Maine’s median home price fell in September for only the second time since 2019.
Buyers closed deals on 1,582 homes in September, a 5.1% jump, compared with the 1,505 sold in September 2024, according to the Maine Association of Realtors.
Meanwhile, the median sales price for a Maine home fell about 1.4% to $402,500, compared with $408,000 in September 2024.
Jeff Harris, the president of the Maine Association of Realtors and a broker with Farmington-based Harris Real Estate, said Thursday that it’s only the second month when the median sales price has fallen since March 2019. Both times have been this year.
That’s the latest sign that the Maine housing market is turning in favor of buyers.
“We are seeing an increasing number of homes for sale, increasing time-on-market, and pricing concessions which eases the competition that buyers have been facing for the past five years. We’re moving beyond the pandemic frenzy,” Harris said.
Meanwhile, national sales rose a more modest 4.5% in September year over year, while the median sales price rose 2.3% to $420,700, according to the National Association of Realtors.
In the Northeast, sales rose 4.3% in September, compared with a year earlier, while the median sales price rose 4.1% to $500,300.
On the county level in Maine, the most significant increase in median home prices for the three-month period ending Sept. 30 was in Androscoggin County, where it rose 5.9% to $355,000, compared with the same period last year. Kennebec, Penobscot and Cumberland counties also saw notable increases in sale prices, 5.6%, 4.8% and 4.5%, respectively. The highest median home price during that period was in Cumberland County, where it reached $605,000.
The median home price fell in six counties, most sharply in Sagadahoc, where it was down 4.2%. Aroostook had the lowest median home price overall ($170,000).
On the sales front, Piscataquis County saw the largest sales bump over the three-month period ending Sept. 30, increasing 19.6%. It was followed by Washington (19.3%), Lincoln (16.8%) and Sagadahoc (14.4%) counties. Sales fell most sharply for that period in Hancock and Franklin counties, where they are down 11.7% and 2.2%, respectively. Sales were flat in Androscoggin County.
