For the first time in 31 months, Maine saw home sales increase in February.
Buyer scooped up 789 homes in February, an 11.44 percent increase compared with the 708 sold in February 2023, according to the Maine Association of Realtors.
Meanwhile, the median sales price for a Maine home rose nearly 7.52 percent to $354,000, compared with $329,250 in February 2023.
Paul McKee, the president of the Maine Association of Realtors and a broker affiliated with Keller Williams Realty in Portland, said Thursday that an uptick in listings fueled the February sales surge, while buyer demand continues to exceed the supply of available homes, keeping prices up.
“If you have equity in your current home, it’s an opportune time to sell,” McKee said.
The February sales bump bucked a general fall in home sales in the Northeast and across the country.
Nationally, home sales fell 2.7 percent in February, compared with the same time the year before. In the Northeast, home sales were down nearly 8 percent in February, compared with February 2023, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Like in Maine, the median sales prices for homes have been rising nationally and in the Northeast. Nationally they are up 5.6 percent to $388,700, while for the Northeast broadly they have risen 11.5 percent to $420,600.
On the county level, the most significant increase in median home prices was in Somerset County, where the median price has risen 23.45 percent to $209,867 for the three-month period ending Feb. 29, compared with the same time last year. The highest median home price for the period was in Cumberland County, where it reached $523,250.
No county saw a fall in its median home price, though it remained flat year over year in Androscoggin County ($300,000). Aroostook had the lowest median home price overall ($145,000).
On the sales front, Lincoln County saw the largest sales bump over that three-month period, increasing 26.87 percent. It was followed by Sagadahoc (19.64 percent) and Somerset (15.79 percent) counties. Sales fell most sharply in Knox County, where they are down nearly 26 percent.
