GOOD NEWS BAD NEWS: Maine Home Sales Are Up, But So Are The Prices

When we say 'good news bad news' it is obviously relative to which party in the transaction you are referring to. Obviously homes selling for higher prices is almost always beneficial to the seller, but can be a determent to the buyer.

It's no secret that ever since the 'COVID era', the real estate market has had more twists and turns than Chubby Checker in a blender (I stole that joke from some movie). Home values have been on a steady increase since 2020 and, sadly, so too have the overall fixed interest rates.

With current average interest rates on a 30 year fixed mortgage hovering at around 30%, experts at Sprague and Curtis Real Estate say that finding the correct home for a buyer can become increasingly challenging- but, they are experts at getting it done.

It's also explained that higher interest rates take away from the total principal amount you can afford because so much of your monthly mortgage payment ends up just going to the interest and not the actual principal.

We've been hopeful that interest rates will eventually go down, but as of right now, according to MSN, it looks like it could take more than a year for them to even drop by a single percentage point.

According to an article recently published by WGME 13, Maine saw a couple of increases on the real estate front in the month of April 2024. The news station is reporting that the average price for a home in Maine has risen to $382,000. However, even with that, the number of total homes sold went up by 17%.

What does this mean? Even with increased prices and less-than-desirable interest rates, professional brokers like the ones at Sprague & Curtis Real Estate are still able to get customers into the homes they both want and need!