Photograph Courtesy Keller Williams Realty/Amy Cartmell (DEE1004Real-Estate10 image)
Photograph Courtesy LandVest, Inc./Terry Sortwell (DEE1004Real-Estate20 image)


Fifty-six years ago, the very first issue of Down East featured five properties for sale, including a quarter-acre Colonial in Camden for what must have seemed the exorbitant sum of $10,500. Ten years later the Magazine of Maine featured thirty-seven available homes, and just last August we had twenty-five pages of house ads. Mainers and readers from away have found a thirst, whether based in real need or voyeuristic thrill, for learning what homes from Kittery to Calais and Fort Kent are worth. Such fancy now extends far beyond our pages — publications ranging from the New York Times to Seattle Metropolitan now regularly include columns explaining “What You Get For . . . Such-and-Such.”

These days, of course, as the Great Recession reels on, some homeowners might prefer not to know the current valuation of their homes. But our survey of Maine properties sold over the past year proves that they might be missing out on the best opportunity since, well, you could buy a magazine for less than five bucks. Although the median sales price of single-family homes in Maine declined nearly 9 percent last year to $164,000, the number of homes sold jumped by 10 percent. Maine beat the national statistics on both counts — total sales increased just 5 percent nationwide, and median sales price dropped 12 percent.

“There were plenty of sellers who were able to sell their homes last year — I sold a home and bought a new one myself — and while maybe they weren’t selling it for what they thought they could in 2006, they were able to get into another quality home,” says Marc Chadbourne, president of the Maine Association of Realtors. “It’s a yin and yang thing, because we didn’t get those appreciation levels that San Francisco or Florida got, but they had a lot farther to fall when the markets did decline.”

In a state as enormous as Maine, of course, where you decide to buy will have a huge impact on how much your budget will get you. In Piscataquis County, for instance, where the median sales price dropped 21 percent last year, you might be able to afford a couple of hundred acres and a stunning farmhouse. Dream of moving to coastal Knox County, though, where prices dropped just 3 percent, and that same money will see you in a much more modest home. And if your needs have you searching on the water someplace farther south, like York, you could have to shell out more than eight hundred dollars per square foot — nearly ten times what you might pay in Aroostook County.

As the economy shows signs of rebounding the demographics of Maine buyers has shifted due in part to federal stimulus funds. “The retired population has been the largest-growing group of buyers in Maine until recently, when the tax incentives for the first-time buyer came into play,” Chadbourne says. “ I assume that will continue, because Maine offers a quality of life and an affordability compared to other markets.”
Indeed, the Maine way of life seems to be the most important market condition for both buyers and sellers.

“I had a client tell me recently, ‘You know, we’ve always lived in kind of a down economy in Maine, so this is nothing new,’ ” Chadbourne says. “We’re a hardy bunch, and we do what we need to do to maintain the lifestyle that we’re used to. We like living here.”

And deal or no deal, boom or bust, isn’t that the name of the game when it comes to buying or selling real estate in Maine? Review our sampling of Maine homes that sold in 2009 and decide for yourself.

What Sold For . . . $250,000

Photo courtesy Keller Williams Realty/Wendy Whitacre


Where: Freeport

Lot: 1.05 acres

Sold Price: $230,000

Original Price: $257,000

Square Footage: 1,885

Price Per Square Foot: $122

Mill Rate: 12.75

Taxes: $3,065 (2009)

Date Originally Listed: July 2009

Locals are content to let people think L.L. Bean is all there is to Freeport, but a clever house-hunter can still find quiet neighborhood homes like this energy-efficient one on the way to Pownal. The outlet stores downtown do more than provide bargains for the 8,300 residents here — businesses provide 35 percent of all property taxes, enough to pay for all municipal expenses except the schools.

Photo courtesy Lakepoint Real Estate/Dawn Klein

Where: Belgrade

Lot: 1 acre

Sold Price: $250,000

Original Price: $269,900

Square Footage: 720

Price Per Square Foot: $347

Mill Rate: 4.10

Taxes: $2,933 (2009)

Date Originally Listed: August 2009

Dreams of retreating to the setting of On Golden Pond (Ernest Thompson’s play, not the movie that was filmed in the Granite State) are still within reach, with camps like this one offering seventy-five feet of sandy frontage on Great Pond. This pond and the four other water bodies that make up the Belgrade Lakes region aren’t as remote as they seem — Augusta is just fifteen minutes down the road.

