Maine Real Estate Info

On Tuesday, www.MaineMLS.info rolled out its new feature…a blog. Now consumers searching for real estate in Maine need not look to far for Maine information.

The site features the ability to search for more than 25,000 Maine properties, request a free market analysis, apply for a loan, view virtual tours on the featured listings page and view an interactive map of more featured properties with Trulia.

Now, with the rollout of the information blog located at www.MaineMLS.info/wordpress , buyers and sellers of Maine real estate can get full access to newsletters, tips, mortgage and loan information, Market reports, Maine Green news and agent listings, etc.

MaineMLS.info is the product of Meservier & Associates of Keller Williams Realty Mid Maine. They are one of Maine’s fastest growing real estate teams, dedicated to customer service and commited to excellence.

They are located at 34 Center street Auburn, Maine 04210. Call them at (207)784-2525 or email at mike@meservier.com

They are “Today’s Real Estate Professionals, Opening New Doors”

Keller Williams current agent count of 77,467 represents an increase of 8,463 over August of 2006.  With 654 market centers, we’ve added 77 new offices since August of 2006. This is at a time when other companies are decreasing in size.  Recent National Association of REALTORSR statistics project a loss of 57,000 agents in 2007.

Welcome to Your New Career

If you’re an established real estate professional, you’re going to love the difference Keller Williams offers. Your path to success comes with the full support and guidance of Keller Williams Realty, and an income opportunity unparalleled in the real estate industry today. If you are looking for more reward from your hard work, and you have the drive and resources to take advantage of a win-win opportunity, you sound like the goal-oriented person we’re looking for.  We are a learning based company. Oh… we do real estate too.

We’re ready to make your Keller Williams career happen. Are you?

Perhaps you have more questions, or you might want to speak with an active KW agent about what it’s really like to work with the company.  Contact Michael Meservier at mike@meservier.com or call 207-576-9446

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SALES AND MEDIAN PRICES OF MAINE REAL ESTATE BOTH UP OVER FOUR PERCENT IN JULY

SOUTH PORTLAND (August 28, 2007) - Unit sales and median sales prices of Maine’s single-family homes rose over four percent in July. According to the Maine Real Estate Information System, Inc., Realtors reported selling 4.26 percent more homes this July when compared to July 2006. Not only did sales increase: the median sales prices for the homes sold increased 4.74 percent.

A total of 1,247 homes changed hands during July 2007, up from last July’s sales of 1,196 homes. The median sales price reached $199,000 — a 4.74 percent increase from July 2006’s price of $190,000. The median sales price indicates that half of the homes were sold for more and half sold for less.

Nationally, sales of existing, single-family homes dropped 9.3 percent from July 2006. According to the National Association of Realtors, the median sales price dipped a slight 1 percent during the 12- month period.

The Northeastern United States witnessed 2.9 percent fewer sales this July. However, the regional median existing sales price jumped 5.9 percent to $290,900.

Buyers are beginning to perceive the value in available listings, according to Kevin Robert of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Saco. “Some buyers have lost out on properties because they waited too long, in anticipation of a lower price, before making an offer to the seller,” he said. “Buyers are realizing that they must pay more so as not to lose out on an available offering.”

John Bragg, co-owner of deRochemont Realtors, LLC in Rockland, addressed the current mortgage market. “While the national headlines carry stories about sub-prime lending and large mortgage companies, mortgage rates and availability of mortgages remains good, particularly with local banks.”

How will Maine real estate fare during the next 12 months? Sheryl Gregory, Broker of Homestead Realty in Winthrop said, “This is the correction period and I expect the fears will subside and we will return to business as usual.”

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 5,800 licensees inputting active and sold property listing data. Statistics reflect properties reported as sold in the System within the time periods indicated.

 My “in-house” mortgage consultant sends me these articles several times a month. Of course, I couldn’t even begin to explain this, even after reading as it is not my area of expertise. Everday, there is news about the real estate market and the mortgage industry keeping consumers on the edge of their seats. It is prudent that we remain well informed. 

