April 12, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
Monthly sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums jumped from January to February in Maine and were well above the previous year’s sales while home prices edged downward according to the latest housing data from the Maine Association of Realtors® (MAR).
An estimated total of 624 existing single-family homes and condos were sold in the Pine Tree State in February. That was 14.08 percent higher than the 547 homes sold in January and 29.46 percent higher than the 482 homes sold in February 2011.
The average sales price for an existing home in Maine fell by 4.52 percent in February to $149,900, down from $157,000 in January and was 5.99 percent lower than the median price of $159,450 in February of last year.
Of the 16 counties that provide data for the monthly report, thirteen of the counties reported gains in home sales or were unchanged from the previous year with Washington (+116.67%), Franklin (+53.85%), Somerset (+42.86%), Androscoggin (+37.14%) and Lincoln (+34.04%) reporting the largest increases.
Knox (-25.00%), Waldo (-14.29%) and Sagadahoc (-3.23%) posted the only declines in annual sales while Piscataquis remained unchanged.
Cumberland County recorded the most sales for the month with an estimated 475 home sales, down from 540 the previous month, while York County followed with an estimated 336 home sales for the month, down from 371 in January.
Year-over-year, seven counties posted an increase in their average prices led by Piscataquis (+14.29%), Oxford (+9.58%), Aroostook (+7.00%), Androscoggin (+4.44%) and Waldo (+2.94%).
Franklin (-28.10%), Washington (-22.27%), Hancock (-21.33%), Knox (-17.18%) and Penobscot (-11.54%) posted the largest declines in year-over-year average home prices.
Tags: existing homes, condos, sales, median home prices, Maine
Source:
MAR