MEREDA has released its 18th edition of the MEREDA Index. A key economic indicator for the state of Maine, the latest edition of the MEREDA Index showed a decline of 1.5% between 2022 and 2023. The driver of the decline was the residential index, which declined 11.3% as interest rate increases being driven to offset inflation began to seriously bite into real estate markets. The commercial and construction components of the index both increased, by 23.5% in the former case and 2.3% in the latter case. These increases were not sufficient to offset the drops in residential activity.
The MEREDA Index 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 edition covers the year 2023. The MEREDA Index was tabulated by economist Dr. Charles Colgan.
Download the full copy of the report here.