Real Estate News

Thank you for all your support during 2008! Even though the market has been challenging (to say the least), Laura and I have managed to preserve and continue to look for new ways to provide our client with superior service and a technological advantage.

Nationally, the news regarding home sales continues to be bad. Sales of existing homes across the country plunged to an annual rate of 4.49 million in November, down 8.6% from October and worse than the 4.9 million rate predicted by some economists.

On Monday the Portland City Council held a workshop to discuss the future development of the Maine State Pier. The result was an informal decision to re-open negotiations with Portsmouth-based Ocean Properties.

Competition among national real estate sites is very competitive, to say the least. Keeping track of the top 10 visited each month is an obsession, since it has such a dirct bearing on advertising revenue. According to Hitwise, a national tracking service, the sites with the highest market shares in the month of November 2008 were:

PowerPay LLC, a local Maine business that currently leases space in downtown Portland, has recently purchased the former Portland Public Market building, as well as the vacant lot at 409 Cumberland Avenue. The lot, purchased at auction for $340,000, brings to an end the attempt to build a 12-story condominium at the location known as Waterview. Contractor liens finally forced the court-ordered sale.