Photo courtesy Northern Maine Realty/Samuel Henderson

Where: Monticello

Lot: 167 acres

Sold Price: $250,000

Original Price: $295,000

Square Footage: 2,740

Price Per Square Foot: $91

Mill Rate: 16.00

Taxes: $1,809 (2006)

Date Originally Listed: May 2007


If you’re looking for space, northern Maine is worth the trek, as this four-bedroom home hard on the Canadian border near Houlton proves. The fact that this home has been standing since 1860 is evidence of the quality that people in the County put into their homes and the pride they take in their lives here, where winter temps average a brisk negative two degrees and Bangor is a 130-mile drive away.


What Sold For . . . $500,000

Photo courtesy Keller Williams Realty/Amy Cartmell

Where: Portland

Lot:.11 acres

Sold Price: $475,000

Original Price: $525,000

Square Footage: 3,497

Price Per Square Foot: $136

Mill Rate: 17.74

Taxes: $8,786 (2008)

Date Originally Listed: April 2009


If you’re going to live in Maine’s most diverse city, you’d do well to move into a gorgeous brick townhouse like this circa-1836 one, which includes a whopping six fireplaces, in Portland’s West End. Reiche Elementary School, just around the corner from here, is the most diverse school in northern New England — half of the three hundred students are from outside the U.S. — and the Old Port is just a handful of blocks away. Urban living has a different feel in Maine, and neighborhoods like this are the way city life should be.

Photo courtesy Megunticook Real Estate/Nancy B. Akers

Where: Camden

Lot:.31 acres

Sold Price: $500,000

Original Price: $650,000

Square Footage: 2,207

Price Per Square Foot: $227

Mill Rate: 13.14

Taxes: $6,101 (2009)

Date Originally Listed: June 2009

It’s not only the classic, well-kept New England homes and picture-perfect harbor that draws people to Camden. The local school district, for instance, consistently ranks as one of the best in the state, and buyers are often willing to spend a little more just to be able to educate their children here (the in-town ski area isn’t a bad perk, either). This is also a town practically as rich in intellect as in scenery; the annual Camden Conference and Pop!Tech convention bring together innovative thinkers.

Photo courtesy ERA Dawson-Bradford Co./Pauline Rock

Where: Hampden

Lot: 70 acres

Sold Price: $475,000

Original Price: $580,000

Square Footage: 6,220

Price Per Square Foot: $76

Mill Rate: 15.90

Taxes: $9,481 (2008)

Date Originally Listed: May 2008

The surprise in Maine is often how easily you can find city amenities right near the country, and perhaps nowhere is this more true than in Hampden. Less than six miles from downtown Bangor, this community of 6,300 souls is about as classic small-town Maine as you can get. Only adding to its appeal is the Penobscot River, which flows practically within sight of Main Street and is showing more marine traffic than it has since steamers worked the route between Bangor and Boston.


What Sold For . . . $1,000,000

Photo courtesy Anne Eerwin Sotheby’s International Realty

Where: York

Lot:.38 acres

Sold Price: $1,000,000

Original Price: $1,149,000

Square Footage: 1,160

Price Per Square Foot: $862

Mill Rate: 8.26

Taxes: $8,496 (2009)

Date Originally Listed: August 2009


Location, location, location. Nowhere is it more precious than in southern Maine, where oceanfront properties like this one — a double lot with a two-bedroom house and a seasonal cottage right next door — command top dollar. But far from being a vacation-only destination, much of York County has become a commuter’s dream, with plenty of Boston execs who hop on Amtrak’s Downeaster in the morning and enjoy bold Atlantic breezes at night.

Photo courtesy Landvest, Inc./Terry Sortwell

Where: East Penobscot Bay

Lot: 11 acres

Sold Price: $900,000

Original Price: $1,200,000

Square Footage: 954

Price Per Square Foot: $943

Mill Rate: 19.80

Taxes: $1,074 (2009)

Date Originally Listed: June 2009


If there’s one dream most people who visit the Maine coast share, it’s to own an island. Sure, they don’t think about the watery commute, the challenging building conditions, or the impact that uninvited visitors can have on their idyll. Still, for those who
don’t sweat such details, a rocky atoll can be the ultimate retreat, and this island in the heart of the best cruising grounds demonstrates the price of turning dreams into reality.

Photo courtesy The Christopher Group/George MacLeod

Where: Monson

Lot: 557 acres

Sold Price: $850,000

Original Price: $1,100,000

Square Footage: 1,400

Price Per Square Foot: $607

Mill Rate: 12.90

Taxes: $4,630 (2007)

Date Originally Listed: June 2009

If you’re going to build a cabin in the North Woods, you might as well make it a log one. Never mind that timber companies have cut over much of the Pine Tree State — you can still find (or haul) the lumber necessary for an authentic outpost. If you’re lucky enough to find views like this, with undeveloped Eighteen Pond on one side and Monson Pond on the other, you’ll be hard-pressed pulling yourself away for the occasional run to civilization for food and a matinee.