The Mid-Coast Maine Real Estate Market

The Mid-Coast Maine coastal market has seen tremendous growth over the last 25 years as increasing numbers of buyers relocate from other areas of the United States (and the world) to the Maine coast, as both year-round and seasonal residents. They are attracted to the area for the quality of life, which has remained high and appealing while other regions have experienced overdevelopment and the accompanying drawabacks. While undergoing some development, the Maine coast has still retained its scenic beauty, traditional character, and authentic charm-all while building technological infrastructure and expanding its offerings of cultural, educational, and recreational opportunities. Contrasted with other markets in the country, real estate values here are still extremely reasonable.

Despite the current economic slowdown, we are highly optimistic about the long-term picture for the upper end of the Maine real estate market, which historically has always rebounded and appreciated following periods of economic recession in which values have leveled. The number of high-end sales in 2008 and 2009 is down over previous years, but we have not seen evidence of a substantial decline in values at the top of the market. Whether values do go down remains to be seen, but-based on the sales that are occurring-we do not anticipate a sharp decline for the best properties. We fully expect that the Maine coastal markets will recover from this extended downturn with strength and vigor.