Where is Newcastle, Maine?

    I often get this question from my Buyer clients, even those who have been to this area several times before.

    Seems as though lots of folks know of Damariscotta, but aren't as familiar with Newcastle.  Most of them are familiar with the idyllic overview of the village and river, just as you drive from Route 1, down the ramp and into town.  What many don't realize is that at that point they are in the town of Newcastle.  They continue to be in Newcastle until they cross the bridge over the Damariscotta River into Damariscotta. The two towns are on either side of the bridge, flanking the river. Thus the common nickname, "Twin Villages".

   Although two completely separate town governments we operate as one village in many ways.  Children from both towns attend the same elementary school and high school.  The center of The Twin Villages is the central business district for Central Lincoln County and the Pemaquid Peninsula.  Most of the old brick buildings are on the Damariscotta side but there are some businesses on the Newcastle side and there are presently several exciting projects beginning on that side of the river that will bring change and growth!

  So, if you are looking for real estate in this area and are typing in town names when searching on our or other websites, don't forget to type in Newcastle or you will miss many fine properties.  Better yet, call a local real estate broker who knows the area so you'll be sure not to miss anything.

   Did you know that the town of Damariscotta does not at any point border Damariscotta Lake?  That the village of Damariscotta Mills is really in the towns of Newcastle and Nobleboro?  That Sheepscot village is partly in Newcastle and partly in the town of Alna?  That the Damariscotta River is not really a river at all?

   I better get started on my next blog post to explain all that!

Kathy Wyman

Damariscotta River Fun

   Who says summer's a short season in Maine?  It's still May and the municipal parking lot and town landing was abuzz with summer activities early this morning.  Every day more and more boats appear on the river and in Damariscotta Harbor.

   This morning "Calliope" was launched while kayakers arrived for their paddle on the river.  We watch all this activity from the 2nd floor deck here at Newcastle Square Realty World Headquarters.  Main Street may be under construction but it is absolutely glorious on the other side of the building!

Debby Schling

OPEN HOUSE in South Bristol

Sunday, May 27 from 1 to 3 in the afternoon.  This fabulous farmhouse has been updated and restored and must be seen to be fully appreciated.

   The first floor of this home includes a well appointed Kitchen, formal Dining Room, lovely Parlor, a wonderful Master Bedroom with en suite bath and a great Sun Room which overlooks the grounds.  The second floor includes three additional Bedrooms and a Study. There are three total Baths and the attached garage has room for two cars. 

   The home has been nicely set back from the road at the end of  canopied drive with stone walls and fruit trees on the grounds. Nearby is Wawenock Golf Course and a public landing on the Damariscotta River. South Bristol features some of the lowest taxes in the state yet boasts one of the best small schools k through 8 with most students using their town supplied tuition voucher to attend Lincoln Academy for High School.

   The asking price on this home is just $385,000 while other homes in the neighborhood are priced over $400,000!

   Come visit me this Sunday to see this outstanding property at 362 Route 129, South Bristol!

Tom Field

Damariscotta is a Good Town

   Let me say it again; Damariscotta is a good town.  A good place to live and work and raise kids. Of course when I say Damariscotta I mean the whole region.  It's just that Damariscotta functions as the downtown for the entire peninsula including Newcastle, Nobleboro, Bremen, Bristol and South Bristol.  What I'm specifically thinking about today is the anonymous merchant that is decorating downtown with flags for Memorial Day.  The construction crews have pulled out until Tuesday and traffic is flowing in both directions.  We've got some of the dirt off of the front of our buildings and if you come downtown you can use the front doors of our offices and stores. But what will really stick out is all of the American flags that are hanging from just about every storefront.  Thank You!

   I took a picture of the flags going up on our building and if you have a real sharp eye you'll notice our new granite curbstones and dirt sidewalks.  It's going to be  a little dusty for a while but I'm sure it will be real nice when this project is done.

   If you're a frequent reader of this blog you will also recall that not too long ago we had a very nice blue awning on the front of our building.  That's gone for now, a casualty of the mammoth machinery that has been working just inches from our plate glass windows.  But it will return just a soon as the work is done.

   Have a great Memorial Day weekend.  Don't forget to honor our Veterans and remember why we celebrate the day.

Jim Cosgrove

How Times Have Changed

Editors note:  Another in our continuing series of guest blogs.  Today we hear from Heidi Shott, communications director of the Damariscotta based Genesis Fund, a revolving loan fund that provides flexible, low cost financing and expert assistance to affordable housing and community development organizations across Maine.

    In July 1981, my college boyfriend and I drove to New Harbor so he could show me the place he had vacationed with his family as a boy. He said he wasn't sure if he'd ever get back here again so we should go while we had the chance.  As we passed through Damariscotta, I thought, "Gee, what a lovely town."

   As we meandered down the Pemaquid peninsula, I looked at the homes lining Bristol Road and wondered two things: first, how do people make a living here and second, how much do these great old capes and farmhouses cost?

