Maine Real Estate Information blog

Here’s a look at how the percent of personal income generated from the private sector has changed in each of Maine’s counties between 1970 and 2006, the latest data available. The counties are ranked by the highest share of personal income in 2006.

Private sector share of personal income by county, 1970 to 2006

Source: Maine Heritage Policy Center, U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis

A double or single-wide manufactured home is now eligible for RD (Rural Developement) financing only when purchased from one of their approved dealers. The manufactured home requirements are:

Rural Development - Manufactured Homes
Basic Requirements:

 Units must be new
 Placed on a private lot (not in a park)
 Put on a permanent, approved foundation
 Purchased through approved dealer-contractor

Restrictions:

No furniture, including drapes, beds, chairs, sofas, lamps, tables, televisions, etc.
Furniture does not include refrigerators, ovens, ranges, washers and dryers, etc.

Certification and Inspection Requirements:

 Foundation Plan:
 Must be stamped by a Maine Registered Professional Engineer
 Must be approved/stamped by State Office
 Must transfer all loads below the established frost line
 Home must be permanently anchored to foundation

Manufactured Housing Unit:
Unit must have a properly affixed certification label indicating the construction of the unit is in accordance with Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (FMHCSS):

Must meet agency thermal requirements:
Comfort Heating and Cooling Certification
FMHCCS Uo Value Zone 3 for all of Maine

Required Contractor Statements:
Statement by dealer-contractor that any cash payments/rebates will be deducted from price of unit and not paid to applicant

Statement by dealer-contractor that the proposed cost is the full price of the unit and all development activities

If the applicant is purchasing furniture with other funds, a lien will not be filed against the Agency/Lender’s security property
 
Required Inspections for Manufactured Homes:

Stage 1 Inspection:  Prior to or during placement of permanent foundation, but prior to backfill
Stage 2 Inspection:  Final inspection when construction is complete, unit is in place but prior to occupancy
-FMHCSS Sticker
-Comfort Heating & Cooling Certificate for Zone 3

 Approved Dealer/Contractor to provide:

 Lien Release  for all materials or labor furnished
 Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin indicating that the unit is free and clear of all encumbrances
 Builder’s Warranty
 All manufacturer’s warranties to the applicant

Lender Requirements:

 Recertification or Satisfactory Completion Certificate
 Water Test, where applicable
 Septic System Approval, where applicable

For a list of approved manufactured home Maine dealers,  call our office at: 207-784-2525  or email - mike@meservier.com

Maine has received $19.6 million in federal funds to help communities buy and resell homes in foreclosure, according to the Portland Press Herald.

The funds are part of an effort to prevent communities and neighborhoods hardest hit by foreclosures from deteriorating. Which communities will benefit from the program is not known yet, but Michael Baran, acting director of Maine’s Office of Community Development, told the newspaper that Sanford will be a likely beneficiary.

The program is expected to help more than 150 moderate-income Maine families buy homes from the municipalities, which in turn will stabilize real estate values by taking properties off the market.

MREIS PRESS RELEASE:  In a press release to the media today, MREIS reports 928 homes were sold statewide in September 2008 statewide compared to September 2007’s statistic of 1,028 homes, a decrease of dipped 9.73 percent.  Maine’s median sales price for a single-family existing home is $177,750 in September 2008, down 6.45% from one year ago. The median sales price indicates that half of the homes were sold for more and half sold for less.  Nationwide, NAR reports single-family existing home sales were up 3.8% in September compared with the prior year; and the national median sales price of $190,600 represents an 8.6% decline. Regionally, sales in the Northeast are 7.7% lower than a year ago.  The regional median sales price was $246,800 - a decrease of 5.4 percent. 

Here’s a look at the year-over-year change in median sales price (MSP) in Maine’s 16 counties during the three month period between July and September.

MaineHousing yesterday closed its sale of tax-exempt bonds to Maine investors, pulling in $38.7 million to finance its homebuyer program.

