Local Market Update for Cumberland County, Maine

Just a reminder, I recently expanded my typical rolling quarter statistics to show monthly numbers! Click here for the new page featuring interactive line graphs showing monthly statistics going back to January 2017. Below is a snapshot of the new interactive graphs.

I usually post these market updates monthly to see if we can recognize any trends that might help predict the future. Found on every stock broker's website is the phrase "Past performance is no guarantee of future results". This couldn't be more true today with housing as the news and our approach to suppress the spread of COVID-19 changes daily. The good news: in the short term, while there is definitely some uncertainty about the future, there are still buyers out there looking for homes and there are still sellers anxious to sell. Both buyers and sellers are taking more precautions to keep their families and the community at large safe, but with interest rates low, there are still buyers out there that are portraying confidence in the future of the economy.
With The Goff Report, I report on rolling quarter statistics as opposed to monthly (and county as opposed to town) to get a larger number of data points to more accurately display housing trends in the two counties where I work the most. Because of this, changes to the economy lag behind in these statistics. In addition, the home sale cycle usually lags about 30-45 days behind. Buyers and sellers agree on terms 30-45 (sometimes more, and sometimes less, of course) prior to the home actually selling and showing up on these reports. As mentioned above, I have been keeping monthly stats for a few months now to help reduce this lag in reporting, though it will lag behind slightly due to the timing of the sales cycle.
No one has a crystal ball to say how long advisories will recommend remaining in our homes and practicing social distancing, but people still and always will need housing. I will continue to update stats as we progress through 2020 and beyond.
Check out the graphic above and the numbers below for a snapshot of the real estate market in Cumberland County.
Click here for monthly comparisons since 2017.
Rolling Quarter Update
Cumberland County, Maine
|
December 2019 - February 2020
|
December 2018 - February 2019
|
% Change Year-Over-Year
|
Number of Sales
|
781
|
647
|
20.71%
|
Median Sale Price
|
$316,000
|
$293,000
|
7.85%
|
Average Days on the Market
|
47
|
53
|
-11.32%
|
Number of New Listings
|
592
|
722
|
-18.01%
|
Number of Sales: The number of properties sold.
Median Sales Price: The midway final price of all properties sold. Half sold for more, half sold for less.
Median Days on the Market: The midway point of days between a listing going on the market and accepting an offer. Half were on the market longer; half were on the market for less time.
Number of New Listings New home listings during the month(s) specified.
Note: Sales were compiled on March 18, 2020, from Maine MLS data from sales of single family homes.
Data based on information from the Maine Real Estate Information System, Inc. (d/b/a Maine Listings) for the period December 1, 2018 through February 28, 2019 and December 1, 2019 through February 29, 2020.