August 2020 Sales Recap
Looking at Maine housing sales for August, and once again an extraordinarily strong month considering the inventories are running 40% lower than a year ago. Total homes sold in Maine for August 2020 was 2,166 units, an increase of 28 homes over last August. Median sale prices increased 17.39% for homes sold in August 2020 vs August 2019. This relates to an increase from $230,000 to $270,000. What are the factors that are driving the increased numbers? One of the biggest factors I mentioned earlier are low inventories, historical low interest rates, and plenty of qualified buyers. Another interesting factor is out of state buyers account for 1/3 of last month’s sales.
According to the National Associations of Realtors, the numbers increased nationally to 11% in single family homes sales, and the Northeast came in with an of increase 5.7%.
If you are looking to build a new home be aware that new construction prices are also on the increase. There has been a spike in lumber prices, what builders are paying for the lots, and some contractors are running into shortages with appliances.
Traditionally, the fall market slows down, but this market is far from normal. Buyers will continue to move to Maine. Families will continue to want larger spaces to deal with working from home, and home schooling. From the seller’s side they will jump into the market to take advantage of the increase values of their homes. So, it looks like the market should remain highly active.
Linda and I are always available to talk about all your options in this every changing landscape.
Source: Maine Real Estate Information System, Inc. (d/b/a Maine Listings). Note: Maine Listings, a subsidiary of the Maine Association of REALTORS®, is a statewide Multiple Listing Service with over 5,400 licensees inputting active and sold property listing data. Statistics reflect properties reported as sold in the system within the time periods indicated.