Industry leaders gathered in Portland on May 7 to attend the Maine Real Estate & Development Association’s (MEREDA’s) Annual Spring Conference to discuss solutions and challenges in the future of housing in Maine. As part of the Conference, MEREDA released its 13th edition of the MEREDA Index, a key economic indicator for the state of Maine. With increased construction costs impacting projects statewide, there are many questions as to how the real estate market will be affected. While the Index showed a slight 2% ebb primarily because of declines in the commercial market, Index commentators see vibrant, active markets with plenty of opportunities in the future.
“I’ve always found the MEREDA Index to be an extremely valuable tool,” says Tim Soley of East Brown Cow Management, Inc. “Not only is it a great source for measuring changes in our industry over time, but it is also a wellspring of information from industry leaders sharing their insights,” continues Soley.
Regarding rising construction prices, Richard Brescia of Cianbro says, “Considering that budgets for today’s construction projects may have been developed a year or two years ago, the costs increases are sobering for owners. Looking ahead, Cianbro believes contractors can mitigate this by employing creative solutions such as lean construction principles and a collaborative construction management (CM) delivery approach.”
The MEREDA Index was tabulated by economist Dr. Charles Colgan and is a measure of real estate activity designed to track changes in Maine’s real estate markets. The Index is a composite of nine seasonally adjusted measures reflecting both new development and transactions involving existing properties and it covers both the commercial and residential markets statewide. This most recent release covers the last quarter of 2018 through the first quarter of 2019 and includes commentary from Tim Soley of East Brown Cow Management, Inc.; Joseph Porta, SIOR of Porta & Co. Commercial Real Estate; Elise Kiely, Esq. of Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty, and Richard Brescia of Cianbro.
This edition of the MEREDA Index is supported by Cianbro, Porta & Co. Commercial Real Estate, SMRT Architects | Engineers, and XPress Copy
Click here to download the report. For more information and a video on the MEREDA Index, please click here.
