Bangor Area Counties Tell Different Stories When It Comes to Changes In Housing Market for 2020

The State of Maine has seen quite a swing in house prices as shown in this year's just released Maine Housing Report.

The report states that the average single-family home jumped over 17% since a year ago, with a median average of a Maine home at $270,000 according to Maine Listings.

Taking a look at the counties surrounding the Bangor area, there are different stories for each county that share how the housing market played out for Penobscot, Piscataquis, Hancock and Waldo counties.

Bangor area counties didn't see a huge jump in median sales prices like other counties in the State of Maine did from 2019 to 2020.

The Bangor area county that did see the largest bump was Waldo county, which saw median sales prices jump 17%.  Prices for average house sales in 2019 for Waldo County was at 187,000.  Now, in 2020, those median sales prices are now around $218,000.

Penobscot also saw a jump up in median sales prices by 11.25% since 2019 with the average median sales price being at $178,000 this year compared to $160,000 a year ago.

Hancock and Piscataquis Counties saw the lowest increase in median sales price statewide.  Hancock County saw a 7.79% increase in median sales prices with last year's median price around $227,000 and now at $245,500.  Piscataquis county saw the lowest median sales price change with only a 2.43 % change since 2019.  2019 median sales price for homes in Piscataquis County were around $144,000.  This year the median sales price for home in Piscataquis County is up to $147,500.

Taking a look at the amount of actual units sold this year between June and August sales compared to this year's units sold, counties around the Bangor area varied widely on what amount of increase was seen.  Piscataquis, Waldo, Hancock and Penobscot counties all saw an increase but varying amounts.  Of these four counties, Piscataquis saw a huge jump in units sold between 2019 and 2020.  The county saw an increase of over 25% and having the second most increase in counties Statewide when it came to the large jump seen between 2019 and 2020 comparatively.

Piscataquis county saw 146 units sold this year, compared to 116 in 2019.  Waldo county wasn't too far off from Piscataquis with nearly a 20% increase of units sold, from 153 in 2019 to 183 in 2020.  Hancock county saw a 7% increase in units sold from 2019 to 2020.  Penobscot county saw nearly no change at a 1.17% increase and a difference of 7 units sold when comparing 2019 and 2020 units sold.

STATEWIDE MAINE HOUSING TRENDS

The counties in Maine that saw the largest increase in median sales price from 2019 to 2020 were

The counties that saw the greatest increase of units sold from June and August 2019 to June and August 2020

All counties saw an increase in median home sales prices from 2019 to 2020, with Piscataguis County seeing the least change, at 2% increase, and Franklin County seeing the greatest change, with a 29.5 % increase.

Some counties saw decreases in units sold from June to August 2019 vs. June to August 2020.  Sagadahoc saw the greatest decrease in sales from 144 units sold in 2019 to 126 units sold in 2020, a -12.5% decrease.  Cumberland county saw a decrease of 10% in 2020 compared to 2019 and Franklin County saw a slight decrease of 5% in 2020 compared to 2019.