Maine saw a dramatic drop in home sales in November thanks, in part, to the 43-day federal government shutdown.
Buyers closed deals on 1,160 homes in November, an 11.6% drop, compared with the 1,312 sold in November 2024, according to the Maine Association of Realtors.
Meanwhile, the median sales price for a Maine home rose about 3.6% to $399,000, compared with $385,000 in November 2024. But that marked a 6.3% drop from this past October.
Jeff Harris, the president of the Maine Association of Realtors and a broker with Farmington-based Harris Real Estate, said Friday that delays in issuing mortgages from the Federal Housing Administration, U.S. Veterans Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development agency, as well as delays for mortgages needing flood insurance, tapped the brakes on home sales.
“In addition to the disruption for some mortgage lending approvals, consumer uncertainty during this unsettled time caused a pause in regular real estate activity,” Harris said in a statement.
But with the U.S. government shutdown behind us, Harris predicted that Maine could see a rebound in home sales in the new year.
“For-sale inventory is nine percent above last year’s levels and buyers are actively searching and ready to invest in their communities through homeownership,” he said.
Meanwhile, national sales fell a more modest 0.8% year over year, while the median sales price nudged up 1.2% to $414,300, according to the National Association of Realtors.
In the Northeast, sales remained flat, compared with a year earlier, but the median sales price rose 1.1% to $480,000.
On the county level in Maine, the most significant increase in median home prices for the three-month period ending Nov. 30 was in Piscataquis County, where it rose 22.3% to $206,000, compared with the same period last year. Washington and Somerset counties also saw notable increases in sale prices, 18.6% and 9.1%, respectively. The highest median home price during that period was in Cumberland County, where it reached $585,000.
The median home price fell most sharply in Lincoln County, where it was down 10.1%. Franklin, Hancock, Knox and York counties also saw modest declines in their median home prices. Aroostook had the lowest median home price overall ($170,000).
On the sales front, Piscataquis County saw the largest sales bump over the three-month period ending Nov. 30, increasing 23.8%. It was followed by Lincoln (20.3%), Sagadahoc (15.2%) and Oxford (13.7%) counties. Sales fell most sharply for that period in Franklin, Androscoggin and Knox counties, where they are down 14.4%, 13.1% and 12.2%, respectively.