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Volume 1.10 - The Maine Newsletter - John Herrigel

 

Mission

“To Educate and Elaborate on this Great State”

Table of Contents

1. Housing Statistics
2. Commentary: Falling Inventories
3. Case Study: The Cost of Land
4. “From Away”
5. Featured…..

 

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Housing Statistics:
Sold Properties by County - Oct 2006 (Oct 2005):

  # Sold Avg. Price Avg. DOM
York 249(301) 290K(300K) 97(83)
Cumberland 357(383) 313K (300K) 85 (69)
Sagadahoc 31 (41) 216K(190K) 107 (71)
Lincoln 45 (48) 294K(338K) 175 (135)

Total Housing Inventories and Net Change by County:

  11/29/06 10/24/06 Net Change
York 2830 3015 -185
Cumberland 2801 3179 -378
Sagadahoc 341 370 -29
Lincoln 666 744 -78

Commentary: Falling Inventories

October saw for the second month in a row a significant decrease in inventories. Prices appear to be stabilizing and DOM continue to remain higher than a year prior. More realistic initial pricing on new listings, continued reductions in over-priced inventory and less speculative investing are some of the factors contributing to the normalizing conditions. Expect to see a slower winter, a continued dwindling of overall inventories and small to moderate price fluxuation’s in all 4 counties for the foreseeable future.

Case Study: The cost of land

Total land available by county:

  # Lots Available Avg. Price/Lot Avg Price/Acre
York 302 146K 283K
Cumberland 454 153K 175K
Sagadahoc 76 112K 122K
Lincoln 120 131K 198K

Conclusions: The average cost of a build able lot does not vary significantly as one ventures North. All counties contain waterfront property and thus there is a large discrepancy in pricing between the haves and the have nots with regard to water frontage. In all 4 counties many non-shoreland residential build able lots can be found in the 40K-60K price range while an equally large concentration of waterfront lots can be found with entry level pricing at 150K and on up through 1 million for select locations.

**Land examined included the current inventory of residential/rural lots under 2 acres in size

“From Away” - The Maine State Housing Program
If you are looking to buy a home for the first time in Maine take a trip to www.mainehousing.org website for the Maine State Housing Authority (MSHA). With programs geared towards helping eligible parties obtain loans at interest rates well below current conventional market rates while only putting only 3% down MSHA can be a great way to buy your first home. Other progams include a program that allows one to receive $4000 in closing cost credits for simply attending a 2 weekend course. MSHA also offers assistance for renters as well as a newer Home Energy Program (HELP) that allows current home owners the ability to make their homes more energy efficient.

Featured….

Quotable Quotes :

“Sure, we sell Bean Boots and backpacks and fleece jackets, but they enable people to enjoy the outdoors and that adds value to their lives.” Leon Gorman, Past CEO and grandson of Leon L BEAN

Maine Company: LL Bean – Freeport, Maine
 100% satisfaction guarantee for life. A shining beacon in Maine business, founded in 1912 in a small one room retail store, LL Bean surpassed 1.5 billion in sales last year with over half of entire sales coming during this holiday season. Order confidently all the way until the 22 nd this year. Great value at a reasonable price.
Visit: www.llbean.com

Site to Visit:www.MaineOil.com

Having been lucky thus far with unseasonably warm temps take a look at this site to compare suppliers current market oil prices before you purchase your next delivery.

Restaurant: The Kennebec Tavern – Bath, ME

Looking for casual dining on the water, the Kennebec Tavern in Bath Maine offers a great spread, reasonable prices and all a stones throw away from Front Street, a great place to shop, walk around and enjoy all the great things Bath has to offer. Come the 2 nd Thursday of the month and swing by Now Your Cooking just up the street for wine tasting and spectacular kitchen accessories or shop their online store.

Visit: http://www.kennebectavern.com/

All information contained herein is deemed accurate when facts are stated. All opinions are that of the author. We apologize for any inaccuracies, offenses or misrepresentations

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Thanks for reading.
Next Issue: Late December
www.MyMaineProperty.com

**All housing data has been derived from the Maine IDX MREIS System