Number of First Time Home Buyers in Maine Reaches Record Low

My first house in Southern Maine is a parking space now.

My wife and I bought our very first house in Westbrook. It was a teeny, tiny house right in the downtown area. We loved it there, despite being in kind of busy location. But we put everything we had into it, at a time when we had almost nothing. We only moved so that we could ultimately be closer to family.

Fast forward to about 5 years after we sold it, and the owners sold it to a brewery behind them, and that brewery knocked the house to the ground so that they could make a parking space for a food truck at their tasting room. All the heart and soul I put into that place is now covered in spilled IPA and taco sauce. Honestly, it's probably the most Southern Maine gentrification story of all time.

All our friends were buying houses in the mid-2000's.

The year we bought our place, all our friends were too. It was like a mini housing boom taking place right when the real estate bubble burst around 2007. Interest rates were low, sale prices were in the toilet. And folks like us were reaping the benefits wherever we could. If my first house were still around, it'd probably sell for three times what I paid.

But right now, now one is buying houses for the first time, according to WGME. Currently, Maine is at an all-time low for first time home buyers. It's hardly shocking, considering that the inventory is fairly low, interest rates have skyrocketed, and the average price of a "regular" home is essentially unattainable for most people.

The average age is going up too.

A few years ago, the average first time buyer was trending significantly younger. Because all aspects have gotten so high, younger people don't have the income, or at the very least the ability to save a down payment that big. Even me... I'm pretty sure I couldn't afford the house I live in now, if I had to buy it again. A statement you hear a lot these days...

Sadly, this trend looks like it's sticking around a while. With plenty of people from out-of-state willing to spend well above average money on a house, it's hard to compete. On the other hand, we need new Mainers. It'll be interesting to see how all these things shake out over the next few years, to say the least.