PORTLAND, Maine — In the past year you’ve likely heard a story like Liza Watts’s.
Living in an apartment in New York City when Covid upended her life, “she wanted to be someplace she felt safe” and decided to return to her native Maine. She made offer after offer on various houses in South Portland, only to be outbid every time. Frustrated, she began looking in Harpswell and ended up buying a three-bedroom bungalow there—without ever setting foot inside.
You can read about Watts’s experience in the cover story (“Welcome to the Wild, Wild World of Maine Real Estate”) of the March issue of “Down East” magazine. “We wanted to ask some of the questions that maybe are dumb questions, but if you’re not in this [market] you might not know,” editor in chief Brian Kevin told 207. “Why aren’t we just having a building boom? Why aren’t we building houses left and right to meet some of this demand? Where are people coming from? Are there certain states that are feeders to Maine more than others?”
Kevin joined us on 207 to talk about that and other stories, including a profile of Scott Weidensaul, a writer, naturalist and expert on migratory birds. “I guess, “ Brian said as he stopped to think for a moment, “it’s an issue about migration.”