May 4, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
Monthly sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums continued to climb in Maine during March and were higher year-over-year for the ninth consecutive month according to the latest housing data from the Maine Association of Realtors® (MAR).
An estimated total of 731 existing single-family homes and condos were sold in the Pine Tree State in March. That was 17.1 percent higher than the 624 homes sold in February and 13.2 percent higher than the 646 homes sold in March 2011. It was ninth consecutive month that home sales have improved year-over-year.
The average sales price for an existing home in Maine increased by 7.4 percent in March to $160,000, up from $149,900 in February and was 0.2 percent higher than the median price of $159,700 in March of last year.
Of the 16 counties that provide data for the monthly report, twelve of the counties reported gains in home sales in latest rolling quarter with Lincoln (+53.7%), Washington (+50.0%), Aroostook (+47.7%), Somerset (+28.3%), and Androscoggin (+26.2%) reporting the largest increases.
Piscataquis (-26.2%), Franklin (-9.8%), Waldo (-3.9%) and Knox (-2.99%) posted the only declines in annual sales.
Cumberland County recorded the most sales during the latest rolling quarter with an estimated 480 home sales, up from 475 the previous month, while York County followed with an estimated 338 home sales, up slightly from 336 in February.
Year-over-year, six counties posted an increase in their average prices led by Aroostook (+16.2%), Waldo (+15.8%), Androscoggin (+9.1%), Kennebec (+4.9%), and Penobscot (+2.8%).
Franklin (-33.6%), Washington (-32.9%), Piscataquis (-21.1%), Knox (-15.8%), and Oxford (-15.1%) posted the largest declines in year-over-year average home prices.
Tags: existing homes, condos, sales, median home prices, Maine
Source:
MAR