Maine home sales dip, but prices still rising

BANGOR – Home sales in Maine dropped by a little more than 6 percent during the first six months of the year, while the median sales price jumped by more than 9 percent, according to a survey by Realtors.

Real estate agencies sold 4,990 homes between January and June, or 322 fewer than during the same period last year, the Maine Real Estate Information System said.

The median sales price for homes sold in 2001 was $120,000, or $10,000 more than in the first six months of 2000.

In Aroostook and Penobscot counties, however, home sales were up in the first six months of this year, when compared with the same time last year. So were the prices of the houses.

In The County, where 30 units were sold in the first six months of this year, up from 19 units last year, the median sales price went up to $55,500 from $33,500.

In Penobscot County, 536 houses have been purchased, up from 521 last year. The median price of a house went up to $89,900 from $80,000.

“Statewide, the number of sales has dropped,” said David Flaherty of Flaherty Realty in Brunswick. “That is because the demand is so strong, the inventory of homes isn’t keeping pace. The available property is down.” That same lack of inventory is driving up prices.