These Two Maine Counties Saw The Biggest Jump With Homes Sold & Home Price During the Pandemic

The Maine Association of REALTORS released its annual sales report sharing comparisons of how house sales did in the past year. This year the group released 2020 and 2021 figures to show the crazy housing market Maine is witnessing during the pandemic.

Interestingly, we are seeing that those wanting to move to Maine are really trying to take advantage of the much more rural parts of the state. Maine Association of REALTORS' analysis revealed that Aroostook County and Washington County saw a double-digit increase in home units sold, unlike any other county in the State of Maine.

Aroostook County Sees the Biggest Increase In Housing Units Sold

Aroostook saw the largest incline during the pandemic for home units sold of any other county in Maine. In 2020, the county sold 838 units. In 2021, the county sold 998 units, which is a nearly 20% increase in sales over the first year of the pandemic.

Aroostook County, however, saw the second-lowest change in the price of all the counties when comparing home sales from 2020 to 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, Aroostook county saw home prices at $105,000 and $115,000 respectively, which resulted in a 14.29% increase between the two pandemic years. This increase was below the average of change seen across the counties in the state, which was 16.8%.

Knox County Sees the Biggest Change In Sales Price 

Knox County, where homes sold for a median average of $252,000 in 2019, saw a median home sales price of $268,250 in 2020. Then, it saw an even larger increase in 2021 with a median sales price of $344,000. Between 2020 and 2021, Knox County saw its median sales price jump 28.24%, the most of any county in Maine during the pandemic. From December 2019 median home prices (averaging a little over $236,000) to now, Knox County has witnessed an increase of home prices of almost 37% in three years.

Taking A Broader Look Across The State of Maine During Pandemic Home Buys

Overall, the State of Maine averaged a change of 2.41% from 2020 units sold to 2021 units sold. The biggest changes were seen in Aroostook County and Washington County, which saw increases of 19.09% and 15.06%, respectively. These were the only counties that made a double-digit increase since 2020.

As for an increase in median sales price, overall the State of Maine saw an average of 16.08% change. 2020's average median price for homes sold was $256,000. 2021 saw that average jump to $299,000. Nearly all counties saw a double-digit percentage of change with the exception of Washington County, which only saw a 9.07% increase between home sales from 2020 to 2021. That's nothing to scoff at, however, since the median average of home sales for Washington County in 2020 was $149,900, then $163,500 in 2021.

The pandemic has brought about a lot of change for us here in Maine and the home buying and selling market definitely shares a reflection of that. Here's an in-depth look at how Maine has been affected at the county level.