The agency put the bonds on the market last week exclusively for Maine investors, with a goal of selling $23 million, according to the Kennebec Journal. The bonds are exempt from state and federal income taxes, and the interest rates ranged from 3.5% on a two-year bond to 6.25% on a 15-year bond. MaineHousing plans to put longer-maturing bonds on the national market in about three or four weeks, according to the paper.

The money will fund the agency’s first-time homebuyers program, which provides low fixed-rate mortgages and other assistance to people who qualify.

Lewiston city councilors yesterday voted to pull out of a joint downtown plan with Lewiston’s neighbor, Auburn, ending a months-long effort to write a shared downtown master plan.

A group of volunteers had been meeting for the past two months to write a joint downtown plan, setting planning policies for Lewiston and Auburn that would complement each other, the Sun Journal reported. The cities have been dancing around the idea of sharing resources and departments for several years. 

But Lewiston councilors said the 18 months the volunteer group needed to write up the agreement was too long, and that city staff, rather than committees, would be better at finding cost savings. One councilor was skeptical of the efforts to join the cities. “Twin Cities really is the best name for us,” Councilor Robert Reed said. “From the outside, we look like twins. We really do, to people from around Maine. But from the inside, we’re very different. There is just not the public will to combine services, so efforts to do it will never move forward.”

In a press release to the media, MREIS reports the median home sales price in Maine dropped 7.69% in August 2008; with a statewide median sales price of $180,000 compared to $195,000 last August. The median sales price indicates that half of the homes were sold for more and half sold for less. There were 955 home sales in August 2008, down 32.98% from August 2007. Nationally, single-family home sales declined by 9.6% in August.  NAR reported a national median sales price drop of 9.7% to $201,900.

Full Report:  MAINE REAL ESTATE MEDIAN HOME PRICE DOWN IN AUGUST SOUTH PORTLAND (September 24, 2008) - The median home sales price in Maine dropped 7.69 percent in August 2008; with a statewide median sales price of $180,000 compared to $195,000 last August. The median sales price indicates that half of the homes were sold for more and half sold for less. According to the Maine Real Estate Information System, Inc., Realtors reported 955 home sales last month, down 32.98 percent from August 2007. Nationally, single-family home sales declined by 9.6 percent in August. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported a national median sales price drop of 9.7 percent to $201,900.
In the regional Northeast, sales decreased 15 percent from one year ago. The regional median sales price dipped 3.8 percent to $271,000. Jim Fitzgerald of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Kennebunk says the real estate rule used to be, “Location, Location, Location. Now it’s Location, Price and Condition. There are plenty of buyers out there, but the days of ‘let’s try a higher price and then we can bring it down later’ is not a strategy worthy of any consideration. Foremost in the seller’s head should be, ‘for what price will it sell, and should we put it on the market for a little less than that?’” Joan Maloney Chrane of RE/MAX Riverside in Topsham says, “Working with a Realtor gives you an advantage–they advise where to market, what incentives to offer and what is proper pricing. Realtors are also a tremendous resource for short sale and foreclosure education.” Below are two charts showing statistics for Maine and its 16 counties. The first chart lists
statistics for the month of August only, statewide. The second chart compares the number of existing, single-family homes sold (units) and volume (MSP) during the months of June, July and August of 2007 and 2008.

Maine Real Estate Statistics –August 2008 Housing Report—9/24/08—

AUGUST ONLY CHART
From August 1-31, 2007 and August 1-31, 2008
STATEWIDE:  # Units Sold 2007 (1425)  # Units Sold 2008 (955)  % Change (-32.98%)  MSP 2007 ($195,000)  MSP 2008($180,000)  % Change(-7.69%)

