Aroostook County realtors hoping for busy spring in the Housing Market

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - The Housing Market is getting ready for a busy Spring in Aroostook County. News Source 8′s Isaac Potter caught up with local realtors to learn what the Housing Market has been like over the past year.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many moved to Aroostook County to buy a house in the state of Maine. But over the past year, Stephanie Beaulieu of Fields Realty has seen a drop in sales volume in Maine and Aroostook County.

Stephanie Beaulieu: “There is a number of units sold dropped from 20,401 units sold in 2021 to 16,832 in 2022. That’s a 17.5% drop in sales in the sale volume. In Aroostook County, the number of units sold dropped from 998 in 2021 to 831 in 2022 and that’s a 16.73% drop in sale volumes.”

Lehrle Kieffer, of Remax North Realty says despite an increase in price, she has been seeing people still choosing to move to Aroostook County.

Lehrle Kieffer: “Our prices have gone up, last year alone they went up another 12%, but prior to that they have gone up quite a bit more than that. The thing is for Aroostook County, it’s mostly a catch up in pricing. Out of the 16 counties in Maine, we are still the lowest median price. Coupled with that and the recreational opportunities. We have good high speed internet which a lot of people need. We are still seeing a lot of people selecting Aroostook County to move to or stay.”

Beaulieu adds there has been an increase in mortgage interest rates as well. Rates are dependent on the loan amount, down payment, state, and credit score. As of Monday, the average mortgage interest rates in Maine were 7.37% for the 30 year fix rate, and 6.34% for the 15 year fix rate.

Stephanie Beaulieu: “According to Joel Kan, the Vice President and Chief Economist of the Mortgage Broker Association. Mortgage rates in quotes from him, Mortgage rates increased across the board, and published higher by marketing expectations than that inflation will persist. Thus requiring the federal reserve to keep monetary policy restrictions for a longer period of time.”

Kieffer says active inventory is currently low as it’s Winter, but that’s starting to change.

Lehrle Kieffer: “Not unusual for our winter months this has been a pretty typical winter as far as real estate goes. Inventory is lower, because most people that want to sell, don’t want to do it in the winter time. They are going to wait until spring. We have already seen a little bit of movement on that.”

Stephanie Beaulieu: “Inventory is bumping up, we are seeing an active inventory now. The spring market could be a sweet spot for sellers. In today’s housing market, there are more people who want to buy than there are for homes. It’s obviously basic 101 and economics, supply and demand. While inventory is up from last year, it is still below pre pandemic levels. Meaning it is still a seller’s market.”

As things continue to get back to normal, both realtors say, they hope it will be a busy spring for real estate sales in the County. Isaac Potter, News Source 8.

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