Buyers of single-family existing homes across Maine are still encountering a lower-than-normal inventory of homes available for purchase. According to Maine Listings, 1,289 homes changed hands in November, a decline of 28.7 percent from November one year ago. The median sales price (MSP) for homes sold reached $325,000—up 8.3 percent from November 2021. The MSP indicates that half of the homes were sold for more and half sold for less.
While demand remains steady for Maine’s tight for-sale inventory, increased mortgage interest rates, coupled with the typical holiday slowdown, have impacted the market. For-sale inventory remains historically low with 13 percent fewer homes on the market in November 2022 compared to last month – and 58 percent fewer homes for sale than pre-pandemic November 2019.
Nationally, sales are down 35.2 percent in November 2022 compared to November 2021. The National Association of Realtors also reported that the national MSP reached $376,700 in November, an increase of 3.2 percent in a year. Sales in the regional Northeast dipped 28.4 percent and the regional MSP of $394,700 represents a rise of 3.5 percent comparing November 2022 to November 2021. For qualified buyers, home ownership remains a solid financial and quality of life investment. With nearly 1,300 sales, November 2022 was the 7th best November in the 22 years of available records.
Our company continues to excel with a full staff of exceptional local agents. We are excited to remain a leading real estate firm in Lincoln County as we serve buyers and sellers. As of the date of this report, our brokers have closed 176 transaction sides with a total volume of $74,533,614—up 22% over our Y-T-D numbers in 2021—and we are pleased to report that approximately one-quarter of our sales volume has come through our new Boothbay Harbor branch office. In comparison, Drum and Drum Real Estate has sold $11,993,525 with 32 sides, and the local Sotheby’s office has sold $59,791,951 with 81 sides.
Most of the year-to-date property sales locally have occurred in Waldoboro (94), Jefferson (68), Boothbay Harbor (74), Wiscasset (71), Damariscotta (46), Boothbay (65), and Bristol (86). Slightly fewer sales have happened so far in Dresden (36), Edgecomb (33), Newcastle (29), Nobleboro (35), Westport Island (33), Whitefield (37), and Southport (24). Towns seeing even fewer sales include South Bristol (23), Bremen (14), Alna (13), Somerville (8), and Monhegan Island (2).
There are currently just 85 single-family homes for sale in Lincoln County (down from 119 in November), with 40 percent of those priced at or above $500,000. The 588 residential sales that have occurred in the last 365 days represent transactions in the range of under $100,000 (4%), $100,000-$249,999 (21%), $250,000-$499,999 (45%), $500,000-$999,999 (23%), and $1 million-plus (7%). Listing inventory remains low—it is a great time to sell and our brokers are ready to answer your questions about the process.
The current market absorption rates for Lincoln County homes are 0.5 months (under $100,000), 1.9 months ($100,000-$249,999), 2.1 months ($250,000-$499,999), 2.6 months ($500,000-$999,999), and 6.7 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 client needs. Questions or comments may be directed to Dennis Hilton, President of Newcastle Realty at dennishilton@cheneycompanies.com or 207-380-3435.
- Statistics are from the Maine Real Estate Information System, Inc. (d/b/a Maine Listings) for the period 1/01/2022 through 12/23/2022.
