Sales of single family homes skidded to 495 in January compared with a total of 688 in the same month in 2007. These figures were released by the Maine Real Estate Information System, Inc. earlier this week.
More bad news for sellers - the statewide median sales prices for those homes dropped 2.22 percent to $185,000 vs. $189,200 in January 2007. The median sales price indicates that half of the homes were sold for more and half sold for less.
In Cumberland County for the quarter ending on 1/31/08, sales of single family homes dropped to 476 compared with 640 from 11/1/06 through 1/31/07, a drop of 25.63%
Maine's decline outpaced the region and the nation as the Northeastern United States experienced a 25.7 percent decrease in sales. Nationwide, real estate sales dropped 22.4 percent from January 2007. The National Association of Realtors reports that the median existing single-family home price dropped 5.1 percent to $198,700.
While the news seems to roll down like an avalanche of our endless snowstorms, there are still houses selling and in a reasonable amount of time. Which ones? Those that are priced correctly, are staged well and aggressively marketed locally, regionally and nationally. Before choosing a REALTOR to market your home, ask what he or she is doing differently from the peak years of 2001 and 2005, because times have changed and the same old methods just aren't working in 2008.
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You make an interesting point but i think home sales will once again recover... You said it yourself prices have come down what better time to buy!
Doug - Thanks for stopping by. Not much has changed since I wrote this blog, it's still a buyers market, but things will turn around eventually. We were sitting around the office the other wondering if people would one day say, "I wish I had bought back in 2008!"
Hello Rick- Let's hope that this $7500 first-time homebuyer's buying credit will spur some fence-sitters the rest of 2008 and into 2009. It's not a bad thing; I know we're pushing it in the mortgage brokerage business, and I'm sure Coldwell Banker already has some marketing stuff that they're pushing out there.
How's the summer market been specifically in Portland? What the average DOM there? Just curious. Thanks, and have a good one,
Ken L.
Hi Ken,
Thanks for stopping by. Homes priced properly with great curb appeal and marketing are still going under contract quickly. Those that don't meet those three characteristics are sitting. Sound familiar? In Portland itself this year, the average Days on Market for current listings is 105. The average Days on Market for sold listings is 72. These are for single family homes. For condos this year, it's 81 for current listings and 119 for sold listings.