johnherrigel's Blog: All Categories

The greater Portland Maine housing market is currently seeing very very strong action with many homes selling in a matter of days with multiple offers!  It seems a bit of a frenzy has formed with many hungry and serious buyers looking to snatch up properties within days of their listing. 

In February a total for 42 homes sold compared with 31 a year prior and 35 in January representing volume increase of 35% and 20% respectively. Pricing in the Portland Maine real estate markets was off 7% year over year in February clocking in at a median price point of 210K, but month over month pricing has stabilized.

The regional area markets have similar statistics although as you head farther west and North from Portland into less populated regions the days on…

Up here in Portland Maine it seems a slight change is in the air with regard to the seller’s willingness to simply roll over to any and all of a buyer’s whim’s.  Perhaps feeling a bit more confident in their pricing and the overall stability of the markets many of my recent offers have resulted in counter offers from the seller at much closer to their asking prices than where they would have countered at a half a year prior.

The Maine first time home buyer market continues to be the driving force within the region helped along by the housing tax credit and lower interest rates, Maine State Housing just lowered their rate again to 4.75%!!!  As of late this segment has picked up even more steam with multiple offer situations, offers above asking and a…

The lower mid coastal regions remained  very quiet throughout most of 2009 compared with the more active southern and greater Portland real estate markets.  Anchored by the communities of Bath and Brunswick transaction volume was up whilst pricing was down.  In 2009 approximately 450 homes and condos sold in this region which is very similar to 2008 figures although the lionshare of the volume occured in the 3rd and 4th quarters as the economy improved and first time buyers took advantage of the housing tax credit.  

With regard to coastal Maine housing prices, the region saw a 9% decline year over year, but prices have stabilized significantly on a quarter by quarter analysis.  Going forward the market is ripe for continued improvement as inventories…

As winter firmly set in for us Mainer's, I was pleasantly surprised to find out how well our Portland real estate market performed in 2009.  For the year ending 2009, residential markets as a whole were down about 5% with the condo prices off slightly more than the single family market.   Thanks in large part to the 2nd half surge in transaction volume the total number of properties sold fell by 9% in 2009 compared to what could have been a much worse year over year comparison.  The median price point was 209K compared with 219K in 2008 for the combined condo and SF sales.

Compared to a broader regional analysis prices fin the greater Portland and Southern Maine housing markets fell on average about 10% further reinforcing the strong results for the…

The Portland Maine SF market has held up much better than its condo or multi unit market counterparts.  Prices for omes are down approximately 15% from their peak compared with 25% or more for both the condo and multi markets.   Many first time home buyers in Maine have taken advantage of the tax credit coupled with Maine State Housing’s “Gift of Green” worth as much as $5,500 in additional cash value to the buyer. 

Currently there are 219 home on the market at a median asking price of just shy of 300K.

To date in 2009, a total of 365 homes have sold at a median price of 216K after sitting on the market for approximately 60 or so days.  As we enter the winter months, I believe real estate in Portland Maine will fare well as inventories have not…

The Mid Coastal real estate region anchored by Bath and Brunswick posted fantastic residential real estate figures for the month ending October 2009.   Bath Maine saw 19 transactions at a median price point of 135K.  In September only 6 transactions took place and a year prior in October 2008, 10 homes sold in Bath Maine at a median price of 129K. Thus pricing in Bath was up as well.

The Brunswick residential market did not have quite as impressive figures as Bath but nonetheless still solid.  23 homes sold in Brunswick Maine at a median sales price of 185K after having sat on the market for 79 days.  The contrasts with 20 homes selling at 213K after sitting for 100 days in October 200 thus representing a volume increase of 15%, a pricing decrease of…

The greater Portland residential real estate market continues to chug along as evidenced by the recent monthly housing statistics on Falmouth and Cape Elizabeth.  In Falmouth, 20 homes sold in October, up 25% from a year prior and month over month volume was down just 2 transactions.  In Cape, 13 homes sold compared with just 5 a year prior and and up from 11 in September.  Median pricing fluctuated a bit for the two communities as Cape was flat compared to a year prior, but Falmouth was off about 35%. The median days on market for both communities continues to remain stable and in both of these towns inventory levels have dropped a bit relative to the previous month. 

Thus the Southern Maine real estate housing markets based on greater Portland and…

The Portland Maine real estate markets saw great transaction volume, but more of the same pricing decreases year over year.  for the month of October 2009.  49 residential properties traded hands with a median price point right around 200K, representing a volume increase year over year of 26% and a pricing decrease of 9% which is similar to previous months. The median price for real estate in Portland Maine has hovered around 200K since June of this year.  Volume each month has remained fairly volatile with large swings both ways.  The median days on market has remained between 40 and 50 since last spring.

Thanks for reading,

John