Sales of single-family existing homes continue to recover from the impacts of the early months of COVID-19; Maine Listings reports a sales jump of 12.43 percent in July 2020, when compared to July 2019. Values rose 10.83 percent to a median sales price (MSP) of $254,900, comparing July 2020 to July 2019. The MSP indicates that half of the homes were sold for more and half sold for less.
Maine’s midcoast real estate market was very active in July for a number of reasons. Maine’s quality of life, our nation-leading low COVID-19 metrics, and mortgage interest rates hovering at three percent and below, are contributing to very strong demand for residential real estate. The July statistics indicate pent-up demand from the initial drop-off impacts of the pandemic.
According to the National Association of Realtors, sales nationwide were up 9.8 percent in the past year. The national MSP rose 8.5 percent to $307,800. Regionally, single-family home sales in the Northeast eased 5.9 percent while the regional MSP increased 4.0 percent to $317,800 comparing July 2020 to July 2019.
Newcastle Realty has had a very strong first-half of 2020, despite the pandemic. As of the date of this report, our brokers have closed 97 transaction sides with a total volume of $24,988,565—up slightly from our same Y-T-D numbers in 2019. In comparison, the local Sotheby’s office has booked $18,943,100 from 43 sides, and Drum and Drum Real Estate has sold $10,004,500 with 29 sides. We are pleased to remain the leading real estate firm in our area.
Most of the year-to-date 2020 property sales locally have occurred in Waldoboro (43), Boothbay (54), Wiscasset (53), Jefferson (38), Bristol (45), and Boothbay Harbor (33). Slightly fewer sales have happened so far this year in Dresden (20), Whitefield (25), Damariscotta (18), Newcastle (17), and Edgecomb (24). Towns seeing even fewer sales include Westport Island (10), South Bristol (20), Nobleboro (20), and Alna (9). Just a handful of 2020 sales have occurred in Southport (7), Somerville (8), Bremen (14), and Monhegan Island (1).
There are currently 200 single-family homes for sale in Lincoln County (down from 207 in July), with 37 percent of those priced at or above $500,000. The 622 residential sales that have occurred in the past 365 days represent transactions in the range of under $100,000 (9%), $100,000-$249,999 (43%), $250,000-$499,999 (35%), $500,000-$999,999 (11%), and $1 million-plus (2%). Listing inventory remains low—it is a great time to sell and we are ready to answer your questions about the process.
The current market absorption rates for Lincoln County homes is under one month (under $100,000), 1.4 months ($100,000-$249,999), 3.2 months ($250,000-$499,999), 10.5 months ($500,000-$999,999), and 13.9 months ($1 million and up). This tells us how long it would take for existing inventories to be absorbed into the market at current rates of sales if no new listings were introduced.
Newcastle Realty tracks Lincoln County and statewide sales, along with other important metrics, which keeps our brokers fully informed of current market conditions and emerging trends as they serve buyer and seller client needs. Questions or comments may be directed to Dennis Hilton, President of Newcastle Realty at dennishilton@cheneycompanies.com or 207-380-3435.
- Sales statistics based on information from the Maine Real Estate Information System, Inc. (d/b/a Maine Listings) for the period 1/1/2020 through 08/21/2020.
