Archive for January, 2008
Bucking National Trend, Maine Home Prices Continue to Rise in 2007
January 31st, 2008 categories: Maine Waterfront Real Estate News
The median sales price for a single-family home in Maine increased slightly in 2007, according to the Maine Real Estate Information System, Inc. Maine Realtors reported a sales decrease of just over 10 percent from 2006, with a total of 12,014 homes changing hands, just slightly below the 10-year average of 12,900 annual home sales.The statewide median sales price in Maine reached $194,000 in 2007, up 0.77 percent. The median sales price indicates that half of the homes were sold for more and half sold for less. During the month of December only, statewise median sales prices decreased 4.62 percent and sales were down 23.27 percent.
Nationally, single-family home sales declined 21.6 percent and sales prices dipped 6.5 percent in the month of December. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) also reported that for all of 2007, sales fell 13 percent and the single-family median sales price decreased 1.8 percent to $217,800.
In the Northeastern United States, sales were 22.4 percent lower than last December. The regional median sales price decreased 8.9 percent to $258,600.
Roger Belanger of Allied Realty in Skowhegan reported that his market area has been quite active lately. “Prices seem stable for us. We have plenty of buyers. They tend to look at more homes before they make a decision. Buyers are now, more than ever, looking at what the home is going to cost to heat.”
Joan Chrane, broker of RE/MAX Riverside in Topsham, said, “The recent interest rate cuts will help buyers make a decision. With lower prices and interest rates, if this isn’t the right time to buy, when will it be?” Chrane keeps clients informed and encourages them “to be flexible with buyers. It is all about strategy in this market.”
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The Simple Pleasures - and Features - of the Classic Maine Lakefront Camp
January 29th, 2008 categories: Maine Waterfront Living
Installment #3
A Sin of Giant Proportions
Occasionally I will enter a Maine camp expecting to find the classic pine interior, only to find that the homeowner has painted the pine interior white. I just know that Sister Mary Norbertine would agree with me that this heinous act is among the greatest of sins. The decision to paint the natural pine interior is irreversible. There is no putting the toothpaste back in the tube.
The homeowner told me she painted the interior because she read an article in Coastal Living that said white walls are just the thing for a vacation home. Well, maybe on the Carolina or Florida coast, but not in the sylvan paradise we call the Western Mountains and Lake Region of Maine.
By now, you probably guessed that when it comes to Maine Lake living, I’m a traditionalist as well as a preservationist. Perfectly good Maine camps are being razed and in their places McMansions are being built with all the suburban amenities and sensibilities we have grown to know and love - wall to wall carpeting, granite countertops, vinyl siding, concrete foundations and Pergo floors. A new age of “improvements” once again spells danger for the Classic Maine camp.
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The Simple Pleasures - and Features - of the Classic Maine Lakefront Camp
January 28th, 2008 categories: Maine Waterfront Living
Installment #2
The Death of the Pine Interior
The era of pine interiors ended in the early 70’s. The Masonite Company developed a new miracle product called sheet paneling. The sheet paneling was only ¼” thick, light, and easy to install. The sheet paneling was not wood at all, but particle board with a plastic film finish. The chocolate brown sheet paneling was far cheaper than ¾” pine and builders, wanting to save a buck, took to the product like ducks to water.
Few camps built after the early 70’s have the classic pine interior. The 70’s, the era that gave us the leisure suit and the Nehru jacket, also gave us orange Formica kitchen counters, naughahyde lazy boy rockers, shag carpeting, sliding glass doors, aluminum siding, and the dreadful, hideous masonite chocolate brown sheet paneling. The appearance of sheet paneling does not improve with age. The only thing sheet paneling does with age is buckle at the seams.
Coming soon - Installment #3: A Sin of Giant Proportions
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The Simple Pleasures - and Features - of the Classic Maine Lakefront Camp
January 27th, 2008 categories: Maine Waterfront Living
Installment#1:
The Pine Interior
I never tire of the feeling I get when I step into a classic Maine camp for the first time. The warmth of the natural pine interior seems to envelope me in a welcoming embrace.
The classic Maine sporting camp features a natural pine interior, made of 3/4″ inch pickwick pine boards. The appearance of a pine interior actually improves with every passing summer. Over time, pine interior develops a patina that attains a kind of glow. Some camp owners, much more energetic than I, actually wipe down the pine walls with cottonseed oil every spring when they open their camps for the season. I consider this gilding the lily. Admirable but unnecessary. Remember it’s a camp, not The Oak Room at the Plaza.
Camps from the 30’s to the early 70’s all feature pine interiors. Pine was so incredibly plentiful that builders back then considered pine boards a cheaper alternative to plastered walls. Long before Maine became known as Vacationland it was called The Pine Tree State. Even today, Maine is still 90% forested.
Stay tuned. Installment # 2: The Death of the Pine Interior
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Tom - MrLakefront
