After dropping 15% in April, sales took another tumble, all while prices inched upward because of fewer houses on the market.
Sales of single-family existing homes in Maine fell by a staggering 21.3 percent in May from a year earlier, nearly matching the most recent sharp one-year decline of 21.4 percent following the Great Recession, in June 2011.
The number of home sales in the state dropped from 1,598 in May 2019 to 1,257 last month, according to Maine Listings, which is owned by the Maine Association of Realtors.
Over the same period, the median sales price rose by 3.4 percent to $237,900. The median price indicates that half of homes sold for more money and half sold for less.
May’s sales figures come on the heels of an April report that saw a 15.4 percent drop in sales from the same month a year earlier.
“It’s a very difficult time for buyers,” said Marie Flaherty, past president of the Maine Association of Realtors and owner of the Flaherty Group.
