New construction permits hit a post-Great Recession high in Maine last year
Photo / PETER VAN ALLEN
Yarmouth Commons, which will have 18 apartments, is one of many new construction projects around Maine.
Maine saw a significant increase in building permits issued last year, surpassing some benchmarks from the last building boom.
According to U.S. Census data, number of building permits issued last year was the highest since 2007, before the Great Recession of 2008-09.
For 2021, there were 6,825 building permits issued in Maine, 4 out of 5 of which were for single-family homes, according to Census data.
The value of all that new housing was $1.64 billion.
By comparison, in 2007, there were 5,690 building permits issued in Maine, with a valuation of $875 million. It was the last year of a buildup that collapsed with the recession of 2008-09. That building boom actually peaked in 2006, with 7,304 permits issued, and a valuation of $1.14 billion.
Among the six New England states last year, only Massachusetts issued more building permits than Maine. The Bay State issued 17,661 building permits last year, while New England states overall issued 36,809.
What's driving the new construction
While construction costs have spiked in the past two years, the cost of existing houses has also grown, and Realtors have repeatedly said in the past year that inventory is shrinking as is the average time a house is on the market.
"Since July [2021], sales demand has been strong, but constrained due to tight for-sale inventory availability," Madeleine Hill, president of the Maine Association of Realtors, said in the most recent monthly sales report.
For 2021, the median home price was $299,000, up 12.22% from $256,000 in 2020, according to the Maine Real Estate Information System Inc., better known as Maine Listings.
There were 20,401 homes sold in Maine in 2021, a 2.41% gain from 19,921 in 2020.
Median home prices were highest in Cumberland County, $434,900, up from $365,000 in 20020.
In York County, the median home price was $398,750 last year, up from $337,000 in 2020. In each county, sales were down single digits from a year ago.
Aroostook County had Maine’s most affordable houses, with a median price of $120,000, up 14.29% from $105,000 in 2020. Maine’s most-northerly county also saw Maine’s largest spike in home sales, going up 19.09%.
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