same time last year. The highest median home price for the period was in Cumberland County, where it reached $540,000.

Only Oxford County saw a fall in its median home price, with a 3.4 percent decline to $317,000 over that period compared with the same time last year. Aroostook had the lowest median home price overall ($161,000).

On the sales front, Androscoggin County saw the largest sales bump over that three-month period, increasing 40 percent. It was followed by Hancock (32.4 percent), Knox (29.1 percent) and York (25.3 percent) counties. Sales fell most sharply in Waldo County, where they are down more than 17 percent.