MAINE, USA — According to Maine Biz, the vast majority of out-of-state homebuyers move to Maine from Massachusetts. Industry experts say many of them aren't looking to live here full time, but instead looking for second homes.
"It allowed them to still be able to vacation with their family in a driving distance, especially during the pandemic where you had travel bans and quarantine restrictions on top of that," Kelly Cohen of Cohen Title said.
She added that she's seen a big increase in people moving from Massachusetts to Maine and New Hampshire and with multiple offers and very little inventory, things can get stressful.
"It's the most emotionally-charged market I've ever seen, and by the way, we're in a pandemic," she said.
Dozens of potential buyers could compete for the same house and often, the winners don't actually see the house in person until closing day.
"We got here and saw the house for the first time after we had already bought it," Crystal Jensen said.
Jensen and her husband bought a home in Norridgewock last August.
According to Maine Biz, the Jensen's are among 11 families to move to Maine from Oklahoma during the pandemic. Jensen said she did so to be closer to her parents.
"Mom and dad live right here in Norridgewock and their health has been declining so we decided to make the move up here to help them out," she said.
According to the Maine Association of Realtors, Maine saw more home sales and the highest median price since it started keeping records back in 1998.
As for people who moved here, some found a definite change of pace from what they might be used to.
"It was really nice because the kids got to actually experience sledding and stuff like that so it's been really nice so far," Jenson said.
Cohen added that the rental market is also tight so many of the people who are buying camps are doing so for a vacation, but also hope to rent out their property.