The good news: Maine is finally seeing more housing hitting the market after years of declining sales.

The bad news: It’s really expensive.

Maine had another record-breaking year for home sale prices in 2024, with an annual median of $390,200, up a little over 8% from the 2023 median — and previous record — of $360,000, according to data released Friday by the Maine Association of Realtors. The median is the price at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

But 2024 also saw sales start to tick upward again after dropping to their lowest level in a decade. Home sales increased almost 5% between 2023 and 2024, with 14,281 homes changing hands.

“In each month of 2024, we saw higher numbers of homes on the market compared to the prior year,” said Jeff Harris, president of the Maine Association of Realtors and a broker with Harris Real Estate in Farmington.

While the increased inventory is a good sign of more balanced days to come, industry experts say it’s not enough to counter the high buyer demand. And it’s definitely not enough to lower prices, which will likely continue to increase in 2025.

The market closed out the year with 1,178 sales in December, a 15% increase compared to the year before, and a median sale price of $400,000, a 14% increase over December 2023.

It’s the fourth time Maine has seen a monthly median of at least $400,000 since crossing that threshold in June. Prices peaked in September at a record $409,000. The high for 2023 was $385,000.

Tom Landry, owner of Benchmark Real Estate in Portland, believes Maine is heading for another record-breaking year.

Climate change and growing businesses are pushing more people to Maine, and many of them come from more expensive areas and experience “reverse sticker shock.”

The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates in 2025 and mortgage rates are expected to level off, which could draw people who’ve so far stayed out of the market, hoping the recent 7% interest rates will decline.

Meanwhile, Maine doesn’t have enough housing stock to accommodate the growing population, and the housing that has come online in the last year is a “drop in the bucket” compared to what’s needed, Landry said.

“I only see (prices) going up,” he said. “I think those numbers could jump another 10% this year, especially in those desirable areas.”

Cumberland County wrapped up 2024 with an annual median sale price of $570,000, after cresting $500,000 for the first time in 2023. York County home sale prices averaged $519,500 last year, up from $475,000 in 2023, becoming the second county to have an annual median over $500,000.

With a median sale price of $160,000 Aroostook County remains the only Maine county with a median sale price below $200,000. Piscataquis, which had a median sale price of $189,000 in 2023, rounded out 2024 with a median of $226,000.

Only five counties had prices below $300,000, a dramatic increase considering the statewide median was $299,000 just a few years ago in 2021.

Franklin County’s 20% jump from $250,000 to $300,000 was the biggest increase in the state, while Oxford County was the only county to record a decrease — less than 1% from $318,000 to $315,000.

Sales numbers were less predictable, with seven counties reporting year-over-year decreases and nine reporting increases.

Hancock County had the largest increase at 14.5% with 701 sales, while Piscataquis County’s 13% drop from 323 to 281 sales was the steepest decline.

Maine’s sale increase was an anomaly. Nationally, home sales declined to the lowest level since 1995, while the median price reached a record high of $407,500 in 2024, according to the National Association of Realtors.

While the continued rise in prices frustrated some buyers last year, the increased sales helped soften the market for others, said Holly Mitchell, a Portland-based real estate agent with Keller Williams.

“I had buyers who were able to put their house on the market and get under contract (on a new house) contingent on selling their house. During COVID, that was impossible,” she said.

Landry said he was able to do more contract negotiations and inspections, which waned during the height of the pandemic.

Houses priced too high are lingering on the market and there have been more price reductions. Well-priced homes in popular areas are still receiving multiple offers, but Landry said he’s “clearly seeing a leveling off.”

Whether that will bode well for first-time home buyers, who Mitchell said continued to struggle in 2024, remains to be seen.

Last year saw “a little bit of a softening of the insanity,” she said, “but this is still not a balanced market.”