New coastal homes boost regional building numbers
New home construction in southern Maine hit a five-year high this year, but data shows the growth is limited mostly to coastal areas of York County.
The Portland Press Herald reported that new home permits this year are nearly 35% higher than this time last year — 802 up from 594 — but Larry Duell, president of the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Maine told the paper that growth is slow west of I-95.
Based on permitting statistics the paper commissioned from Construction Data New England, covering 37 communities from Lewiston to Kittery, the number of housing permits issued this year still doesn't reach pre-recession figures. At the same time in 2007, 1,111 permits to build new homes had been issued.
The paper also reported that home renovations and additions were slightly behind one year ago, when 1,264 permits were issued. This year, 1,193 renovation and remodeling permits were issued in the first nine months of the year compared with 1,719 permits in 2007, prior to the recession.
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