Your donation, in any amount, can help sustain the BDN’s civic news mission. Learn more about why we are asking for reader support.
It was a wild year for Maine’s housing market. Most notably, the average Maine household increasingly cannot afford the median home here, and nearly half of all households statewide are struggling to afford basic living expenses.
Home prices increased by more than 9 percent this year, according to Carmen McPhail, president of the Maine Association of Realtors. That’s mostly due to a lack of inventory, McPhail said, but with interest rates increasing, too, more people are either reluctant to or unable to buy a home. Overall home sales have declined more than 5 percent so far this year, McPhail said.
So, homes at every price point are getting more expensive, and many are sitting on the market for longer than ever before. That holds true for Maine’s priciest properties, and this year saw record-breaking home sales near the coast.
Here were the three priciest home sales in 2023:
Home sales
- 26 Jocelyn Rd., Scarborough: $11,501,000
The most expensive home sale of 2023 was this 4,403-square-foot, five-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom home in the private Prouts Neck neighborhood in Scarborough. This wealthy, mostly gated peninsula has 200 homes and is populated by a mix of seasonal and year-round residents, including members of the Rockefeller and Carnegie families. Painter Winslow Homer lived and worked there. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also has a Prouts Neck home.
Homes in Prouts Neck are valued in the millions and historically do not change hands often. When they do, they don’t usually hit the market and are sold privately among family, friends and neighbors, though the hot real estate market has led some families to sell out. This Jocelyn Road property was on the market this year for the first time, according to its online listing, and sold in October. It boasts sweeping ocean views and just over 1.5 acres of private beachfront.
- 76 Seasmoke Rd., St. George: $9,750,000
Built in 2013, this sprawling midcoast estate known as “Seasmoke Farm” sits on 32-plus acres with more than 1,800 feet of oceanfront. It was once featured in Architectural Digest. When the property sold for $9.75 million in May, it became the most expensive ever sold in St. George, and the sixth-highest residential sale in Maine state history, according to Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty in Camden.
Though the compound was listed at over $10 million in July 2022, it sold at a slightly reduced price this May to Richard and Linda Breeden, according to local property records. Richard Breeden, 74, is a former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and worked in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
The main house at “Seasmoke Farm” is a nearly 3,700-square-foot home with four bedrooms and four bathrooms, but two cottages (one with three bedrooms and another with two) also come with the property. Among the home’s many amenities are two barns, a basketball court, outdoor pool, freshwater pond, orchard area and alpaca pasture.
- 83 Turbats Creek Rd., Kennebunkport: $9,000,000.
The sale of this 4,000-square-foot home known as the Grey Gull cottage in Kennebunkport this November was the highest-priced of all time in Kennebunkport and in all of York County, according to Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty, who represented the sale.
The five-bedroom, two-bathroom home was built in 1929 and sits on less than an acre of land, but includes 275 feet of waterfront. It had been in the same family for more than 80 years.
Land sales
The most expensive land sales this year highlighted the vast gulf in price-per-acre that exists between the coastal parts of Maine and inland, forested regions.
The most expensive land sale of 2023 was a 0.9 acre parcel of land in Rockport that sold for $3.45 million, according to Carmen McPhail. Rockport, a midcoast town with a population of around 3,600 residents, is a popular destination for tourists and artists.
In a “crazy” contrast, the second most expensive land sale this year was a 5,364-acre parcel of land in Penobscot County, McPhail said. While the oceanfront land will probably have a home built on it, she said, that Penobscot County parcel will be used for commercial purposes.
“That’s just an example of how diverse our state is, and what your money can buy you depending on what you’re looking for,” McPhail said.
The third most expensive land sale this year was for $3 million even, for 200 acres of oceanfront in Beals, a Washington County island opposite the town of Jonesport.
