The Maine housing market this year was defined by steadily increasing home and rental prices, a short supply of housing laid bare in a landmark state report, heightened rates of homelessness and big ideas from legislators.
Here are five numbers that help to sum up the state of Maine housing in 2023, and why they matter going into 2024.
$95,000
That’s how much a household needs to make annually in order to comfortably afford the median home in Maine right now, according to Zillow’s affordability calculator. The median income for a household here in 2022 was $68,000, according to census data.
The median home price in Maine this November was $355,000, according to a report from the Maine Association of Realtors. That is a 9-percent increase from last year. Hancock saw the largest increase at 32 percent, as median prices shot up from just under $325,000 to $429,000, according to that report.
It all underscores a simple truth for this generation of homebuyers: A generation ago, it was easier for people at all income levels to buy a house, yet that is out of reach for most now.
“Buying a home in Maine now is not affordable for the majority of Mainers,” the housing report sponsored by the state found in October.
$1,293
That was the fair-market monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Bangor during the federal fiscal year ending this September, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
It is a relatively representative figure for the state and is a 6.3 percent increase over last year. It also means someone renting a two-bedroom in Bangor must make nearly $52,000 in order to not be cost-burdened, defined as paying more than 30 percent of income on housing.
In Portland, the comparable figures are $1,946 and nearly $78,000 in required income. There’s potentially hope on the horizon in Maine’s largest city, though, as Portland landlords report that the market is cooling for the first time in years.
But whether property managers will widely lower the price of their units to fit the needs of tenants remains to be seen. There is an acute shortage of units in cities and towns of all sizes in Maine, which means premium prices are likely to be the standard going forward.
2,274
That’s the number of building permits that 45 of Maine’s most populous municipalities issued from January to September this year, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The towns and cities that have issued the most permits so far this year are Westbrook (303), Portland (147), Sanford (135), Bridgton (126) and Kittery (122). Since 2017, Scarborough has permitted more new units than any other Maine municipality at just over 1,700.
About 4,800 building units are permitted each year in Maine, the state’s landmark housing study found. That rate of permitting should be increased by at least 77 percent each year to meet the state’s goal of producing at least 76,400 additional homes by 2030, it said.
6,384
That is the tiny increase from mid-2022 to mid-2023 in Maine’s total population, which now sits just above 1.395 million, according to census data. From mid-2020 to earlier this year, Maine had the 14th highest population growth rate among states. Since 2022, we are 20th.
This suggests that the population surge that came to Maine during the COVID-19 pandemic is flattening out, returning the state to dire demographic projections that include an expected 5.3 percent decline in Maine’s working-age population between 2020 and 2030, and a 36-percent increase in the 65-plus population, according to a report from the Maine state economist.
Maybe there will be less out-of-state competition for homes in the next year, but that won’t be a tremendous relief for Mainers. The root of the housing crisis is a shortage of available homes.
124
That’s how many tents there are in Portland as of Dec. 27, according to data published by the city. It is down sharply from October, when there were 277 tents in Maine’s largest city. It is normal for homeless populations to drop temporarily after cold weather sets in.
Of the 124 tents still up in the city, 91 tents are staked on public property, 29 are on private property and 4 are on state property. Most of those tents form the last large homeless encampment in the city at Harbor View Memorial Park under the Casco Bay Bridge.
This comes after controversial “sweeps” like those at the Bayside Trail, Deering Oaks Park and along Marginal Way, cleared camps earlier this year. A sweep of the Harbor View encampment is planned for Thursday.
Encampments in other major Maine cities this year, like Bangor and Waterville, have caused contention among local officials, residents, business owners and people living in these tents over how to help homeless people find stable housing. It will be a problem into the new year.