ROLLING QUARTER CHART
From June 1, 2007 – August 31, 2007 and June 1, 2008 – August 31, 2008
STATEWIDE: 3988 2983 -25.20% $197,714 $186,000 -5.92%
County:
Androscoggin 276 225 -18.48% $163,000 $151,000 -7.36%
Aroostook 113 96 -15.04% $86,000 $96,000 11.63%
Cumberland 991 766 -22.70% $259,000 $242,250 -6.47%
Franklin 94 64 -31.91% $141,000 $134,200 -4.82%
Hancock 156 114 -26.92% $193,750 $211,936 9.39%
Kennebec 362 288 -20.44% $152,000 $139,950 -7.93%
Knox 178 108 -39.33% $208,500 $200,000 -4.08%
Lincoln 142 78 -45.07% $217,500 $184,250 -15.29%
Oxford 169 107 -36.69% $156,000 $150,000 -3.85%
Penobscot 478 335 -29.92% $146,600 $141,000 -3.82%
Piscataquis 72 48 -33.33% $122,500 $94,000 -23.27%
Sagadahoc 120 85 -29.17% $212,250 $194,500 -8.36%
Somerset 95 100 5.26% $123,000 $123,250 0.20%
Waldo 105 68 -35.24% $163,000 $166,500 2.15%
Washington 12 17 41.67% $120,000 $135,000 12.50%
York 625 484 -22.56% $240,000 $225,000 -6.25%

Source: Maine Real Estate Information System, Inc. Note: MREIS, a subsidiary of the Maine Association of REALTORS, is a statewide Multiple Listing Service with over 5,100 licensees inputting active and sold property listing data. Statistics reflect properties reported as sold in the System within the time periods indicated.

A Portland-based real estate firm has secured a government contract to manage a federal housing assistance program for Navy personnel leaving the Brunswick Naval Air Station.

Fishman Realty Group will manage the Army Corps of Engineers’ Homeowners’ Assistance Program in Brunswick, which allows departing Navy personnel struggling to sell their homes to sell them to the federal government, according to The Times Record in Brunswick. Fishman will be responsible for listing the properties in the program and getting them sold. Fishman officials told the paper that the program will help stabilize the housing market in the Brunswick area when the base closes in 2011, with most of the personnel scheduled to leave in 2010.

So far, five homes in the area already have been sold to the federal government through the assistance program, which was launched here last fall, according to the paper.

Lewiston and Auburn Maine made great strides in the Milken Institute’s annual ranking of the smaller metro cities, while Portland remained relatively steady in the their list of the 200 largest cities in the country.

In the Santa Monica, Calif.-based think tank’s 2008 Best Performing Cities’ Index , released yesterday, both Bangor and Lewiston-Auburn made significant jumps in the ranking of 124 smaller metro areas. The Bangor metro area moved from 149 last year to 82, and the Lewiston-Auburn metro area moved from 127 last year to 84 this year. The rankings are based on wages and salaries growth, job growth and gross domestic product growth in the technology industry.

In the ranking of the 200 largest cities, Portland dropped one place to 158. The city scored highest in its concentration of the technology industry, with a ranking of 72. Portland also ranked 101 in both wages and salaries growth from 2001-2006 and job growth from March 2007 to March 2008, according to the report.

To search for Maine real estate in the twin cities of Androscoggin County, visit our websites for homes for sale in the Auburn and Lewiston area. They are: http://www.HomesForSaleLewistonMaine.com and http://www.HomesForSaleAuburnMaine.com

Well it’s done and we rolled it out today! It’s a new buyer’s guide to inform Maine home buyers. We had this wonderful idea of helping Maine real estate buyers feel more comfortable and knowledgeable about the home buying process through the use of a user friendly website at http://www.HowToBuyAHomeInMaine.com

Here you won’t be in the least bit intimidated by the Maine real estate home buying process with great content like an easy to understand flow chart, link bookmarks and a glossary with definitions of real estate terms. We discuss key points needed to make informed decisions on your journey into home ownership. Whether you’re a first time home owner or an investor, you’ll see great value in these free tools, documents and information. We are here for you and want to be your REALTORS for life!

