Stunning Gains in September - Number of Maine Homes Sold Was Up 22.78%, Home Values Up 19.56%! (mortgages, loans)

[Maine Writer]

Originally Posted by WhoFanMe

For January - the median sales price statewide was $292,250 - a 14.5% increase over January 2021. Number of home sales dropped 7.2% from January of 2021, reflecting the shortage of homes available for purchase.

Thank you for the info. I'm going to pass it on to my daughter and son-in-law as they're going to start house hunting in the spring. They fell into the myth that young people can't make a living in Maine and moved to Boston. They're coming home!

[mainegrl2011]

When home prices increase and people are buying, it's great news for sellers. It's not great news for people who want to buy but can't afford the higher prices or can't afford to participate in paying above the asking price--a bidding war of sorts.

[WhoFanMe]

Originally Posted by mainegrl2011

When home prices increase and people are buying, it's great news for sellers. It's not great news for people who want to buy but can't afford the higher prices or can't afford to participate in paying above the asking price--a bidding war of sorts.

Absolutely true and interest rates have gone up a full 100 basis points in a very short time, which has pushed the normal spring market to now.

[OutdoorLover]

I am on the email mailing list of a realtor I used as a buyer's agent earlier. He writes:

"The real estate market is shifting but maintains historically high levels by many measures. Some of the insatiable demand for Maine real estate has been satisfied and therefore subsided, which has led to fewer multiple-buyer and multiple-offer situations that were so common last year. In addition, the high levels of appreciation seen in the previous few years seem to be flattening, leading to buyers, on average, paying a lower percentage over the asking price."

Sounds like things have calmed down a little bit but they certainly haven't returned to "normal", or, what was normal say 3 years ago anyway.

[WhoFanMe]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

I am on the email mailing list of a realtor I used as a buyer's agent earlier. He writes:

"The real estate market is shifting but maintains historically high levels by many measures. Some of the insatiable demand for Maine real estate has been satisfied and therefore subsided, which has led to fewer multiple-buyer and multiple-offer situations that were so common last year. In addition, the high levels of appreciation seen in the previous few years seem to be flattening, leading to buyers, on average, paying a lower percentage over the asking price."

Sounds like things have calmed down a little bit but they certainly haven't returned to "normal", or, what was normal say 3 years ago anyway.

I just had a buyer lose out on a split level in Saco listed at $350,000 with an inspection report provided. There were 18 offers and they will continue to look. Perhaps he reports of the seller's market's death are greatly exaggerated.

[svband76]

Originally Posted by WhoFanMe

I just had a buyer lose out on a split level in Saco listed at $350,000 with an inspection report provided. There were 18 offers and they will continue to look. Perhaps he reports of the seller's market's death are greatly exaggerated.

I'd imagine anything from the state border to Bar Harbor along the coast will stay hot for awhile.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Banks were scrambling to keep their shares of the mortgage business. Then they realized that having the cash flow from a 1.5% mortgage ten or twenty years from now might not be a good idea. Poof! the sudden 1.5% mortgage market is GONE! With fuel and food prices skyrocketing, home buyers must buy lower priced homes.

In 1978 I wanted to buy a home. Mortgage interest was 18.5%. I could not afford that so my employer lent me the money and I made payments to them. In 1983 we came home to Maine. I paid cash for my 1885 home on 107 acres.

[OutdoorLover]

Welp, with the Fed raising interest rates significantly to get price inflation under control, the housing market is cooling. Nationally at least, prices have begun to fall, and houses are sitting on the market longer on average. Many experts think these effects will continue at least through the end of this year, with some predicting that a big drop in prices is coming.

https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/...-no-recession/

[Northern Maine Land Man]

"Number of Maine Homes Sold Was Up 22.78%, Home Values Up 19.56%!"

This is true, but let's look at the meanings. A lot of people had to sell their homes because they could no longer afford the food, fuel, utilities and expenses. For many, this situation came about by actual Covid illness or Covid regulations.

Many individual home values fell, but overall sale prices grew as desperate families with cash fled cities where they were not safe. Economists always ask why when encountering unusual statistics.

[OutdoorLover]

The Fed has raised rates to cut price inflation, and the commercial banks have followed. The bad news for buyers is that mortgage rates have been rolled back up to where they were 20 years ago. The good news for buyers is that the runup in home prices has stopped, and they are beginning to recede. The people who benefit most are those who don't need a mortgage - like many retired people buying their last house. The graph below was taken from redfin.com:
https://www.redfin.com/state/Maine/housing-market

The peak in median home price was in June of this year.