File Photo / TIM GREENWAY
Justin Lamontagne
Updated: January 13, 2025
Real estate experts expect shift in Maine residential growth, ‘normal’ year for commercial
File Photo / TIM GREENWAY
Dava Davin, founder and CEO of the Portside Real Estate Group
When it comes to residential real estate, the center of gravity may be shifting northward from pricey southern Maine, according to Dava Davin, CEO and owner of the Falmouth-based Portside Real Estate Group.
“We’ll likely see continued growth in central Maine, as more buyers are priced out of southern Maine and look for affordability and space,” she says.
Davin predicts a year of opportunities and challenges for the market as a whole.
“Home prices are expected to increase, but at a more modest pace than in recent years — likely in the 2% to 4% range overall, she says. She also predicts that demand will remain strong with higher inventory levels compared to 2024, “which could help ease price growth slightly and provide more options for buyers. Win, win!”
A ‘normal’ commercial market
Commercial real estate, on the other hand, is likely to be a bit quieter.
“I expect 2025 to look and feel … normal,” says Justin Lamontagne, a partner and designated broker with the Dunham Group. “The crazy post-COVID market has plateaued and it’s back to business as usual.”
As for the industrial niche, “the southern Maine industrial vacancy rate increased for the first time since the pandemic, but only slightly,” and remains low at only 2.5%, he says. “It’s still a landlord’s market.”
Lamontagne’s advice to any business currently searching for industrial or commercial space is to get creative.
“We continue to see the repurposing of defunct office and retail spaces into industrial,” he says. “I’m advising our brokers to think outside the box as much as possible.”
His bold prediction for 2025: “A commercial real estate transaction in Maine will be financed by cryptocurrency. The Trump administration is embracing crypto, and Maine needs to be prepared to support those consumers. Oh, and the Celtics repeat.”
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