Maine’s home sales have been hard to predict this year. Prices have been rising and falling, setting and breaking new records, and making it challenging for prospective buyers or sellers to know the right time to make a move.

November proved no less volatile, according to data released from the Maine Association of Realtors on Friday.

Here are four takeaways from the most recent home sales report.

PRICES ARE DOWN … FOR NOW

The median home sale price was $399,000 in November — the first time since March that the figure was below $400,000.

That represents a roughly 3.6% increase from November 2024 but a 6% drop from October’s record-high of $426,000. The median is the price at which half of all homes sold for more and half sold for less.

Nationally, year-over-year prices rose just over 1% in November to a median of $414,300, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Prices in the Northeast also inched up about 1% to $480,800.

THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN SLOWED SALES

Jeff Harris, president of the Maine Association of Realtors, said the stall is at least partly due to the federal government shutdown.

“During the 43-day shutdown of October and November, mortgage loans through the Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Administration, and Rural Development were delayed,” said Harris, who is also a broker affiliated with Harris Real Estate in Farmington.

Mortgage loans needing flood insurance were also stalled.

“In addition to the disruption for some mortgage lending approvals, consumer uncertainty during this unsettled time caused a pause in regular real estate activity,” he said.

EXPERTS PREDICT A LESS TUMULTUOUS 2026

March, the last time the statewide median was below $400,000 ($376,260), was also the first time in five years that the median marked a year-over-year price decrease — even if by a slim margin of less than 1%.

Just a few months later, the state set a new record-high price, only to break it again in October (after a four-month slide).

But Harris said 2026 is expected to be more stable.

“We expect a steady rebound for Maine’s residential real estate market into 2026,” he said, adding that for-sale inventory is 9% higher than it was last November, and interest in the market remains high.

PRICES AND SALES WERE UP AND DOWN ACROSS THE STATE

The Maine Association of Realtors also looks at three months of data in county-by-county comparisons to get a larger sample size of sale transactions.

From Sept. 1 through Nov. 30, the median sale price in Maine was $413,000, a roughly 4% increase from the same span the year before, while the number of sales increased just over 2%.

But both the prices and number of sales differed widely between counties.

Prices fell in five counties and remained flat in Somerset County. Lincoln County saw the sharpest price drop, with a 10% decrease from $510,000 to $458,500.

Two of Maine’s most rural counties saw the steepest price increases, with homes in Piscataquis County selling for about $206,000 or 22% more than during the same three-month span the previous year. In Washington County, the median sale price was $255,000, an almost 19% jump from last year.

Five years ago, there were five counties with a median sale price under $200,000 and eight counties with a price under $300,000. This year, Aroostook County, with a median sale price of $170,000, was the only county with a median sale price below $200,000 and only four counties had a median below $300,000.

Cumberland County remained the most expensive county in the state, with a $585,000 median.

Eight counties recorded sales decreases. The steepest was in Franklin County, which saw a 14% drop in sales. Piscataquis County, meanwhile, had the largest sales increase, with an almost 24% jump.