Maine’s first statewide housing count beat the 2025 goal — but permits aren’t finished homes
Maine exceeded its 2025 housing-permitting goal, according to the state’s first statewide housing data collection. But the result comes with a critical limitation for residents tracking whether more homes are becoming available: a building permit authorizes construction; it does not prove a home was completed, occupied or added to the market.
The report released June 26, 2026, estimated that 7,499 housing units received permits in Maine during 2025. That was 599 units, or about 9 percent, above the statewide target of 6,900.
After municipalities reported 518 housing units receiving demolition permits, the estimated net increase was 6,981 units. That remained slightly above the state goal, but it is still a measure of permitted activity rather than a complete count of newly available homes.
What Maine counted
The dataset was created under Maine’s statewide housing reporting program established through LD 1184 and amended by LD 2079. The program is intended to give state and local officials more consistent information about housing permits, demolitions and certificates of occupancy.
The 7,499-unit estimate combines direct reports from 182 municipalities with data from the Land Use Planning Commission and the U.S. Census Building Permit Survey. The municipal survey accounted for 5,460 permitted units. LUPC data added 349 units, and Census estimates added 1,690.
Most reported permitted units were single-family homes. Across the combined statewide estimate, single-family units represented 67 percent of permits, larger multifamily developments of five or more units represented 20 percent, and accessory dwelling units represented 7 percent. The report cautions that ADUs may be undercounted because the Census survey does not identify them separately and municipalities may classify them differently.
Permits do not equal completed homes
The state report specifically notes that permit data can overstate eventual production because not every permitted unit is built and occupied.
For 2025, 3,264 housing units were reported as receiving certificates of occupancy or an equivalent approval process. However, only 128 municipalities reported those figures, and Maine communities do not all use the same system. Some do not issue certificates of occupancy, while others use certificates of compliance or track equivalent approvals differently.
That makes the 3,264 figure an additional indicator of construction progress, not a complete statewide completion count. It should not be compared one-for-one with the 7,499 permitted units as if it represented all homes completed in Maine that year.
The first count has reporting gaps
The 2025 reporting cycle was treated as a pilot year. Of the 88 municipalities with populations of at least 4,000 that were required to report, 79 submitted data. Another 103 municipalities participated voluntarily. Together, the 182 direct respondents represented about 73.3 percent of Maine’s population.
To fill gaps, the state used LUPC information for 108 jurisdictions and Census estimates for another 210 county subdivisions. In total, permit data was available for 429 of Maine’s 529 Census-recognized county subdivisions, plus 71 additional unorganized territories. No permit data from the available sources was reported for 100 county subdivisions.
The state plans to collect the information annually. That should provide a better basis for comparing housing activity over time, although participation and local tracking practices may continue to affect the results.
Southern Maine led, but key counties missed targets
Housing activity was concentrated in southern Maine. Portland led all municipalities with 548 permitted units, followed by Biddeford with 220, Lewiston with 186, Sanford with 180 and Windham with 169.
That concentration did not mean the region met every benchmark. Cumberland County recorded 1,845 permitted units, 75 below its target of 1,920. York County recorded 1,449 units, 151 below its target of 1,600. Statewide, nine counties exceeded their targets and seven fell short.
The pattern matters because a statewide total can conceal where construction is occurring relative to job centers, services and local housing needs. Maine Public reported that some seasonal and recreation-oriented communities had high permitting rates per resident, while Cumberland and York counties still missed their county-level targets. That context does not establish how every permitted unit will be used, but it shows why the statewide total alone is not enough to assess housing availability.
Affordable housing is a limited part of the reported total
Among the 182 municipalities that submitted direct survey data, 722 permitted units were identified as income-restricted affordable housing. Those units represented 13 percent of the 5,460 units reported through the municipal survey.
Only 12 municipalities reported permitting income-restricted units. The report warns that the total may undercount affordable production because municipalities were required to report affordability only if the information was known or readily available; they were not required to independently determine the status of every unit.
Municipalities reported 280 income-restricted units receiving certificates of occupancy or an equivalent in 2025. That number carries the same reporting limitations as the broader occupancy figure.
The target rises sharply after 2025
Maine’s 2025 result is the starting point for a more demanding schedule. The statewide annual target rises from 7,600 permitted units in 2026 to 8,800 in 2027, 10,100 in 2028, 11,600 in 2029 and 13,300 in 2030.
Maine’s housing-needs work estimated a need for between 76,400 and 84,300 new permitted units by 2030. The annual targets are goals, not achieved results, and meeting them will require substantially more permitting activity than Maine recorded in 2025.
For residents, the new count offers a better statewide baseline but not a simple answer to whether rents or home prices will fall. Future annual figures should be read as indicators of construction activity. The more direct measures of housing becoming available will be completed units, occupancy data, affordability and where those homes are located.
Sources
- 2025 Statewide Housing Data Collection Results Summary
- Maine Public housing data report
- Portland Press Herald housing data report
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