Home prices continue to shoot upward in Maine.
According to figures compiled by the Maine Real Estate Information System, the median sales price for a home in the state rose 10.3 percent in the past year. The data compares prices for the first six months of this year with prices for the same period in 2004. The statewide median price went from $171,350 in 2004 to $189,000 this year.
Low mortgage rates and continued interest by buyers led the push in prices, according to the real estate information system, which is owned by a a real estate association.
Even in counties where sales were relatively flat, prices rose. In Androscoggin County, for example, home sales for January through June went from 525 in 2004 to 529 this year, only a 0.76 percent increase. But the median selling price for those homes climbed more than 15 percent, from $131,000 to $151,000.
Franklin County saw sales fall slightly – from 137 homes to 133 – but the median sales price for those homes went from $112,500 to $138,000, a 22.67 percent jump.
Oxford County’s sales also declined during the survey period, from 307 to 299 homes – a 2.61 percent fall – while sale prices went from a median of $130,000 to $140,000, a 7.69 percent jump.
Real estate sales professionals in Oxford and Franklin counties have been complaining steadily of a dearth of quality homes coming on the market. The low supply coupled with a growing demand has led to price inflation, several agents have said.
Some of that slowdown is probably a natural occurrence, however, said Sharon Millett of Coldwell Banker Millett Realty in Auburn.
“We’re seeing a growing trend among baby boomers to upgrade their homes,” she said. There are fewer people in their 50s and 60s who are selling their homes as a result of “empty nests.” Instead, Millett said, those people are looking for ways to accommodate visiting children who often return home with grandchildren.
Other factors in the price gains include continuing low mortgage interest rates, she said, and “a very healthy local economy.”
Of the latter, Millett noted, “We’re not feeling any negative impacts from major plant closings or job losses.”
The central Maine region’s solid economic growth is giving consumers a sense of security and comfort, leading in turn to a greater willingness to invest in homes.
And the fact that fewer existing homes have moved onto the market in recent months has prompted a new boom in building upscale single-family homes as well as condo developments, Millett said.
“Even with flat sales,” she said, “we’re on track to have the best year, or second best year, ever” in terms of the value of properties being sold.
With graphic info attached. Graphics department was also sent numbers, for possible tweaking.>>
“We’re on track to have the best year, or second best year, ever.”
Sharon Millett,
president, Coldwell-Banker Millett Realty
Comments are no longer available on this story