Thanks to innovative efforts at the federal and state levels, better times are on the horizon for housing. Necessity, as the old saying goes, is the mother of invention
Last year and earlier this year, headlines were filled with housing market and economic woes, but looking ahead, the situation appears to be improving.
At the federal level, the President and Congress have approved several initiatives, including foreclosure assistance,tax credits for first-time homebuyers, help in financing new affordable rental housing, increased weatherization funding, and several other important programs, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act).
And Maine has taken bold steps of its own, including MaineHousing’s Gift of Green promotion – which offered financial incentives to get potential first-time homebuyers off the fence and into homes of their own – and green job creation. Maine also has been quick to act to secure and use Recovery Act funds.
These initiatives are working.
• In June, Maine home sales were up over June 2008 – the first month in nearly two years that the number of Maine sales was higher than in the same month of the preceding year.
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• In July, MaineHousing sold housing bonds for the first time since last fall; the bond market has improved dramatically in the past few months. The $25 million raised from private investors will be used in the Gift of Green program. More sales are planned.
• The Recovery Act is pumping new money into Maine’s housing market this summer, already providing $14 million to finance affordable rental housing (165 new or rehabilitated apartments) and $20.9 million to expand weatherization efforts (out of an eventual $42 million) to improve energy efficiency in 4,000 homes.
• Additional homes will be weatherized through the private sector, helped by the creation of Maine’s new energy agency, the Efficiency Maine Trust.
Innovation. Creative programs. New public and private initiatives.
We are all working to put people back to work and make the dream of home ownership a reality.
This year’s conference is a time to build on what we have started, ensuring that next year will continue to be better.
-John E. Baldacci, Governor
-Dale McCormick, MaineHousing Director
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