Sales of existing single-family homes in Maine remained relatively flat in July compared with a year earlier, while the median sale price increased by about 2%.
A report issued by Maine Listings said July home sales volume was up by 0.2% from a year earlier, while the median sale price increased by 2.2% to $230,000. The median indicates that half of homes sold for more money and half sold for less.
"For-sale inventory has crept up slightly, though competition for entry-level homes remains high," Peter Harrington, president of the Maine Association of Realtors and broker/partner with Malone Commercial Brokers in Portland, said in the report. "With increasing for-sale inventory levels and very affordable mortgage interest rates, we expect markets to remain steady."
For the three-month period ending July 31, Maine home sales volume was up by 0.8% from the same period of 2018, while the median sale price increased by 4.2% to $234,450, the report said.
The biggest sales volume increase for the three-month period compared with a year earlier was 20.1% in Hancock County, while the biggest decrease was 20.8% in Sagadahoc County, it said.
The biggest median sale price increase for the three-month period was 44.4% in Piscataquis County, where the median price rose to $143,000. The only county in Maine that experienced a median price decrease was Knox County, where the median fell 7.6% to $230,000, the report said.
"Sales volume has been up-and-down over the first seven months of 2019 and is running only 1.6% below the comparable time period for 2018, Maine's record-breaking year," Harrington said.
Nationally, home sales increased by 1% in July compared with a year earlier, while the median home sale price rose by 4.5% to $284,000, according to the National Association of Realtors.
In the Northeast region, sales dipped by 4.3% in July from a year earlier, and the median home sale price fell by 1% to $305,800, it said.
