Second-home owners in Maine are racing to offload their properties, spooked by fears of a house price crash and anxious about their financial future.
The shift is especially striking in a state that once topped the nation for vacation ownership — nearly 1 in 5 homes in Maine were second residences as of 2019.
Local realtors say it’s mostly Baby Boomers dumping their properties after their stock market portfolios took a hit during the recent tariff crash.
‘People tell me, “I’m really concerned about what’s going to happen over the next year or two with my retirement, Social Security, and my money,”‘ Portland realtor Tom Landry told DailyMail.com.
‘People’s funds are way down, and they have this other asset — they want the cash.’
Listings have tripled rom just over 1,000 in February to more than 3,000 in March — most of them vacation homes.
‘Maybe they don’t use it as much anymore and they can take advantage of the value having gone way up,’ Landry said.
‘But what is really driving it is a collective anxiety — they lived through the 2008 crash, and now they’re thinking, “I have to get out now.”‘
The rise in inventory has been mainly vacation homes for people with a nearby main residence
The second-home surge has come as a shock to local realtors
Maine’s Cumberland County, home to Portland, has seen a rise in single-family listings
Portland realtor Tom Landry
In 2019, Maine had the highest percentage of second homes owned in the US at 19 percent, according to one study.
The rise in inventory is mainly from people who have a main residence somewhere else in the state or New Yorkers who summer there, Landry says.
Most of the sellers lived through the 2008 crash.
‘They’re worried about the tariffs, about the economy, they’ve seen their portfolio go down, and they want the comfort of being liquid.’
Landry says he’s seen people with small homes purchased years ago for a few hundred thousand dollars turn a million dollar profit.
Maine’s Cumberland County, home to Portland, has seen the number of single-family listings jump to 61 percent from this time last year, according to Landry.
The median sale price of a single family home is $523,125.
On the upside, as Donald Trump’s tariffs raise fears of a recession, now is the time to buy in the Pine Tree State if you can.
Sellers are concerned about what’s going happen over the next year or two with the market
Homes purchased years ago for a few hundred thousand dollars can turn a million dollar profit
Sellers say their funds are way down and they have this other asset and they want the cash
The real estate market will eventually balance out and lots of new supply becomes available
New listings in Maine jumped from 1,050 properties in February to 3,044 in March
Landry says it’s a safe bet now, as people flee, the real estate market will eventually balance out and lots of new supply is becoming available.
The pandemic-era demand for Maine vacation homes has also subsided so prices have come down.
Along with motivated sellers and less competition, buyers are facing good luck.
‘Buyer demand is tentative but people will buy these properties and have been waiting to buy that great place in Maine,’ Landry says.
‘There’s two edges to this coin. For people who want to get out now, I’ll make double and triple what I bought it for, and someone else buying is making an investment.’
Still, buying is still out of reach for many as mortgage rates soar and tariffs are slowing new home builds.
According to the US Federal Reserve, the median American house price was $420,400 in the third quarter of 2024 – a number many people just can’t afford.
Younger people are also being shut out of the market, with Boomers making up the largest group of home buyers, locking out Millennials and Gen Zers with all-cash offers and bigger down payments.
