AUGUSTA – MaineHousing has announced its Homeownership Department has set a new record for the total value of new First Home loans purchased in 2022, topping its previous record by 56 percent. The agency purchased First Home loans valued at just over $177.7 million up from its previous record, set in 2021, of $152 million.

Contributing to the record loan amount and the demand for MaineHousing's First Home Loan by first-time buyers were record home prices requiring larger loan amounts and an increased down payment assistance program, according to MaineHousing's Director of Homeownership Craig Reynolds.

"Despite the many challenges faced by Maine’s first time home buyers in 2022, the keys to our First Home Loan program’s success are its $5,000 down payment assistance grant and consistently below market mortgage interest rates” Reynolds said.

He added that MaineHousing's 30-year fixed rate mortage loan has held at 5.50% since late September of 2022. The MaineHousing rate remains nearly a full point lower than the nearest competitive rate in Maine as of December 28, 2022. 

As a non-profit, quasi-governmental entity, MaineHousing's operating budget and salaries are paid by the interest made from its loan portfolio, investing that funding into the agency's mission of providing safe, warm, and affordable housing for Maine people.

In congratulating Reynolds and his team MaineHousing Director Daniel Brennan said their work is instrumental in helping to fund MaineHousing's many other operations.

"This work solidifies our already solid financial position and allows other areas of our agency to serve the most needy in our state in innovative and creative ways," Brennan said. MaineHousing Finance and Treasury departments were also instrumental in maintaining the agency's solid financial footing in 2022, Brennan added.

A full list of housing and housing-related programs available to help Maine people can be found on the MaineHousing’s website at: www.mainehousing.org