By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff Maine saw home sales fall in June, snapping a four-month increase. Buyers closed on 1,291 homes in June, a 10 percent decline from the 1,435 homes sold in June 2023, according to the Maine Association of Realtors.

By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Contributor

In Maine, home sales fell in June, breaking a four-month streak of gains.

According to the Maine Association of Realtors, buyers closed on 1,291 homes in June, a 10 percent decline from the 1,435 sold in June 2023.

Meanwhile, the median sales price for a home in Maine rose 5.5 percent to $406,000, compared to $385,000 in June 2023.

“While sales declined in June, home sales increased 2.4 percent through the first six months of 2024 compared to January through June 2023,” said Paul McKee, president of the Maine Association of Realtors and a broker with Keller Williams Realty in Portland, this week.

Despite the less impressive June sales numbers, McKee said there has been a “significant improvement” in the number of homes for sale, which he called “good news for buyers.”

“It has been 35 months since the number of homes for sale exceeded the current level of 4,400,” McKee said.

That decline in sales in the Pine Tree State mirrors a broader decline across the country, with sales down 4.3 percent year-over-year, while the median sales price nationwide rose 4.1 percent to $432,700, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Sales in the Northeast also fell 6 percent, while the average sales price rose 9.7 percent to $521,500.

At the county level, the most significant increase in median home prices was in Piscataquis County, where they rose nearly 42 percent to $241,000 for the three-month period ending June 30, compared to the same period last year. The highest median home price for the period was in Cumberland County, where they reached $580,000.

Median home prices fell in Washington (16.5 percent), Oxford (6.6 percent), Somerset (4.3 percent) and Lincoln (0.85 percent) counties during that period compared with the same period last year. Aroostook had the lowest median home price overall ($155,000), unchanged from the same three-month period in 2023.

In terms of sales, Waldo County saw the largest increase in sales over the three-month period, up 15 percent. It was followed by Sagadahoc (11.8 percent) and Knox (10.9 percent) counties. Sales fell the most in Somerset County, where they fell nearly 21.5 percent.