Maine saw home sales fall for the third straight month in October.
Buyers closed deals on 1,547 homes last month, down 6.6% from 1,656 in October 2025, according to the Maine Association of Realtors.
Meanwhile, the median sales price for a Maine home fell 5.6% year over year to $402,500.
That comes on the heels of a 4% year-over-year drop in September and a 10% slump in August but after a stellar July that saw home listings exceed 6,200 for the first time since December 2019 and 77 daily sales, making it the eighth best July for home sales since 2000.
Judy Oberg, the president of the Maine Association of Realtors and an associate broker at family-owned Oberg Insurance & Real Estate Agency in Bridgton, on Thursday attributed dampened buyer interest to mortgage rates, which stood at 7.1% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage this week. Although national mortgage rates have fallen four straight weeks, they remain higher than the same time last year, according to Freddie Mac.
“Statewide, buyers have more homes to choose from than last year and more room to negotiate. Sellers are facing more competition from other listings and that’s reflected in the median sold prices,” Oberg said.
Maine isn’t alone in seeing a sales slump. Nationally, home sales fell even more sharply (8.6%) in October, while the median sales price nudged up just 0.4% to $421,900, according to the National Association of Realtors.
In the Northeast, sales dropped 4.1% year over year, but the median sales price jumped 3.2% to $519,600.
On the county level in Maine, the most significant increase in median home prices for the three-month period ending Oct. 31 was in Franklin County, where it rose 22.4% to $355,000, compared with the same time last year. Hancock (10.9%), Lincoln (10.8%), Waldo (6.4%) and Knox (5.6%) counties also saw notable increases in sale prices for that three-month period. The highest median home price during that period was in Cumberland County, where it reached $600,000, down about 1.4% from the same time a year ago.
The median home price fell most sharply in Washington (14.5%), Oxford (4.7%) and Penobscot (1.4%) counties for that three-month period. Aroostook had the lowest median home price overall ($168,250).
On the sales front, Penobscot County saw the largest sales bump for the three-month period ending Oct. 31, increasing about 3.1%. It was followed by Waldo (2.7%), Lincoln (2.4%) and Washington (1.5%) counties. Sales fell most sharply in York (18.9%), Piscataquis (14.6%), Franklin (10.5%), Kennebec (10.3%) and Sagadahoc (8.2%) counties during that period.