2025 Mid Year Report

2025 MID-YEAR REPORT

“Correction” is a very appropriate word to describe the real estate market in Maine this summer. For some sellers—especially at lower price points—it is still very much a sellerfavored market, with multiple buyers vying for their home and offering strong prices and terms. For others, that market is in the rearview mirror, and they are having to adjust their expectations—and their prices.

When the market was surging forward with double-digit price increases year over year, you could price ahead of the market, knowing that supply was not meeting demand and prices were increasing. In 2025, inventory has increased, and buyers have more choices— yet they are also saddled with persistently high interest rates. The buyers most burdened are first-time homebuyers, who do not have equity to transfer to a new home to help offset the higher rates.

As the market shifts into a more balanced state and buyers have more choices, sellers are finding themselves having to adapt. The median days on market increased from 7 in June 2024 to 9 in June 2025, but the number of houses with price changes surged from 1,275 to 1,653—an increase of 29.9%. Meanwhile, the number of homes for sale rose from 4,757 to 5,482.

The pace of price adjustments is also accelerating, with 990 active listings reducing their prices in the first two weeks of July alone—an increase of 24% over the same period in 2024. Working with an experienced agent who has weathered these kinds of shifts is more important now than ever—for both buyers and sellers.

Market Slows, Inventory Grows: A Shift Toward Buyers

Overall, the median sales price in the state rose 4.94% to $425,000 in June 2025, but Cumberland County hit an all-time high median price of $600,000 for the rolling quarter of April 1 to June 30. For a typical buyer placing 20% down—and with the current interest rate of 6.9%—this equates to a monthly payment of $3,798 before adding in taxes and insurance—a steep price for first-time buyers to manage. However, there are more houses for sale, as inventory in June crested at 5,047—the last time it exceeded 5,000 was October 2020!

The changing pace has resulted in fewer price wars, more time spent negotiating prices and repairs, and overall—other than stubborn interest rates—a more buyer-favorable market. However, even sellers who bought in the spring of 2021, when the median price in Cumberland County was $440,000, are able to enjoy a return on investment well above the typical 4% annual rate. The pace has slowed, but the returns remain high.

Median Price of a Home

Midcoast Central Maine

Lakes Region and Lewiston-Auburn

Record High-End Sales, But Almost Nothing to Buy

If you are in the market for an ultra-luxury Maine home — in the $10 million-plus category — this year, your options have dropped significantly, with 65% fewer homes to choose from and only five currently on the market. Don’t worry — all of them come with a generous chunk of oceanfront.

The highest-priced sale so far in 2025 was $12 million for a 1969 house in Kennebunkport, located on a rocky point — a property that may end up as a tear-down. It offers spectacular views over the coastline, but the house itself is a mishmash of a cottage exterior and a contemporary interior.

The market for homes priced over $1 million narrows quickly as the price point rises, with fewer options and fewer qualified buyers. But if the pandemic accelerated the real estate market, the number of very high-end sales has been explosive. From January 2015 to January 2020, there were a total of 17 sales over $5 million. Since then, there have been 80 homes sold for over $5 million.