April 2021 Real Estate Market Update

Tue, 04/27/2021 - 8:30am

Home buyer demand persists in the Maine real estate market, with Realtors reporting 1,313 single-family home sales for the month of March alone—a jump of 16.81 percent over March 2020. Statistics shared by Maine Listings infer the statewide median sales price (MSP) reached $268,500, an increase of 17.79 percent comparing March 2021 to March 2020. The MSP indicates that half of the homes were sold for more and half sold for less.

Maine residential real estate sales volume and median sold values continue to increase while the race for residential real estate remains! Transactions are being conducted rapidly with no sign of slowing down. For March 2021, the statewide days on market was just 11 days, compared to 48 days for March of last year. 

The National Association of Realtors reported a 10.4 percent nationwide increase compared to the March 2020 data. Prices also increased 18.4 percent to reach a national MSP of $334,500. Regionally, sales in the Northeast jumped 16.9 percent and the regional MSP increased 21.4 percent to $364,800 comparing March 2021 to March 2020.

Off to a great start in 2021, our company continues to thrive. As of the date of this report, our brokers have closed 63 transaction sides with a total volume of $13,775,275—up 55% over our Y-T-D numbers in 2020. In comparison, the local Sotheby’s office has booked $10,997,100 from 19 sides, and Drum and Drum Real Estate has sold $6,260,447 with 14 sides. We are pleased to remain the leading real estate firm in our area.

Most of the year-to-date 2021 property sales locally have occurred in Waldoboro (32), Boothbay (40), Wiscasset (24), Bristol (34), Dresden (12), Damariscotta (15), Jefferson (19), Edgecomb (16), Newcastle (17), Boothbay Harbor (12), and Nobleboro (12). Slightly fewer sales have happened so far this year in Whitefield (6), Bremen (8) Westport Island (9), South Bristol (8), Southport (8), Alna (5), and Somerville (3). No sales have occurred yet on Monhegan Island.

There are currently 141 single-family homes for sale in Lincoln County (up from from 90 in February), with 37 percent of those priced at or above $500,000. The 813 residential sales that have occurred in the last 365 days represent transactions in the range of under $100,000 (6%), $100,000-$249,999 (29%), $250,000-$499,999 (45%), $500,000-$999,999 (16%), and $1 million-plus (4%). Listing inventory remains super low—it is a great time to sell and our brokers are ready to answer your questions about the process.

The current market absorption rates for Lincoln County homes are 0.8 months (under $100,000), 1.4 months ($100,000-$249,999), 1.9 months ($250,000-$499,999), 3.0 months ($500,000-$999,999), and 7.5 months ($1 million and up). This tells us how long it would take for existing inventories to be absorbed into the market at current rates of sales if no new listings were introduced.

Newcastle Realty tracks Lincoln County and statewide sales, along with other important metrics, which keeps our brokers fully informed of current market conditions and emerging trends as they serve buyer and seller client needs. Questions or comments may be directed to Dennis Hilton, President of Newcastle Realty at dennishilton@cheneycompanies.com or 207-380-3435.

  • Sales statistics based on information from the Maine Real Estate Information System, Inc. (d/b/a Maine Listings) for the period 1/1/2021 through 4/23/2021.