Housing
This section of the BDN aims to help readers understand Maine’s housing crisis, the volatile real estate market and the public policy behind them. Read more Housing coverage here.
An oceanfront home in Kennebunkport set records Friday when it sold for $12 million.
The 5-bedroom, 4-bathroom home on Ocean Avenue is the subject of the highest-priced sale in Maine since 2022. It is the biggest of all time in Kennebunkport, York County and the history of Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty, the Portland-based company behind the listing.
The trend is nothing new for the property’s listing agent, Bill Gaynor. Though some luxury properties around Maine are seeing price cuts due to cooling demand, luxury home values and prices have been steadily appreciating in the years since Maine’s real estate market spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gaynor said.
“This number sounds extraordinarily high,” he said. “It is on a comparative historical basis, but it makes some sense. And stay tuned, right? Wait five years, it’ll be worth more than that.”
The home’s prime location, its 275 feet of bold waterfront and high standard of design are the reasons behind that eye-popping price tag, Gaynor said. Built in 1969 on an acre, the property has been owned by the same person for over 40 years, he said. The homeowner lived year-round in Greenwich, Connecticut, and summered here.
Its new owner is an industrialist from Chicago who has been visiting Maine for years, Gaynor said. Only 90 minutes after the property was listed in December, the buyer called in and made an almost full-price offer. It sold at full price, the agent confirmed.
“This is a really special place,” Gaynor said. “It looks like the standard issue weathered Cape Cod, maybe your grandmother’s house, and then you walk inside and you get punched in the face with the views and this really high level, restrained elegance that is just so rare.”
