156 Essex Street: a fresh-launch market report

01 · Property snapshot

156 Essex Street

Facts below come from the most recent Maine Listings / Flexmls record (MLS 1683710), pulled on November 13, 2026. Assessed value is not in that export and is marked to be confirmed. The interior has not been re-inspected for this report.

Listing photo from the most recent Maine Listings / MLS record, used here for this private owner report.

Item	Detail	Note
Address	156 Essex Street, Bangor, ME 04401	Source: Maine Listings export
MLS number / status	1683710 · Cancelled on November 6, 2026	Source: Maine Listings export
Property type	Residential	Source: Maine Listings export
Style / year built	Cape Cod / Modern / Contemporary, built 1888	Source: Maine Listings export
Bedrooms	4	Source: Maine Listings export
Bathrooms	3 full baths	Source: Maine Listings export
Rooms	6	Source: Maine Listings export
Finished living area	1,395 sq ft · $250.18 per sq ft at last list	Source: Maine Listings export
Lot	0.1 acres	Source: Maine Listings export
Parking	No garage	Source: Maine Listings export
Heat / cooling	Hot Water, Radiator, Gas Natural fuel · Cooling: None	Source: Maine Listings export
Water / sewer	Public / Public Sewer	Source: Maine Listings export
Taxes	$2,496 (2025 tax year) · Tax ID BANG-000048-000000-000164	Source: Maine Listings export
Assessed value	To be confirmed	Not included in this MLS export
Zoning	MF&S	Source: Maine Listings export

The public MLS remarks on the prior listing were limited to a placeholder. A fuller description of the home's updates, layout and setting will be part of the next launch.

02 · Listing history

How the most recent listing ran

The most recent Maine Listings record (MLS 1683710) shows this property was listed on October 8, 2026 at $349,000. The list price remained $349,000 for the life of the listing in this export — there is no recorded price change. The listing was cancelled (terminated) on November 6, 2026. The status changed to Cancelled on November 6, 2026. MLS days on market are recorded as 29.

Item	Detail
List date	October 8, 2026
Original list price	$349,000
Last list price	$349,000
Price change	No change from the original list price
MLS days on market	29
Status	Cancelled on November 6, 2026
Cancelled / terminated	November 6, 2026

A factual record, not a critique. This section restates the public MLS timeline. It is not a comment on the prior agent or brokerage. Plenty of well-presented homes reach expiration when price, timing or buyer traffic do not line up. The point is to use that record to plan a cleaner second launch.

03 · The Bangor market

Current conditions in Bangor

Figures below are from published sources, each cited with its date. No unsourced estimates are included. Months of supply is to be confirmed.

$279,705Town median saleBangor, the three months ending October 2026 · -3.5% year over year

48Typical days on marketVersus 59 days a year earlier

157Active listingsBangor, Realtor.com, October 2026 · +8.14% year over year

$285,000County median salePenobscot County, August 1–October 31, 2026 · -1.38% year over year

Redfin's Bangor housing-market page, as of October 2026, puts the median sale price at $279,705 over the three months ending October 2026, -3.5% from the same period a year earlier. Homes typically went under contract in 48 days, compared with 59 days a year ago. Eighty-eight homes sold in Bangor in October 2026, down from 99 in October 2025 (-11.0%). The typical sale closed at 96.6% of list price (minus 1.6 points year over year), 17.5% of sales finished above list, and 48.8% of listings recorded a price reduction (+7.1 points year over year). Median sale price per square foot was $181, +0.6% year over year.

The Maine Association of REALTORS October 2026 Housing Report (released November 12, 2026, sourced from Maine Listings) shows Penobscot County's median sale price at $285,000 for August 1–October 31, 2026, -1.38% from $289,000 a year earlier, on 505 sales (+3.06%). Statewide, October sales were 1,547 (-6.58%) and the median sale price was $402,500 (-5.63%). The report notes that buyers have more homes to choose from than a year ago and more room to negotiate.

Realtor.com's Bangor market page (key indicators as of October 2026) shows 157 active listings (+8.14% year over year), a median listing price of $302,500 (+0.86% year over year), and a median of 42 days on market. A current months-of-supply figure for Bangor was not published in the sources reviewed for this report and is marked to be confirmed.

04 · Recent comparable sales

Recent comparable sales

Recent closed sales used for this report. The table shows the fields agents normally share in a CMA: address, close date, close price, beds/baths, living area, year built and days on market. Outliers, if any, are labeled and left out of the pricing math.

