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Maine home sales decreased for the third month in a row after reaching a high in January, while prices continued to climb among a sparse for-sale market.
The 1,143 single-family units sold showed a decline of 20.9 percent last month compared with April 2021, while the median sales price for an existing single-family home reached $346,000 last month, a 25.36 percent increase compared with the same time last year, according to the Maine Association of Realtors.
The number of homes sold from January through April of 2022 is 4.5 percent higher than January through April 2019, which was Maine’s top year for real estate sales before the onset of the pandemic.
The number of houses that were listed also increased in March and April of 2022, helping to meet pent-up demand for houses that has outpaced supply.
Hancock County saw the largest drop in home sales during a three month period from February to April, with the 119 houses sold comprising a 45.66 percent drop from the 219 houses sold during those same months in 2021.
Home sales decreased in every Maine county between February and April in 2022, when compared with the number of homes sold during the same period in 2021.
In terms of median sales price across the state, prices continued to increase in all 16 of Maine’s counties.
The largest increase was in Aroostook County, with median sales price jumping to $148,800, or a 50.3 percent increase during the three-month comparison period.
The county with the least amount of increase compared with the same period last year was Somerset County, where the median price was $165,000, a 1.85 percent increase.
Nationally, existing single-family home sales edged down 4.8 percent compared with April 2021, but prices rose around 14.8 percent to a national median sales price of $397,600.
