Maine home sales up in December

SOUTH PORTLAND — The median sales price of a single-family existing home in Maine continues its upward track. According to the Maine Real Estate Information System, Inc. (MREIS), the statewide median sales price (MSP) rose 4.24% in December 2010, compared to December 2009. The MSP indicates that half of the homers were sold for more and half sold for less. The number of units of home sales in Maine declined 10.68% in that same time period.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently reported that single-family sales nationwide decreased 2.5% in the past year. The National Median Sales Price (MSP) dipped 0.2% to $169,300 comparing December 2010 to 2009. Regionally, sales in the Northeast declined 5.4%. The regional MSP of $237,300 reflects a decrease of 1.4%.

For the full year 2010, unit home sales in Maine decreased 2.6% compared with 2009, and the statewide median sales price of $168,750 is 2.9% higher than in 2009.

Following are two charts showing statistics for Maine and Oxford County. The first chart lists statistics for the month of December only, statewide. The second chart compares the number of existing, single-family homes sold (units) and volume (MSP) during the 12 months of 2009 and 2010.

Statewide 

Units sold 2009:           852

Units sold 2010:           761

Change:                              -10.68%

MSP 2009:                    $165,000

MSP 2010:                    $172,00

Change:                                  4.24%

Oxford County 

Units sold 2009:            491

Units sold 2010:            455

Change:                             -7.33%

MSP 2009:                   $135,000

MSP 2010:                   $127,500

Change:                             -5.56%