About me

I am Jean-Marie Caterina, owner of the Caterina MacLean Group, The Maine Real Estate Network , 75 John Roberts Road, South Portland, Maine . My office number is (207)774-4224 and my direct line is (207)318-3440.
Check us out at www.wesellmaine.com

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Unemployment DOWN in Portland, Maine, Mortgage Rates rising

OK I admit it has been way too long since I have written on this blog. That's what happens when one gets busy with work and life! Time to make time to communicate my observations on the real estate market in Portland, Maine.



This has been a fabulous year for my group (http://www.wesellmaine.com/), and I attiribute that to a combination of the now defunct tax credit and hard work. Now we are heading into a new year and a new market and I ask, "Where are the buyers?"



To cut to the chase, we hear all sorts of whining about the 9 plus percentage unemployment in the US as a whole. But that is a red herring when it comes to Portland, Maine.



Recently named one of four markets in the USA where the value of real estate is rising (Today Show), one need only look at an adjusted unemployment rate of 5.5% in Cumberland County ( OCT ME DOL stats online)to realize that we are NOT in the dire straits of the rest of the country. In fact, since its high of 7.3% in February of this year, Portland, Maine has knocked off almost 2 % from its unemployment rate. My guess is that unless you have a government job, which may see some attrition this year, you are probably OK job wise.



What stirred me to write this blog today is that CNBC just noted that mortgage rates are now over 5% on 30 year conventionals. This is a jump from the 4.3% rates seen this summer. We are back to rates seen early this year and they aren't coming back down........we have seen the bottom!



What does this mean for you as a potential homebuyer? Job security is looking pretty good compared to the rest of the country, housing prices are starting to rise and rates are going up and are NOT COMING BACK DOWN!



Buy now, potential buyer! Buy now!

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