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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 17 F E B R UA R Y 7 , 2 0 2 2 F O C U S C O M M E R C I A L D E V E LO P M E N T SAVE ON LIGHTING COSTS AND MAINTENANCE TIME FIND OUT MORE AT EFFICIENCYMAINE.COM/AT-WORK/LIGHTING-SOLUTIONS Replace older fluorescent tubes with LEDs for as little as $0.25 a tube aine's residential real estate market has grown at a blistering pace in the past two years. While the number of existing homes sold has started to slow down, it may have as much to do with the lack of inventory as a decline in demand. Even as the pace of existing home sales slows down, Maine last year issued the most building permits since 2007, before the Great Recession. F O C U S S TA R T S O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » M Home buyers paying more One thing that continues to grow is the cost of houses. For 2021, the median home price was $299,000, up from $256,000 in 2020, according to the Maine Realtors Association. 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 2020. 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 from $105,000 in 2020. Yet Maine's most-northerly county saw Maine's largest spike in home sales, going up 19.09%. New construction permits at a post-Great Recession high On the construction side, Maine has seen a significant increase in building per- mits issued. The number of building permits issued last year was the highest since 2007, before the Great Recession of 2008–09. Through December, there were 6,825 building permits issued in Maine, 4 out of 5 of which were for single-family homes, according to U.S. 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. (The building boom actually peaked in 2006, with 7,304 permits issued, and a valuation of $1.14 billion.) At least for 2021, among the six New England states, only Massachusetts issued more building permits than Maine. 2021 MEDIAN HOME PRICES BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED 2020 MEDIAN HOME PRICES Aroostook York Cumberland Maine Aroostook York Cumberland Maine 2006 2007 2021 $105,000 $337,000 $365,000 $256,000 $120,000 $398,750 $434,900 $299,000 7,304 5,690 6,825

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