Maine
Affordable housing stock expected to increase in Maine, but high costs are still straining owners, renters
A new house under construction on Dylan Drive in Scarborough in October 2023. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald, file
Construction of affordable housing in Maine is expected to rise this year, and while the cost of building remains high, it is starting to level off, the state’s housing authority reported Wednesday.
It also warned that higher home prices could continue to limit access to home ownership while renters, too, face a budget squeeze.
In the “first edition of what is intended to be an annual summary of the state of the housing and housing-related issues in Maine,” MaineHousing showed a mixed picture of statistics and trends affecting the state’s economy, industry, homebuyers and homeless people. The scope of the report is broader than others the agency has released and incorporates more national context.
Inflation and growth in wages and employment — economic indicators that are the basis for industrial activity — are “expected to be consistent with stable economic growth in the coming years,” the 19-page report said. Construction employment in the state grew by 7.3% between 2023 and 2024 and new housing starts in the northeastern states sharply increased between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2024, exceeding recent quarterly averages by nearly 50%.
The per-unit development costs related to MaineHousing-financed units more than doubled from $150,000 to over than $300,000 between 2019 and 2024, though data from last year could change.
Home buyers face daunting financial challenges. Rising home prices “continue to be a primary concern for homeownership access in Maine,” the report said. From 2020 to 2024, the median home price in Maine grew by more than 50% while Mainers’ wages and salaries grew by less than 33.3%, it said.
The Maine Association of Realtors reported in January that the annual median sale price of a home in Maine was $390,200 in 2024, up a little over 8% from the 2023 median — and previous record — of $360,000. The median is the price at which half of the homes sell for more and half sell for less.
Citing Census data, MaineHousing said that from 2020 through 2023, the median home price in Maine increased by 43.5%, while the U.S. median price increased 39.1%.
Financial burdens weigh heavily on renters, too. The proportion of households in the $20,000-$34,999 income range that spent more than 30% of their income on housing — considered “cost burdened” — increased to about 80% in 2023 from about 65% in 2013. The increase was even greater for those in the income range of $35,000 and $49,999 — more than half were cost burdened in 2023, up from 30% 10 years earlier.
The picture was brighter for home construction. MaineHousing said it completed 775 affordable housing units in 2024 and another 1,005 units are in progress, with 727 expected to be completed this year. But MaineHousing’s average cost per unit increased in 2024 for a third consecutive, though currently financed projects indicate that costs are “leveling off.”
And foreclosures have fallen. Since July 2022, a monthly average of 1,225 notices of default were issued in Maine, 40% lower than the monthly average before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to MaineHousing.
In addition, evictions are down, with annual statewide eviction filings falling to 4,290 in 2024, from 5,977 in 2023, a 28% drop. It was the first year that fewer evictions were served since the eviction moratorium in 2020.
Although the average length of stay in homeless shelters increased to 11.6 days in 2024, up 38% from the previous year, the average number of people who reentered the homeless services system fell 43% after having exited to a permanent housing solution less than 12 months earlier. The number of people in shelters, unsheltered and in transitional housing increased to more than 2,300 last year, from fewer than 1,700.
Many Maine municipalities will open cooling centers this week with the National Weather Service issuing a variety of heat advisories covering the next few days.
The Maine DEP also issued an air quality alert for Wednesday with ground-level ozone expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
All of York County, interior Cumberland and Androscoggin counties, and the southern half of Oxford County will fall under an extreme heat warning from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday.
The warning calls for “dangerously hot conditions” that could feature heat index values of up to 110 degrees, with overnight lows only expected to fall into the 70s, according to the weather service’s office in Gray.
The rest of the state — save northern Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties — falls under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the weather service has also placed much of the state under an extreme heat watch for Thursday.
Heat index values, which measure how hot it feels to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature, are expected to reach up to 104 degrees during the heat advisory period, the weather service warns. They could reach 110 degrees Thursday, when the extreme heat watch is in effect.
Northern Oxford and Franklin counties, and central Somerset County, can expect a heat index value of up to 99 degrees Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The weather service advises people to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms when possible, avoid extended periods in the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors. It also warns not to leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles, as “car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.”
Cooling Centers
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has also issued an air quality alert from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday along the coast from Kittery to Acadia National Park. The agency warns that ground-level ozone concentrations are expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Ozone levels may reach “moderate levels” further inland, according to the Maine DEP, including in all of Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, as well as parts of Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
Elevated ozone levels can pose a risk to children, older adults and people suffering from respiratory or heart diseases, according to the Maine DEP. Anyone exerting themselves outdoors may also experience health effects, which could include coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation and mild chest pain.
Ozone levels were already climbing in southern New England on Tuesday, according to the Maine DEP, and winds are expected to bring those conditions to Maine on Wednesday.
The Maine DEP recommends that vulnerable populations avoid strenuous outdoor activities, keep windows closed, and circulate indoor air with fans or air conditioners. Those with asthma are also advised to keep quick-relief medication handy.
Particle pollution levels are also expected to be moderate across the state on Wednesday due to wildfire smoke, the Maine DEP said in its announcement Tuesday. Wildfires in Colorado, which have claimed the lives of three firefighters, had burned nearly 90,000 acres as of Tuesday, according to the Denver Post.
Maine could face up to $50 million in penalties next year due to errors in its payments for federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Newly released data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture find that Maine’s error rate last year was nearly 11%, the bulk of which were overpayments. That’s in line with the U.S. average. But starting in October of next year, states with error rates above 6% must cover a portion of the SNAP benefits.
Anna Korsen, executive director of Full Plates, Full Potential, said the overpayments aren’t fraud — they’re human error. She said this new cost-shifting policy enacted last year under the Trump administration further complicates the SNAP application process.
“Instead, we could make this program more accessible and more efficient,” Korsen said. “And that would reduce the number of errors and also ensure that Mainers who are eligible for SNAP have access to it.”
She’s urging Congress to delay or reverse the policy under the farm bill that’s currently under consideration.
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services said it’s taking steps to reduce the error rate, including modernizing its systems and hiring an additional 40 eligibility specialists.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
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