Sales data shows Portland home prices jumped $54,500 from February to March 2021.
First quarter home prices were 43% higher than 2020
Portland, ME – As many predicted, Portland’s residential real estate market continued its upward swing in prices as the 2021 spring market hit. Portland’s overall median sales price jumped from $460,000 in February to $514,500 in March. The city ended the first quarter of 2021 with a 43% increase in the median sales price over the same period in 2020, representative of properties under contract in the months before the pandemic hit.
Portland’s first quarter numbers also included a 37% increase in the number of sales and a 47% decrease in days on market. Across all towns in Greater Portland, the first three months of the year brought a 27% increase in median sales price, a 6% increase in number of sales, and a 56% decrease in days on market over 2020.
“Simply put, this is the best seller’s market that Portland has ever seen,” said Benchmark Real Estate owner, Tom Landry. “Particularly in the single-family and small multi-family market, we’re routinely seeing 10-20 offers and closing well over asking prices.” Landy said while his sellers are celebrating, buyers are struggling. “Buyers can offer up to 20% over asking, waive inspections, and still lose out on the home”. The statistics show that the longer buyers have had to wait, the more they’ve had to pay. Looking back to January of 2020, the median sales price for Portland’s residential real estate increased an average of 4.46% per month.
The million-dollar question everyone is asking is, ‘will it continue’. Landry says yes and no. He believes higher prices are likely here to stay, but that the rapid increases may not. “We’ll likely continue to see a tight market through mid-summer with buyer demand outpacing supply.” But he said that with summer on the way, many more people will likely take those vacations they’ve had to forgo this past year. This could lead to a softening of the market in July and August. He predicted that a more typical sales pattern start could start to emerge again if the severity of the pandemic continues to lessen.
The statistics below were prepared by Benchmark Real Estate using data from Maine Listings.
portland median sale price change january 2020 through march 2021
highest & Lowest Sales of March 2021
