For anyone keeping tabs on Maine’s housing market, March brought with it an acute sense of deja vu.

Real estate agents last month sold the exact same number of houses for the exact same median price as they did in March 2025.

For the second year in a row, 851 single-family homes changed hands, with a median sale price of $375,000, according to data released Monday by the Maine Listings.

The flat-line numbers aren’t just a funny coincidence – real estate experts say they’re yet another sign that the market is leveling out.

Here are four takeaways from the March housing report.

1. 2026 is not looking like a banner year

The year is off to a slow start, as far as sales are concerned.

That’s not unusual — the first three months of the year are always the slowest for Maine’s seasonally driven housing market.

However, the first quarter of 2026 seems to be particularly slow. In the three-month span from Jan. 1 through March 31, just 2,334 homes changed hands, a 5.5% decrease from the same period the year before.

Prices also inched up between January and March compared to the previous year, with a 0.5% increase to a median of $384,250.

March’s flat sales are a change of pace from the first two months of the year — both January and February saw roughly 9% declines from the previous year.

February was the first time since 2014 that monthly sales dipped below 700.

2. Inventory remains low

The low sales are directly linked to the state’s low supply of houses, said Judy Oberg, president of the Maine Association of Realtors.

“For many prospective buyers, housing affordability remains a challenge due to the
imbalance of supply and demand of homes for sale,” said Oberg, who is also an associate broker at Oberg Insurance and Real Estate Agency in Bridgton.

While the number of houses on the market remains low compared to historical norms, there were more homes for sale last month (3,480) than there were in March 2025 (2,909), according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. In March 2022, there were 1,550 homes on the market.

The lack of inventory is putting a strain on markets across the country.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, estimated that the U.S. needs 300,000 to 500,000 more homes to bring the market closer to normal conditions “and allow consumers to make purchase decisions without feeling rushed.”

3. Better days ahead

Maine’s housing market is due for more action this spring.

“As families time their transitions around the school year and Maine’s snow-free months, we expect to see more homes coming onto the market in April and May,” Oberg said.

On average, 39 families bought a home each business day in March, “and that number will grow during the second and third quarters of the year,” she said.

And those buyers could be heading into a friendlier market than in years past. At least in some parts of the state.

The Maine Association of Realtors also looks at county-by-county data on a three-month rolling basis to get a more comprehensive view of the market.

In the first quarter of the year, seven of Maine’s 16 counties saw price decreases compared to the same period the year before.

Franklin County’s 14% drop was the sharpest. The median price was $279,000. For counties that did experience price increases, the jump was generally small, with the exception of Piscataquis, which saw a 21% price increase to $247,000.

4. Maine performing better than region, country

While Maine’s market may be off to a slow start, the state fared better last month than the rest of the country.

Nationally, sales fell 0.3%, while prices year-over-year rose just over 1% to a median of $412,400, according to the national association.

Regionally, sales in the Northeast fell about 12% and the median price rose almost 6% to $494,500 compared to March 2025.

“Lower consumer confidence and softer job growth continue to hold back buyers,” Yun said.

Rising mortgage rates may also give some prospective buyers pause. After briefly dipping below 6% for one week in February, they quickly rose again. The average mortgage rate on a 30-year home loan was 6.37% last week, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.