The Maine State Housing Authority announced this past Wednesday that the agency had awarded $12.8 million worth of state and federal affordable housing tax credits across seven projects in four counties representing a total of 319 units.
Taken together, it is estimated that these tax credits will generate $73.4 million in equity from private investors, $8.4 million in subsidy, and $34.5 million in loans from the Maine State Housing Authority.
The 319 units represent a combination of those which need to undergo preservation efforts and those which are yet to be built.
Projects set to receive these tax credits are spread across Cumberland, Oxford, Sagadahoc, and York counties.
About 44 percent of the beneficiary units will go toward older adults, while the remaining 66 percent will be for families.
The table below summarizes the developments that received a portion of these tax credits.
“The addition of the State of Maine’s Affordable Housing Tax Credit in 2019 by Governor Mills and the Legislature is allowing MaineHousing to fund seven developments rather than only five,” Maine State Housing Authority Director Dan Brennan said in a press release Wednesday.
“The State credit added $4.6 million to what will be allocated allowing for 115 more rental homes than would have been possible without it,” Brennan added.
“These valuable federal and state tax credit resources help add more than 300 affordable homes to what is an already historically large affordable housing development pipeline for Maine,” Brennan said. “Our many partners across Maine along with MaineHousing’s development team have been producing at historic levels for more than three years now, thanks in large part to Governor Mills and the Maine Legislature. We need to keep this momentum going as we look to the next legislative session.”
“The seven proposals we are funding will make long-lasting and significant positive impacts on the communities in which they will be built,” Maine State Housing Authority Director of Development Mark Wiesendanger said. “These proposals will provide much needed affordable housing and so much more.”
Click Here to Read the Full Press Release
Earlier this year, the Mills Administrated outlined recommendations for meeting the state’s housing production goals by 2030.
Following up on the 2023 State of Maine Housing Production Needs Study, this report represents the work of an advisory committee formed by the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to “create statewide and regional goals.”
In addition to outlining specific housing production goals — both at the statewide and county level — the report also details a number of specific strategies for increasing housing production over the next few years.
The group explains that the goals outlined in this report are not “mandatory requirements” and will be “reexamined and adjusted” over the next few years.
[RELATED: Mills Admin Outlines Recommendations for Meeting State Housing Production Goals by 2030]
According to economic data tracked by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the housing situation in Maine has never been so dire. The data shows that the rental vacancy rate — that is, the number of units available for rent — is lower than at any time since 1986, which is as far back as the data go.
The number of houses listed for sale has also declined drastically since 2016. In that year, there were nearly 14,000 homes listed for sale. As of August 2024, just 4,330 homes were listed for sale.
Although the number of active listings has increased slightly since earlier this year, the average home price has continued to skyrocket, meaning even those homes that do enter the market are often not available to the average Mainer. According to the house price index, which is calculated by the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, the price of homes in Maine has never been more expensive than now.
2023’s Housing Production Needs Study Revealed that Maine will need roughly 38,500 housing units to “remedy historic underproduction,” as well as an additional 37,900 to 45,800 units to meet future needs by 2030, for a total of 76,400 to 84,300 homes over the next few years.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="32914 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=32914">6 Comments
I am not working I am not working. Good luck Governor.
Milles said we had no money left! She is a Democrati or just another Lyer.
This is just all part of the government grift, take your money and funnel to our people under the disguise of helping you
Subsidized housing to attract more poverty and punish working people with more taxes.
They don’t want the state to have more good jobs or they’d change policies that include red tape, high taxes, outrageous energy costs, etc.
They want a permanent underclass and the non profit companies that build and run subsidized housing are happy to help.
Until Homan gets illegals shipped out you know that’s who will be placed there too.
I’m sure the average working 319 Mainers would LOVE to have $40,125.39 in their pockets for a downpayment on a house existing or to be built.
Government needs to get out of the housing market, and out of our pockets.
Silly Janet, of course there is a housing problem in Maine. Thousands of illegal aliens suddenly imported to suck up all the available resources. What a suprise!
Failing to plan is planning to fail.