   If someone had told me that within seven years I'd be married to this guy and about to move to Newcastle, Maine, I would have said they were absolutely crazy.  But here we are - 26 years, three different house, two great kids and several pets later.

   But one problem: If we tried to buy the house we bought in 1997 - a not architecturally pristine 1790's Colonial with 200 feet of frontage on the mill pond at the south end of Damariscotta Lake, we couldn't do it. We're mid forties professional types with below average debt, but we still couldn't begin to touch this place.

   And we are not alone.  Not by a long shot.

   According to the Maine State Housing Authority, between 2001 and 2006 the median home price in Lincoln County rose from $125,000 to $202,233 while the median income rose a mere $3,000 from $41,516 to $44,566.

   In central Lincoln County towns with saltwater frontage the gap between home price and income are even more alarming.

   Bristol: 2006 median home price - $252,053; 2006 median income - $45,517 or 80% of households (1,074) unable to afford a median priced home.

   Damariscotta:  2006 median home price - $285,000; median income - $40,915 or 86.9% of households (855) unable to afford a median priced home.

   Newcastle: 2006 median home price - $287,500; median income - $49,375 or 81.4% of households (676) unable to afford a median priced home.

   Across Maine the situation is not so dire but still disheartening for many first time home buyers or those who would like to "trade up."

   Statewide, the number of households who would, based on their area's median income and its median home price, have to spend more than 28% of their gross income is 370,395.  That's household, not people, in a state with only 1.3 million people to begin with.

   While Maine does have the 10th highest home ownership rate in the nation (71.6%) and Lincoln County sports a whopping 83%, the housing impact on those at the lowest income levels and increasingly on the middle income young people who would like to live in the towns they grew up in, is intensified because there is such a demand for homes below the median. That's one of the reasons you can drive 15 or 20 miles from New Harbor to Whitefield or Jefferson and see hundreds of lobster traps parked on someones lawn. A lobsterman may have grown up in Bristol or South Bristol, but, unless he inherits a house from a family member, he and his family can't afford to live there.

   The homes that were for sale in 1981 in my first trek down Route 130 may have been affordable to young people at the time, but times have sure changed.

Heidi Shott

Damariscotta Construction

   Damariscotta's Main Street construction project has moved across the street from our office so our front  door is open again.  However it's still easier to use the rear entrance and there are "acres of free parking" !

   In any case our website is ALWAYS open so feel free to browse to your hearts content.  This is a GREAT time to buy.  What are you waiting for?

Jim Cosgrove

Broker Caravan

    "Caravan?" asked our client with a puzzled and surprised expression.  He later told me that he had visions of gypsies with bells and horns hanging off of brightly colored wagons.

   My husband Bill and I had just listed for sale a wonderful waterfront property in South Bristol and had informed our seller that Tuesday was caravan day for our office and all of our brokers would be coming to tour their home.

   Each Tuesday all of the brokers at Newcastle Square Realty  meet at 9:00 AM sharp. After a brief meeting we take off in groups in three or four cars and follow each other to the new properties which were listed that week.  Sometimes it takes all morning depending on how many and where the properties are, whether right here in Damariscotta and Newcastle or as far away as Alna, Friendship or Rutherford Island in South Bristol.  We know where all the coffee shops are along the way and there's always time for donuts!

   This is a day that we all look forward to, as something new on the market may be the perfect fit for a buyer client for whom we are working.  Newcastle Square Realty has 15 full time brokers and all have buyer clients.  We think about who may be right for any given property and eagerly get back to make those phone calls.  All of the brokers take turns with desk duty and having seen all of the properties are able to answer questions for people calling on the hone or walking into our downtown office.

   Recently Bill and I listed a home in Damariscotta.  During caravan a broker excitedly asked me if she could show the property that afternoon as she knew it would be a perfect fit for her clients.  Within a week the home was under contract and within two months it closed.

   The brokers at Newcastle Square Realty take caravan very seriously but it's also a time when the brokers socialize outside of the office and a lot of information is shared.  We have fun and a lot of laughs as we caravan the Lincoln County roads!

Tracy Babcock

Maine Real Estate Market Report

    A quarter of the way through May and I'm just now getting a chance to post the April market report of single family homes in Lincoln County.  That's a blog post in itself, we've been busy, May is looking good!  But we'll have to wait until next month for that report.

   Many of us consider April of '07 to be one of the worst weather months in recent history, that has been well documented in this space so no need to recap further.  But it is important to point out that we are looking at closings in this report and closings are actually more indicative of sales that were made 30 to 60 days prior.  So while this is the actual sales report for April, we could just as easily look at it as the measure of the late winter period.

   For the month of April, in Lincoln County we had 52 closed sides of residential properties for a dollar volume of $12,294,600.  In April of '06 we had 36 closed sides for a dollar volume of $13,760,930.  This is pretty consistent with our anecdotal evidence of lots of activity this year but at lower prices. This also follows on the heels of a good March and a poor February.