An Inverted Yield Curve:
What It Means to Mortgage Rates & Programs  

The U.S. economy, interest rates, and the housing market are frequent topics on the nightly news. Viewers are told about leading economic indicators, how the stock market has performed, and whether the Federal Reserve is planning on changing interest rates. What isn’t explained is how these items are interrelated and how they may impact which home loan is best for you.

The Federal Reserve attempts to keep the U.S. economy healthy through its use of monetary policy. As fears of inflation increase, the Fed will raise certain short-term interest rates such as the federal funds rate, which is the interest rate banks pay each other for overnight loans. Such an increase causes a ripple effect, with banks raising their prime lending rate. This, in turn, causes an increase in Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) rates and the indices they’re tied to, such as the 12-Month Treasury Average (MTA), the 11th District Cost of Funds Index (COFI), and the 1-Month London Inter Bank Offering Rates (LIBOR).

Under normal circumstances, long-term interest rates would also increase even though they are determined by market trading of bonds and mortgage-backed securities rather than monetary policy. However, in certain instances, the market responds in an unexpected manner.

Long-term interest rates are driven by a desire to place money in a steady vehicle that will provide a decent rate of return. When the stock market is underperforming, many corporate and individual investors will sell stocks, and invest their money in bonds. Typically, the longer the holding period of a bond, the higher the yield it will offer. This makes sense because the longer an investor’s money is tied up in that investment, the more they should receive for it. However, when there is an increased demand for bonds, the law of supply and demand comes into play. As the demand for bonds increases, the need to attract investors decreases, so the yield offered on those bonds declines.

When the Federal Reserve pursues an aggressive policy and raises short-term interest rates repeatedly over an extended period, and the bond and mortgage-backed securities markets are booming so their yields are lower, an unusual situation arises. Short-term interest rates are high while long-term interest rates remain lower. This leads to a shift in the usual yield-versus-term paradigm, known as an inverted yield curve.

So what does this mean to a consumer who is trying to determine what type of mortgage would be best under these economic conditions? It means that the cost of an Adjustable Rate Mortgage is not significantly lower than that of a 15- or 30-year fixed mortgage. Rather than taking out (or keeping) an ARM, which is variable and will increase if short-term interest rates keep rising, it may be better to pursue a 15-year or 30-year fixed rate mortgage.

Because economic conditions are constantly changing, it’s important to consult with a mortgage professional who is knowledgeable about the markets and how they impact the different loan programs available. This will ensure that homeowners obtain the best mortgage available despite market fluctuations.

If you would like to discuss this topic further, please give me a call!
We can explore how to assist our clients in this unusual rate environment.

John Dugan
Mortgage Consultant
Approved Home Mortgage

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These stats came in today’s email by the Maine Association of Realtors. MREIS is “Mine Real Estate Information Services”

NOTABLE STATISTICS:  Recently MREIS looked at the data for the first 685 sales reported with the new data field - Buyers Previous Zip Code.  Statistics show that of those, 75% of all properties were purchased by those in Maine, with 25% from out-of-state.  While single-family residential and condo property types each had 75% of purchasers from Maine, multi-family had over 90% and mobile home had 86% of purchasers from Maine.  However, nearly 40% of land purchasers were from out-of-state. Nearly 49% of all out-of-state purchasers were from two states - MA (32.6%) and NH (16.3%).  REMINDER - that data field is a mandatory field in MREIS. You cannot use 00000.  For Canadian or International purchasers use INTL in that alpha-numeric field.

 If you think about, this is a great tool for your marketing campaign. Where you advertise may directly affect how long your listings are on the market, and therefore putting more money back in your pocket.

If your thinking of selling your Maine Real Estate, why not give Meservier & Associates a call. They know Maine, real estate technology, and what it takes to market and sell your home. The are Today’s Real Estate Professionals!