Maine’s new housing seeing particular growth in multifamily development

The housing crunch in Maine has not eased in the past year.

The median sales price for existing homes topped the $400,000 mark for the first time in June, at $406,000, and again hit $400,000 for the month of August.

But there are signs of progress.

In recent months, we’ve seen Avesta Housing, Acadia National Park, public housing agencies and private investors developing new affordable housing. 

This week, U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, introduced legislation that would make it easier to add housing in rural areas. The Farmhouse-to-Workforce Housing Act would expand the existing Housing Preservation Grants program so rural home owners could create additional housing, including rental housing, on their property. Examples could be an attached apartment unit or a small home nearby, King’s office said.

Another indicator that the call for housing is being heard is the latest numbers for building permits.

Maine is on pace to have the same number of new units as last year, 6,123 — which would outdistance both 2019 and 2020. 

In the past five years, 2022 stands above with 7,094 housing units approved in Maine, according to data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Through eight months of 2024, Maine municipalities have approved permits for 4,122 housing units, of which 3,192 were single-family homes. 

Among the six New England states, Maine’s housing growth is second only to Massachusetts. 

Multifamily housing

One of the areas of growth is multifamily housing. 

Through August, Maine approved 681 units of multifamily housing. In all, 64 structures were approved. At that pace, the number of multifamily structures approved this year would outpace the each of the past five years.