News Flash! Oyster Festival Update

   Our hidden camera high atop Newcastle Square Realty World Headquarters took this picture moments ago showing the preparations are feverishly underway for this Sunday's Pemaquid Oyster Festival.  Okay so really Tom held Miles while he hung out the third floor window and took the picture but you get the point.  Shucker's have been at work for the last two days opening up enough of the tender bi valves to make the Oyster Stew for the festival.  The white, square container in the back of the pickup truck in the picture above is full of oysters and has been loading and unloading for days.

   With Sunday's forecast calling for sunny skies and temps in the low 70's, the prediction for this years festival is that the previous record of 8,000 oysters consumed will be broken by at least 2,000! 

   The Festival begins at noon on Sunday and will continue until dark (officially, unofficially who knows?).  See you there!

It's Fair Season in Maine

   Most locals feel that September is like a deep breath after the busy, heated pace of the summer.  Nights are chilly, morning fog laces the harbors and ponds and first color is appearing in the sugar maples.  The pace of life is definitely slower.  But best of all September is the month for the largest of the Maine county agricultural fairs; a time to reconnect with our rural heritage and marvel at the skills of local agricultural folks.

   Everyone who attends these County Fairs has a personal favorite and mine is The Common Ground Fair; self described as a "Celebration of Rural Life", and sponsored by MOFGA (The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association).  This rather unique gathering occurs each September on the weekend of the Autumn Equinox and proudly holds to some rather distinctive traditions - especially with regard to the food which  is "permitted" (grown in Maine/produced in Maine) and most notably for the food which is not permitted: coffee, tea and chocolate!

    I've never ceased to be amazed at how much Maine produces!  You can shop for world-class jewelry, museum quality pottery or fiber works, dried floral arrangements, gourd birdhouses, handmade wooden toys, hand crafted herbal creams and lotions, wool fleece or wool felt or wool spun or wool woven into marvelous clothing.

There are futuristic displays of the power of wind turbines or the benefits of home meat smokers. You can get detailed information on solar power or corn stoves. I'm a fan of the livestock demonstrations- especially the chicken judging and oxen pulling.  I love watching the draft horses pull logs or plow the demonstration gardens and often sit in on the short workshops on growing Heirloom tomatoes or saving seeds or collecting wild mushrooms. Since my summers are too busy for real gardening, I get a chance to garden vicariously.  Political action displays sit alongside the Whole Life tent, where free massages can be sampled.

    Throughout the sprawling fairgrounds the carnival aptmoshpere is enhanced by stilt walking clowns, Native American drummers, children on parade in vegetable costumes and the ever present army of volunteers who will help you sort your trash into the appropriate re-cycling bins.    

   There is no midway with carnival rides but there are lots of free musical performances to sample and the opportunity to try your hand at the popular Harry S. Truman Manure Pitching competition or The Pig Scramble.

   If you missed this fair, there's still time to plan on attending the State's largest agricultural fair in Fryberg- starting on September 30 and running until October 7th. Autumn color will be at peak, the temperature will be perfect and it's a great time to share in every county's annual celebration of rural life and the bounty we enjoy from the hard work of so many committed farmers, growers artisans and crafters.

    Get the details about all kinds of fall activities including the Fryberg Fair, at http://www.visitmaine.org/

   See you at the Fair!

Anita Palsgrove is the manager of Newcastle Square Vacation Rentals and she would be happy to help you plan a fall visit to the area.

Pemaquid Oyster Festival 2007

    It's that time of year again folks.  Time again for The Pemaquid Oyster Festival in Damariscotta.  It may not be as famous as Rockland's Lobster Festival or Clam Fest in Yarmouth but it is the only seafood festival getting a post here at Maine Coast Properties blog and that alone makes it a special event.  Besides, this is a real festival without the distractions of all those rides and a beauty contest.

   For those of you who don't know the Pemaquid Oyster Festival is a fund raiser for the Edward A. Myers Marine Conservation Fund. Last year, the Festival raised over $15,000. for this fund which promotes conservation on the Damariscotta River and supports efforts to maintain a working waterfront.

   The Festival will be held Sunday, September 30 from noon until dusk on the riverside deck of Schooner Landing on the harbor in Damariscotta.  There will be great entertainment, educational exhibits, opportunities for boat rides and of course plenty of great food starting with oysters!

   The event is primarily sponsored by Schooner Landing Restaurant and the Pemaquid Oyster Company.  Other sponsors include Damariscotta Bank and Trust, Camden National Bank, The Cheney Companies Financial Group, the Glidden Point Oyster Company, Reny's Department Stores, The Electronics Mart, Sheepscot Valley Brewing (goes great with oysters!), Aw Shucks! Oyster Opener (a great tool for not cutting yourself while opening oysters), Yankee Pride Transport, Narragansett Leathers (located right next door to the festival sight, stop in and get a brass oyster shell belt buckle) and of course The Lincoln County News.

