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You are currently viewing: Posts made in June, 2007

The Eroding Working Waterfront

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 With a coastline of 5,300 miles, how much is left for commercial fishing endeavors? A study a few years back revealed only 20 miles total left with 2/3rds of this being leased land subject to future sales. 2 years ago the state of Maine population overwhelmingly supported a 2 million dollar bond initiative to provide matching state funds for fisherman who want to purchase the land they use. (Currently there are 6 projects in the works.)  A ¾ of a billion dollar industry directly competing with  the 2nd home property market. Awareness and preservation of the “working waterfront” is critical to keep this wonderful state in balance


Maine Newsletter Volume 2.5 released

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As inventory levels continue to escalate throughout the spring season an alarming reduction in transactions levels was seen for the month of May. Total sold transactions for the 4 counties followed in May 2007 was 672 versus 816 in May 2006, an 18% reduction.    The Days on Market for all 4 counties jumped significantly, but average sold prices rose in 3 out of the 4 counties.    My thoughts: Higher interest rates + market volatility = Uneasy feeling for the short and mid-term market outlook.
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Selling of the Maine Coast

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Reading my morning real estate blog posts sent to me by google, this article here re-reminded me a serious problem we as a state must figure out: access to the working waterfront.  As parties from away continue to move to the state, people like myself sometimes are perhaps to quick to see the dollar signs that can come with helping parties looking for waterfront and coastal maine property find homes in pristine coastal villages that were once 100% year round populations but now are 50% or more summer populations now.  What can we do to balance the influx of parties looking to retire and relocate to Maine while preserving a working waterfront?  Awareness is key.  Real the article in the begining link and spread the word.


Maine real estate legislature update

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Today the house voted 87 to 49 in favor of passing the controversial tax package. Here is a another good article, and it seems the verdict is still very mixed over what the ultimate outcome of this bill will be, beneficial, extremly harmful to Maine real estate or simply a shifting of the burden from one group of taxpayers to another.  The sales tax will remain at 5%, the income tax rate will become a flat 6% across the board, real estate transfer taxes will increase but the homestead exemption credit will be increased as well.


Maine predatory Lending legislature

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Reading about this on a fellow Maine bloggers website I thought it worthwhile posting on my site as well.  Here is the link to the article.  A brief overview is that it stops two major problems: That of “Equity Stripping” and hybrid loans that start of at low rates and then accelerate quickly forcing the howeowner to refinance and thus pay more closing costs.  For the Maine real estate world I believe this to be a great step towards ensuring our industry remains fair and ethical. 


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