MaineHousing Receives National Recognition For Affordable Home Development During New Orleans Conference

MaineHousing’s Affordable Homeownership Program (AHOP) was recognized for excellence during the National Council of State Housing Agencies' annual conference in New Orleans this week. Here MaineHousing Director Dan Brennan and MaineHousing Director of Government Relations and Communications Erik Jorgensen stand with the award for Homeownership, Encouraging New Construction.

NEW ORLEANS — MaineHousing’s Affordable Homeownership Program (AHOP) was recognized for excellence during the National Council of State Housing Agencies' annual conference in New Orleans this week.

AHOP, which utilized $20 million in state funding to subsidize the construction of 276 homes being made available for purchase at prices affordable to middle-income households, was one of just 19 from around the nation to be recognized by the NCSHA’s panel of judges.

“At a time when housing affordability has become a critical concern for Americans, this year’s awards program makes clear that state housing finance agencies are doing more than they ever have, with more creativity and commitment, to address the issue and its underlying causes,” said NCSHA Executive Director Stockton Williams.

Established in 1984, NCSHA’s Annual Awards for Program Excellence identify and elevate industry best practices and encourage continued HFA innovation. 

Member HFAs are eligible to submit initiatives for consideration in seven categories: Advocacy, Communications, Homeownership, Management Innovation, Rental Housing, Special Achievement, and Special Needs Housing.

MaineHousing’s AHOP was recognized in the category of Homeownership, Encouraging New Construction.

The award for Program Excellence is the second in as many years for MaineHousing’s Development Department, which was recognized in 2024 for its Rural Affordable Rental Housing Program. AHOP was highlighted for its simplicity, innovation, and successful execution.

MaineHousing Director Dan Brennan said the program was an example of trying something new, making it work and then making it better still. The program was modified to include both single-family homes and townhouses and condominium ownership models, allowing even more households to gain a foothold to ownership in a very tight housing market.

Brennan said the program was the result of strong support for the program from Maine Governor Janet Mills and a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers who have been steadfastly supporting affordable housing development across the state.

“Nobody on our team does this work for a prize,” Brennan said. “But we are still humbled and honored to be recognized. MaineHousing’s work is about helping the people of Maine to the best of our ability with housing and fostering homeownership for as many households as possible. AHOP helps achieve that enormous goal. However, this program would also not have been possible without the strong support we have received from Governor Janet Mills and lawmakers of all parties in the Maine Legislature. We are grateful to them not only for their support but also for their ideas.

At times, AHOP was a challenging program for our team, but we learned many valuable lessons from it, adapted to its requirements, and ultimately financed the creation of hundreds of new homes and homeowners. Many of these new homeowners have also been able to use a MaineHousing low-interest mortgage product and downpayment assistance to finance their AHOP purchase, which significantly compounds the affordability of their new home.”

And while the immediate impact of AHOP is on those who benefit from the program with a new, affordable home, the program also has other long-term positive effects on the economy.

These new homes, which are being built or have been built, in 21 locations across Maine, are also bolstering local property tax bases and creating new communities for many middle—income, working households.

“These homes are not only there for those starting out but may be the right size for an older couple to size down to, freeing another home to the market for purchase by a larger household,” said MaineHousing Director of Homeownership Patricia Harriman. “These for-purchase homes are diversifying the housing offerings in the local real estate markets where they are being built and providing new options for purchasers who may not have found a fit before.”

During a presentation on AHOP following the award, Harriman noted that in one development that was financed under AHOP, 12 of 18 affordable homes offered for purchase were purchased using a low-interest MaineHousing First-Time Homebuyer mortgage product. 

An artist's rendering of Wilbur Woods shows one example of a MaineHousing financed Affordable Homeownership Program development in Brunswick.