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Maine homes on the border with New Hampshire have generally sold for higher prices than their Granite State counterparts this year, according to Redfin data.
Maine communities had their homes sell for a higher median value this year in five out of eight border comparisons examined. That was true with Brownfield in Oxford County (bordering Eaton, New Hampshire), Parsonsfield (bordering Effingham), Lebanon (bordering Milton), Berwick (bordering Somersworth) and Eliot (bordering Dover).
That comes even as the typical home in New Hampshire remains around $70,000 more expensive than one in Maine, according to Zillow data for last month.
The Maine-New Hampshire border provides an interesting case study for how real estate can vary depending on a state’s policies, market and overall desirability. Maine is the only state that borders exactly one other state. While the homes themselves play heavily into selling price, local jobs, crime rates and general livability play heavily into how much homes go for.
While Maine’s border communities are generally more expensive, many buyers may still come out on top buying there given New Hampshire’s high property tax rate, the third-highest in the nation, according to a recent analysis by WalletHub. But unlike Maine, New Hampshire has no sales tax and does not tax wages, only interest and dividend income.
In three of the cases, the Maine community had a lower median price than its New Hampshire counterpart: in Porter (bordering Freedom, New Hampshire), South Berwick (bordering Rollinsford) and Kittery (bordering Portsmouth).
Several other communities, especially along the northern section of the border, did not have enough data to make a comparison. Many of the Maine communities, including four townships that make up the northernmost communities of the border, have not seen any residential real estate transactions this year, according to real estate transfer records.
Kittery-Portsmouth is perhaps the most famous border area among the two states, illustrated by the Memorial Bridge and Piscataqua River Bridge, which carry people across the two states each day.
The 53 homes on the Kittery side have sold this year with a median of $512,000. But in Portsmouth, which has more than double Kittery’s 10,100 population, the 140 homes sold went for a typical $665,000.