   I'm afraid this is pretty much how our market is going to be for awhile.  Up and down.  Buyers are looking at more properties than they ever have in the past and are slow to actually make an offer.  They have a lot of inventory to look at.  Sellers are starting to adjust to the new market reality and are pricing accordingly.  The stock market has been quite healthy lately and those Sellers who won't be immediately buying back into the real estate market are anxious to put their money to work there.  Those Sellers who will be buying see reduced prices and are anxious to move into their new home.  The only people who are dissatisfied are those that are comparing prices with what their neighbor sold for 2 or 3 years ago.

   If you're a Seller, ask yourself if you want to be counted in the "Sold" statistics or the "on market" figures.  Then call your Broker and ask for an updated market analysis using recent sold comparables.  Remember what you were trying to accomplish when you put your home on the market. Then take the action that will allow you to accomplish your goal.

Jim Cosgrove

Newcastle Square Realty is Open

....but you will have to use the back door.

   Damariscotta's Main Street reconstruction project has reached our front door.  Luckily we have a back door.  And our website never closes.  Despite all of the dust and the fact that our building shakes a little when the machines are moving up and down, these guys guys are doing a great job of keeping the traffic moving and minimizing the disruptions to our work.  We can't wait to see what it's all going to look like when it's done!

   In the meantime, if you're coming downtown either to visit Newcastle Square Realty World Headquarters or any of the other businesses, all of which remain open, there are plenty of parking spaces behind our office in the municipal parking lot,  in Colby and Gales parking lot behind the theater or behind Damariscotta Bank and Trust.

Jim Cosgrove

Where is Mid Coast Maine?

    Ask people from Michigan just where their hometowns are and you are likely to get a visual presentation.  Michiganders often will hold up their right hand and explain that at the base of the thumb is Detroit, the middle of the palm is Lansing, the gap between the thumb and forefinger is Saginaw Bay and the fingers are the western part of the state. Of course they then might have to explain the UP or Upper Peninsula.  Pointing at the right hand they can tell you where they live using this portable map.

   I have begun to explain Mid Coast Maine with my portable map, my right hand with fingers pointed downward.  My four fingers represent the four peninsulas of the Mid coast.  With palm facing my audience, my forefinger is the Phippsburg peninsula extending south from Bath.  My middle finger is the Georgetown/Five Islands peninsula, south of Woolwich.  My ring finger is the Boothbay peninsula. And my little finger is the Pemaquid peninsula which extends south from Damariscotta.

   These four major peninsulas (peninsulae? if I remember my junior high Latin) lie between Casco Bay and Muscongus Bay and are what most people consider Mid Coast Maine, the jewel of the Maine coast.

   I then explain that these peninsulas are connected by US Highway 1 which runs across my palm where my fingers are attached. There is no "point to point" highway nor ferry for that matter. To get from South Bristol to Boothbay Harbor for example, a mile or so across the water, requires driving about 16 miles up to Route 1, a few miles down Route 1 and then another 12 or so miles down the next peninsula to Boothbay Harbor.

   Between these two peninsulas is the Damariscotta River, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. This river is the most beautiful stretch of water anywhere and is the subject of a great new book by friends of mine, Barnaby Porter and Al Trescott.

   At the head of the Damariscotta River is the community in which I live and work, the twin villages of Damariscotta and Newcastle. I first found The Greatest Place on Earth to Live fifteen years ago.  But that story will have to wait for another blog.

Bill Babcock

Nobleboro Maine Real Estate Report

    Properties in the town of Nobleboro are some of the best values on the market in our area right now. Sitting just north of Damariscotta-Newcastle on coastal Route 1, Nobleboro has within it or borders several lakes including Damariscotta Lake and Pemaquid Lake both of which feature year round homes and vacation cottages on their shores. There are also nice country homes, typically with more acreage than you might find in some of the other towns.

The graph below is drawn from information provided by the Maine Multiple Listing Service.

The average value of a home in Nobleboro has been increasing steadily for the last 10 years from a low of $103,725 in 1997 to $271,129 in 2005. There was a decline of the average price in 2006 but the average value of a home in Nobleboro is still significantly higher now than 5 years ago. If you look at the graph you will notice that in the last 10 years a low sales volume has been followed by a rebound.  While it is only the beginning of May the figures for 2007 look very strong.  For 2007 the average price of a home in Nobleboro is $450,000 but this is skewed by the fact that Newcastle Square Realty recently sold a home on Damariscotta Lake for over $900,000. 

   There are currently 34 residential properties for sale on the open market in Nobleboro. Given the average number of homes that sell in Nobleboro every year it will be important for those homeowners who wish to sell this year to be priced competitively.  Even though our market appears to be coming out of it's doldrums there is a lot of inventory on the market right now.  But with higher prices just down the road in Damariscotta and Newcastle, Nobleboro will continue to be the town for value conscious home buyers to carefully consider.

   Please feel free to email or call me if you would like to discuss the Nobleboro real estate market in greater detail.

Tom Field