PORTLAND, Maine — The number of homes that changed hands in October was slightly less than the total for the same month last year, coming after more than a year of steady increases in home sales.
The slowdown is a change for 2015, a year in which home sales volume and prices have continued to rise, far above a low for real estate activity during the recession, according to figures from the Maine Association of Realtors.
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While home sales dipped less than by 1 percent in October, Maine Association of Realtors President Marie Flaherty called the month an “adjustment.”
“Although we typically see a slight adjustment as the weather gets cooler, the October statistics are more indicative of an inventory problem,” Flaherty said in a news release. “The minor dip in units sold during a 30-day period doesn’t indicate a trend.”
The decline came as sales volume nationally rose 4.6 percent and in New England rose 8.6 percent.
Meanwhile, Maine outpaced national and regional price increases for the month, with the median price of homes sold up 7.1 percent, to $187,500.
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The median price in New England rose 1.3 percent, to $248,900, and the national median price rose 6.3 percent, to $221,200.