The Maine housing market is again strained, experts say, because inventory is low. But the market shows signs of bouncing back with inventory now increasing, which could improve the summer sales season.

Demand has remained high, and prices continue to increase statewide, with the June median sales price at $385,000, a 4% increase from May 2023 and an increase of more than 6% compared to June 2022, according to data released Thursday by the Maine Association of Realtors.

The median selling price in Cumberland County reached a historic high in June at $565,000, up 4.1% from May and up 9.6% over the same period in 2022.

This is the highest median sales price in the last three years by more than $15,000. The median sales price is the point where half the units sold are above that price and half are below it.

Only five counties across the state saw no change or a slight decrease in median sales price in June compared to last year: Aroostook, Hancock, Piscataquis, Sagadahoc and Waldo.

With prices still rising and continued low inventory, sales remained low in June, decreasing 19.24% statewide compared to June 2022. This sales dip follows a continuing trend in the Maine housing market this spring, with a year-over-year decrease of more than 20% in May and over 30% in April.

Nationally, the housing market saw an 18.9% decrease in June sales over the year before, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Houses on average across the state are staying on the market for six days. In counties like Knox and Waldo with lower sales rates, houses are averaging closer to 10 days on the market. But in Cumberland and York counties, the average is closer to five days.

As the top three counties for sales in Maine, Cumberland, York and Penobscot counties all saw an increase in inventory from May to June – from 255 single-family homes for sale to 328 in Cumberland, 263 to 323 in York and 191 to 275 in Penobscot.

Carmen McPhail, president of the Maine Association of Realtors, sees the signs of increasing inventory and increasing sales, as signs the market may be balancing out a bit more the rest of the summer.