Home values surged statewide in 2005, according to year-end figures released by the Maine Real Estate Information System Inc.
In Franklin County, the price of a single-family home rose dramatically. The median sales price for a house there grew from $115,000 to $139,900, a whopping 21.65 percent increase.
Only Aroostook and Piscatiquis counties saw higher gains on a percentage basis, but homes in both counties remain valued below those in central and western Maine.
In Aroostook, the median sales price rose to $73,700, up 23.97 percent from $59,450. In Piscatiquis, the median sales price went from $72,000 to $102,000, a 41.67 percent jump.
Real estate experts said both counties had abundant properties that were undervalued. Sales during the year bringing the prices up were essentially market corrections, they said.
The same is true to some extent in Franklin County, where home values had been lagging behind those in nearby Oxford and Androscoggin counties.
The Maine Real Estate Information System figures show Androscoggin County housing prices having a solid growth year, up more than 12 percent to reach an median sales price of $155,000. That’s a $17,000 bump in price from the 2004 median sales price of $138,000.
Oxford County’s housing stock also grew in value, but not as significantly. There, the median sales price went from $134,550 in 2004 to $145,000, a 7.77 percent increase.
Statewide, the median sales price increased 9.14 percent, according to the Maine Real Estate Information System, going from $175,000 to $191,000.
Cumberland County had the state’s most costly housing stock, with the median sales price going from $229,900 to $250,000, a 8.74 gain over the year.
Sales dipped slightly in the state, dropping from 14,445 to 14,396 over the year.
The National Association of Realtors said the national median sales price rose 2.6 percent to reach $207,300. The NAR said the median sales price in the Northeast rose 11.4 percent, to reach $245,000.
Housing sales
County ’04 MSP ’05 MSP % change
Statewide $175,000 $191,000 9.14
Androscoggin $138,000 $155,000 12.32
Cumberland $229,900 $250,000 8.74
Franklin $115,000 $139,900 21.65
Kennebec $125,000 $140,000 12.00
Oxford $134,550 $145,000 7.77
Source: Maine Real Estate Information System Inc.
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