Buyers saw some relief in Maine’s housing market in October, with prices continuing to rise but at less than the double-digit rates of the past year, existing home sales released Friday by the Maine Association of Realtors showed.
The price for an existing single-family home rose 7.79 percent in October, bringing the median sales price across the state to $332,000. That is up $2,000 compared with September.
October 2022 sales were down a little more than 23 percent compared with a year ago due to tight inventory and high mortgage interest rates. About 8 percent fewer homes were for sale on the market in October compared with September. Compared with the pre-pandemic month of October 2019, 58 percent fewer homes were for sale.
“After a two-year streak of double-digit pricing increases, we’re finally seeing some relief,” Madeleine Hill, president of the association, said.
Nationally, sales were down for the ninth-straight month, falling 28 percent compared with last October. The median sales price was up about 6 percent to $384,900, according to the National Association of Realtors.
“Inventory levels are still tight, which is why some homes for sale are still receiving multiple offers,” Lawrence Yun, the association’s chief economist, said.
He said 24 percent of homes nationally sold for more than the asking price. However, homes that sat on the market for more than 120 days saw prices reduced by an average of 16 percent.
Lincoln and Hancock counties in Maine each saw a more than 20 percent decline in home sales when comparing August through October of this year and last year. Aroostook County saw the highest rise in median sales price, up 16 percent to $145,000.