Comparable close prices$288,500 – $310,0006 sales · Median close $303,250 · median $193.67/sq ft

Suggested unadjusted range$270,000 – $310,000From close prices and $/sq ft · unadjusted

Implied from $/sq ft$217,747 – $297,932Each sale's close price per sq ft times 1,395 sq ft · median implied $270,164

These figures are unadjusted. The suggested range comes from the comps' close prices and from each sale's price per square foot applied to this home's living area. It is a starting point for pricing, not an appraisal, and it needs an in-person look to firm up condition, location and feature differences. The last list price of $349,000 sits above this unadjusted range.

Address	Close date	Close price	Beds / baths	Sq ft	Year built	DOM
62 Graham Avenue S closest	Oct 30, 2026	$299,000	4 / 1	1,400	1958	46
164 7th Street closest	Jul 31, 2026	$297,500	5 / 1.5	1,450	1924	10
26 Webster Avenue N	Aug 26, 2026	$309,000	4 / 1.5	1,560	1920	44
172 5th Street	May 28, 2026	$310,000	5 / 2	1,638	2006	110
8 William Street	Jul 8, 2026	$288,500	4 / 1.5	1,736	1930	27
80 Pearl Street	Sep 17, 2026	$307,500	4 / 2.5	1,970	1900	59

Close price of each comparable sale

Closest matches are shown in navy. Outliers, if any, are hatched and are not used in the suggested range.

8 William Street

$288,500

164 7th Street closest

$297,500

62 Graham Avenue S closest

$299,000

80 Pearl Street

$307,500

26 Webster Avenue N

$309,000

172 5th Street

$310,000

05 · The next launch

Why it didn’t sell, and what I’d do differently

The home was listed at $349,000 on October 8, 2026 and cancelled on November 6, after 29 MLS days, with no recorded price change. At $250.18 per square foot, the ask was above Bangor’s recent median of $181 per square foot. Every house is different — this one offers three full baths and accessibility features in a compact 1,395 square feet — but that gap is exactly why the comps need to do the talking. The public MLS remarks on the prior listing were also limited to a placeholder, so many buyers never got a real written tour of the property.

Tell the house’s story, and let the comps set the price

I would write a complete public description, photograph the baths, first-floor living and outbuildings carefully, and set the list price from finalized comparable sales. Accessibility features, three full baths and the in-town Essex Street location are selling points only if they are explained and priced in line with what similar homes have closed for.

Professional photos and video

The next listing should open with a full still-photo set and a walk-through video, taken when the home is staged and the exterior is at its best. Buyers decide in the first few images whether to tour. I budget for that media up front, not as an afterthought.

Targeted social and Facebook ads

I put paid ads behind the listing — Facebook and Instagram, aimed at buyers and investors already watching the town and nearby communities — rather than relying only on MLS syndication. The ad creative links back to a dedicated property page, so we can see which message is actually getting clicks.

A custom property website and this report

You already have a private report like this one. For the public launch I build a matching property website and share a clean, owner-ready market summary with serious buyers and their agents. It keeps the story, the photos and the numbers in one place.

Broker-network exposure

Beyond Maine Listings, I shop the property through the eXp network and local agent channels — broker opens, targeted emails, and direct outreach to agents who have been writing offers in this price range. The goal is more qualified traffic in the first two weeks, when a listing gets its best look.

A pricing strategy based on comps

The list price will be set from the comparable sales in this report — their close prices and their price per square foot — not from the prior ask alone. That range is unadjusted and will be firmed up after an in-person look. If showings or offers are light after the first two to three weeks, we revisit price against the same evidence, not against guesswork.

06 · Sources

Market sources

Subject facts and listing history come from the Maine Listings / Flexmls export dated November 13, 2026. Market statistics come from the sources below. Comparable sales will be cited to Maine Listings once they are added.

November 12, 2026 · mainerealtors.comMaine Housing Report, October 2026 (Maine Listings county and statewide statistics)Open source ↗Redfin · as of October 2026Bangor, ME housing marketOpen source ↗Redfin · as of October 2026Orono, ME housing marketOpen source ↗Realtor.com · October 2026Bangor market indicators (listing price, inventory, days on market)Open source ↗Realtor.com · October 2026Penobscot County market page (includes Orono listing count)Open source ↗

Not an appraisal. This is a broker marketing report prepared for the owner, not an appraisal, and it should not be used for lending. It relies on MLS and publicly published market data believed to be reliable but not guaranteed. The interior, systems and current condition have not been inspected for this report. Any figure that could not be sourced is omitted or marked “to be confirmed.” Values and recommended pricing may change when comparable sales are finalized and after a walk-through.

156 Essex Street
Bangor, ME 04401