    I'll be at the Oyster Festival, volunteering again this year as an apprentice shucker.  What does an apprentice shucker do you ask?  Good question.  My job is to make sure that the master shucker's have the fuel they need to open the more than 8,000 oysters that will get consumed next Sunday!  Pemaquid Ale anyone?

   See you there!

Tom Field

Breaking News: Fed Cuts 50 Basis Points

    The Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank has reduced both the Federal Funds Rate and the Discount Rate a full half of a point this afternoon.  Investors have signaled their approval by driving the stock market up at a precipitous rate.

   Home sellers should remain reserved.  In a statement released by the Fed it was mentioned that their goal was to promote "...moderate growth over time."  I predict that this will have little immediate impact on a housing market awash in inventory but that it will do just exactly what the Fed is looking for.  Promote moderate growth over time.  It will be next spring or summer at the earliest before this market begins to pick up.

   Real estate brokers who encourage their clients to think otherwise are doing them a disservice.

Jim Cosgrove

Waiting for Bernanke

    I opened my newspaper this morning (I know I'm dating myself) to find the AP breathlessly reporting that "...for the first time in 4 years the Federal Reserve appears ready to lower interest rates...Tuesday."  This is exactly what many in our industry have been waiting for in the belief that, armed with a new quarter or half point lower interest rate Buyers will suddenly start snapping up homes.  Irrational exuberance, anyone?

   Maybe a dip in the interest rate will provide some stimulus to the real estate market.  It can't hurt.  But it's not going to be anything dramatic.  I've reported in this space before that here in Lincoln County, Maine we sell about 500 homes a year.  Sometimes a few more sometimes a few less. Over the long term prices go up.  Over the short term prices do dip but by and large prices move upwards, sometimes just slower than at other times.  A small change in interest rates is not going to dramatically change this dynamic.

   While a rate cut may have positive ramifications in the stock market the next day, I would be surprised if we saw any change in activity in our real estate market before spring and I hate to even think about how far away that is!

   The fact remains that we currently have 3 to 4 times more inventory on the market than we have buyers to consume that inventory. For the vast majority of home buyers, it is the single biggest purchase they ever make and they tend to take their time and move carefully. They will  in all likelihood have a Buyers agent who will be analyzing the value of the home of their choice for them. That means that in order to sell a home must be priced fairly and in the best possible condition since it will be compared to many other homes presently on the market. If you're considering placing your home for sale, please call today and arrange for an objective market analysis and recommendations for what you can do to prepare your home to compete for Buyers attention.

Jim Cosgrove

Newcastle Fire

   One of the great things about living in a small town is the willingness of people to volunteer and nowhere is that more evident than when there is a fire in town.  This fire at Walker Point on the Damariscotta River in Newcastle (no relation to Walker's Point in Kennebunk) broke out this afternoon at about 1 o'clock.  From where our office sits it seemed to be mostly under control in less than an hour.

   This was an 8 alarm fire so not only did the Newcastle Volunteer Fire Department (known as the Taniscot Fire Engine Company) fight the fire but fire companies from the surrounding towns of Damariscotta, Nobleboro, Bristol, South Bristol and others arrived on the scene less than 15 minutes after the first Taniscot truck got there.  Volunteer Fire Departments are made up of pretty amazing people.

    And speaking of small towns where else would you see a scene like this except in a small town?  Oddly enough I took this picture about an hour before the fire.  The fire took place about 300 feet behind the building in this picture.

Tom Field

Saturday Solds

   Another in an occasional series showing a random sampling of properties in our market area that have "closed" recently.

   2235 Alna Rd., Alna. Listed for $486,000 and sold for $465,000 after 163 days on the market.

   121 Kelsey Drive, South Bristol.  Listed for $474,500 and sold for $474,150 after 39 days on the market.

 

   35 Castlewood Road, Newcastle. Listed for $269,000 and sold for $269,000 after 31 days on the market.

   26 Nob Hill Road in Newcastle, on Damariscotta Lake.  Listed for $349,000 and sold for $342,000 after 28 days on the market.

   237 Pemaquid Harbor Road, Bristol.  Listed for $249,000 and sold for $244,000 after 16 days on the market.

   28 Juniper Lane, Bristol.  Originally listed for $374,000 and sold for $285,000 after 434 days on the market.

   Although "sold" prices are readily available at the local town office for anyone who wishes to see them, we present them here in an effort to keep our readers aware of trends in the market.  For an in depth and confidential analysis of where your home fits in todays market call one of our brokers today.

Summer Real Estate Report

    In the last few weeks I have read press releases and articles written by economists, government officials, pundits, bankers, experts, trade association spokespersons, observers and reporters with varying qualifications weighing in on the state of the real estate market.  They all agree that the market is either getting worse or has bottomed out, that we have seen the worst or that the worst is yet to come, that  it will get better next year or the year after or maybe the year after that.

