Maine’s housing market continued on its recent roller-coaster ride, with the volume of home sales in June declining from a year earlier while prices increased.

Sales of existing single-family homes in Maine fell by 7.2 percent in June from a year earlier, but the median sale price of homes increased by 5.1 percent to $239,085, according to a report issued Tuesday by Maine Listings. The median indicates that half of homes sold for more money and half sold for less.

The state’s housing market rebounded in April following months of relative decline in sales volume and price growth. The May results further strengthened that upward trend.

“After a slow start to 2019, the number of single-family real estate sales bounced upward in April and May, but declined again in June,” Peter Harrington, president of the Maine Association of Realtors and broker/partner with Malone Commercial Brokers in Portland, said in the report. “For the first six months of 2019, the number of single-family sales transactions is 2 percent below the comparable time period for 2018. It’s also interesting to note that the for-sale inventory is nearly 6 percent below last year’s levels.”

For the three-month period ending June 30, statewide home sales were up 0.3 percent from the same period a year earlier, while the median sale price increased by about 4.4 percent to $228,000.

The biggest year-over-year sales increase for the three-month period was 26.4 percent in Franklin County, while the biggest sales decrease was 23.9 percent in Sagadahoc County, according to the Maine Listings report.

The biggest median home price increase for the three-month period occurred in Piscataquis County, where it jumped by 21.2 percent from a year earlier to $133,277. The biggest price decrease was in Waldo County, where it fell by 5.9 percent to $175,000.

In Cumberland County, home sales volume for the three-month period decreased by 4.2 percent from a year earlier, while the median sale price increased by 8 percent to $337,000, the report said.

Nationally, sales of existing single-family homes dipped by 1.7 percent in June from a year earlier, while the median sale price increased by 4.5 percent to $288,900, according to the National Association of Realtors. In the Northeast, home sales declined by 4.2 percent in June from a year earlier while the median sale price was up 4.8 percent, it said.

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