Maine Real Estate News & Notes

Understanding what is happening to the local greater Portland real estate market can be a challenge, especially as numbers and reports are published frequently, and in so many places.

This is especially true when it comes to getting your arms around pricing and value.  There is a big difference in “average” price vs “median” price when it comes to looking at what has sold recently.  In many cases not spending time to dig through the details can lead to bad interpretations of the market.

As a reminder, the median is the midpoint, which is something completely different from the average.  A rise in the median does not necessarily indicate an overall increase in prices across the board.  Rather, it is reflective of more activity at higher price ranges than had been experienced in the recent past - just as a lower price would be indicative of the opposite.

In our local market most of the recent sales activity has been in the lower prices ranges, and as a result price decreases have moderated.  This should not be a surprise as sales of smaller homes and condos have benefited from government supported programs aimed at first time buyers.  

A complete report of 2009 home and condo sales are available at Maine Home Sales and a full report can be downloaded for Cumberland and York counties.  You can also find detailed statistics for most local communities.

In this type of environment it is important for sellers not to infer home value from overall changes in market price.  Rather, they need to focus on what is happening in their particular segment and ensure that they can provide value to prospective buyers if they do indeed want to get their homes sold.  In the broadest of senses, pricing should be viewed as a marketing tool aimed at attracting the widest range of potential buyers.