{"id":6912,"date":"2021-06-15T09:48:16","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T13:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6912"},"modified":"2025-08-24T12:53:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T16:53:21","slug":"to-buy-or-not-to-buy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/06\/15\/to-buy-or-not-to-buy\/","title":{"rendered":"To Buy or Not to Buy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>It is no secret that the housing market has seen a boom the last two years. Lori Miles, a secondary hedge trading associate at Bangor Savings Bank, has seen a large increase in business. \u201cLast year was a record setting year. We were very busy.\u201d Housing prices in Maine have steadily increased through 2021. It has left many wondering if now is a good time to buy.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0According to the Maine Real Estate Information Systems (MREIS), the median sale price for a home is up 14.2 percent from 2020. The primary factors for this increase in price are low inventory and high demand. New listings for the state are down 25.7 percent. With not many options, buyers are willing to spend more to purchase a home now. The median amount of time a listing is on the market is a mere 12 days.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This year has also seen an influx of out-of-state buyers keeping housing prices high. Many have abandoned the city to find refuge somewhere rural due to Maine\u2019s quiet nature and low crime rates, combined with COVID fears. Real estate agent for Next Home Experience, Jacob Kipping, said that his clients from Florida to Colorado have been, \u201cRunning away to Maine looking for peace and quiet.\u201d Now that people have more options to work from home, it gives them the chance to move where they want.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Low inventory for homes will likely continue as winter approaches. People tend to hold off listing their houses in the colder months. While it is a great time to sell, lack of options and high housing costs have kept people from putting their homes on the market. Even if sellers get more than their asking price, they may end up spending more to purchase another home. Housing prices may go down slightly, but probably not significantly.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some frequently toss around the word \u201cbubble\u201d because of the housing market crash in 2007. It does not look like we will see a similar large drop in home prices. Industry standards have changed significantly. Kipping is confident in the market. \u201cIn my opinion, I don\u2019t see it as a bubble that\u2019s just going to pop and drastically change. I think it will slowly correct. Prices may come down, but interest rates will go back up. So now you\u2019re paying more for that same house anyways.\u201d This is a common opinion among economists. Low interest rates have kept prices high. As interest rates start to increase, housing prices should come down.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This may seem intimidating for first-time home buyers. Buyers may be concerned that others will outbid them for their dream home and snatch it away from beneath them. It is not all bad news, though. Interest rates remain low and there are many first-time home buyer programs to help. Kipping provided this piece of advice if you get approved for more than you were anticipating. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to necessarily spend that much. To minimize your risks, stay within your price range. There are always options\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is no secret that the housing market has seen a boom the last two years. Lori Miles, a secondary hedge trading associate at Bangor Savings Bank, has seen a large increase in business. \u201cLast year was a record setting year. We were very busy.\u201d Housing prices in Maine have steadily increased through 2021. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6912"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8218,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6912\/revisions\/8218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}