PORTLAND, Maine - More homes sold in Maine in June this year, than in the same month last year - and for more money.
The median home sales price in Maine in June was $198,000 - up about 5.5 percent from last year. And the number of homes sold increased by almost 10 percent.
But while some counties are seeing a brisk market ahnd increasing prices, most of the counties where sales increased the most also saw drops in prices.
In the second quarter of this year, for example, Franklin County had a more than 50 percent increase in home sales versus the same time last yearm and the median sales price dropped by more than 8 percent, to $125,000.
Ed Gardner is president of the Maine Association of Realtors. He says in a fast-moving real estate market, when people want to buy a new home, they don't want to wait around to sell their current one.
"Buyers that are really wanting to make the deal right now," Gardner says. "They're going ahead and selling their homes now for a little less than what they've had them listed for in order to jump onto the inventory that's available."
Cumberland County had the highest median home sales price, of $267,700.