So if you are currently renting, moving to Maine or investing in Maine property, visit http://www.HowToBuyAHomeInMaine.com and you’ll soon see why the professional REALTORS at Meservier & Associates of Keller Williams Realty Mid Maine are your trusted resource to home ownership.

This Maine real estate web site is brought to you by Meservier & Associates of Keller Williams Realty Mid Maine - 34 Center Street Auburn, Maine 04210 - Office# 207-784-2525 - 43 years of combined service! Visit us online at these great sites: www.meservier.com - www.mainemls.info - www.mainerealestateexperts.com - www.MaineWaterfrontRental.com 

The Maine Department of Labor recently released a report on Maine’s job market through 2016. Here’s a list of the top five occupations with the fastest projected rate of growth between 2006 and 2016, and a list of the top five occupations with the fastest projected rate of job loss during the same time period.

Top five jobs with the fastest projected rate of growth between 2006 and 2016

Top five jobs with the fastest projected rate of job loss between 2006 and 2016

Source: “Maine Employment Outlook to 2016” from the Maine Department of Labor

Maine has a higher percentage of foreign-owned agricultural land than any other state in the country, as well as 16% of all foreign-held agricultural land in the country, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The majority of the foreign-held agricultural land in Maine consists of forest and timberland totaling 3,270,362 acres.

Here’s a list of the 10 states with the highest proportion of foreign-held agricultural land to privately-held agricultural land as of February 28, 2007.

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency

In a press release to the media today, MREIS reports sales of single-family existing homes in Maine slowed by 17.24% last month — 1,032 in July 2008, down from 1,247 homes sold in July of 2007. The statewide median sales price dipped 3.52% to $192,000 in July. The median sales price indicates that half of the homes were sold for more and half sold for less.  Real estate sales across the country were down 12.4%.  Statistics released by NAR indicate a national median sales price of $210,900 - a decrease of 7.7% over the past 12 months.  NAR reported a regional sales decrease of 11.8% for the Northeast.  The regional median sales price was down 4.9% to $278,700.  The complete press release is posted at mainerealtors.com

One in every 2,710 Maine single-family homes was in at least one stage of foreclosure in July, an almost two-fold increase from the same month last year.

During July, there were 255 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — reported in Maine, a 104% increase from July 2007, according to RealtyTrac, a California company that tracks foreclosures. July’s foreclosure filings, however, represent a 7.6% decrease from June.

Nationally, there were foreclosure filings reported on 272,171 U.S. properties during July, an 8% increase from the previous month and a 55% increase from July 2007. The report also shows one in every 464 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the month.

Source - Mainebiz.biz

Search over 30,000 Maine properties for sale (as of today’s date) at www.meservier.com

www.MaineMLS.info

www.MaineRealEstateExperts.com.

We are your Maine real estate connection!

 Here’s a summary included in REALTOR Magazine Online (8/7/08) - “The housing-stimulus package that became law last week took a bite out of the home-sale exclusions for second-home owners.  Under both the previous and the current law, most homeowners can sell their primary residence and exclude as much as $250,000 of the gain if they’re single or $500,000 if they are married and file jointly.  To qualify for the full exclusion, owners typically must have owned the home and used it as their primary residence for at least two of the five years prior to the sale. In the new law, which takes effect Jan. 1 and affects property acquired after 2008, owners can’t exclude the gain from the sale of the home allocated to periods of  ‘nonqualified use.’ That refers to any period (after the end of 2008) when the property isn’t used by the owner, spouse or former spouse as a principal residence. For example, a married couple buys a home Jan. 1, 2009, for $600,000 to hold as an investment. On Jan. 1, 2012, three years later, they begin using it as their principal residence. They live there for two years and sell the property on Jan. 1, 2014, for $1.1 million for a profit of $500,000. Under the old law, they would have been able to exclude the entire $500,000 gain from their taxable income. But under the new law, they could exclude only two-fifths of the gain, or $200,000, since the other three-fifths would be considered attributable to the three years the home wasn’t their principal residence. Source: The Wall Street Journal, Tom Herman (08/06/2008)”