   Thankfully, I've been too busy Listing and Selling property to really think much about it or I might get depressed.  I'm not really in the expert class (and I bet I can find a few people here in town to testify to that) but I do make my living selling real estate here in Lincoln County, Maine and have for some time now so let me tell you what I see.

   This summer, between June 1 and September 1 in Lincoln County, 142 home sales were recorded in the Multiple Listing System.  In an amazing coincidence, last summer from June 1 of '06 through September 1, of '06 142 homes sales were recorded in the Multiple Listing System.  This year the average sale price was $324,256. and last year the average sales price was $314,930.  Doesn't sound like too bad of a market to me but then, like I said, I'm no expert.

   Now to be sure there is a difference this year.  There are a lot of homes on the market here. Human nature being what it is it seems like every time one of these experts speak and say how bad the market is another 10 people decide they better sell quick before it gets any worse.  Back a few years ago when all the experts were saying how good the market was no one wanted to sell, they all figured it was only going to get better and they didn't want to take a chance on not getting as much as they could.

   It's counter intuitive I know but don't forget we pay good money to belong to an exercise club and then drive around looking for the parking space closest to the door so we won't have to walk too far.

   So right now in Lincoln County we have 843 homes on the market.  Last year there was a grand total of 388 home sales recorded in the Multiple Listing System. So far this year we've recorded 257.  It doesn't take an expert to figure out that more than half the homes on the market aren't going to sell this year.

   Does this mean we are in a bad real estate market?  Well, sort of (how's that for brilliant punditry!).  Real Estate is a cyclical market, more supply on the market drives prices down, less supply drives prices up.  There has been no fundamental change in our market, no employer in the area has left for India, nothing bad has happened to our environment. All of the reasons why people wanted to move here before still exist.  What has happened is that more people have decided to sell.   Now, if some of those people decide they really want to sell and be in the 150 or so more homes that will sell this year, then they will lower their price to attract a buyer. The rest will wait.  In the end we will still sell roughly the same amount of homes this year as last.

   So if you're reading this and have always dreamed of living in the best place on earth, Mid Coast Maine, Damariscotta, Newcastle and the Pemaquid peninsula, call us today and let our Brokers show you some great buying opportunities that exist among the over 800 homes that are for sale here!   In the meantime, stay away from the op-ed sections of the paper and go right to the sports page.  How 'bout those Red Sox...

Jim Cosgrove

Pemaquid Point Dawn

    I woke at 3:32 AM - tried sleeping some more but to no avail.  I slipped out of bed at 4:19, pulled on jeans, made a cup of coffee and whispered for the dog to come.  There was to be a lunar eclipse as the full moon was setting in the hour before dawn, and I had decided to go watch it.

   As soon as I reached the end of the driveway, I knew this was a good idea.  The moon was huge and orange in the western sky with just a hint of a smudge at its upper rim, and it stayed within my sight while I drove down the peninsula from Newcastle. I was headed for Pemaquid Point.

   When I reached the shore of Johns Bay, it was still quite dark.  The sky was that deep midnight blue that I love, and from overhead and to the east was still filled with stars.  The brightness of the moon made them invisible in the west.  There was a bench by the rocks where I sat and watched and sipped warm coffee and nibbled icy cold raspberries that I bought and chilled the night before just for the occasion.

   There was a lot happening in that sky.  The eclipse began at the top and advanced faster than I expected.  If I looked up to see if the stars were still shining, or to the east to see if the dawn was breaking, I could see the difference when I looked back.  The stars and the dawn were competing, and even though I knew it was futile, I was rooting for the underdog - every time I looked up and could still discern a star or two, I cheered them on.

  Then as the moon went for cover and darkness was giving way to lightness, I saw a small shape move on the rocks about 25 feet away.  I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me and that it was a small piece of driftwood and then I saw that it was a small dark cat.  I was so happy about that little cat wanting to be with us while the dog and I watched the moon.

   Then, just as I was marveling at how wonderful this all was, it got more wonderful.  As the moon slipped from sight, the sounds emerged.  The water lapped quietly - the tide was low.  Then the birdsong began and the shore birds chimed in with saltwater cries.

   At about the time the moon was obscured, the sky suddenly filled with color.  I couldn't believe my eyes because it happened so rapidly.  One minute I was under a dome of blue and the next, everything was pink.  Pink clouds out of nowhere and all was light.  The downside of all that light was I didn't see the rim of red that happens sometimes when the moon is fully eclipsed.  By the time it happened, the dawn's early light prevailed.

   I've watched only a few dawns in my lifetime - never been much of a morning person.  And although I rarely miss the full moonrise, I've never even thought about the moon setting. Tuesday's dawn was awesome and illuminating.  I'm going to do this again.

Kathleen Shattuck