HUD's Fair Market Rent (FMR) is the 40th-percentile gross rent for standard-quality units in a Section 8 area. PHAs use FMR to set voucher payment standards (usually 90–110% of FMR). Investors use FMR as a ceiling for underwriting Section 8 rent in Maine because the local housing authority will not approve a HAP contract above the rent-reasonableness test tied to FMR.
Fair Market Rent (FMR) is HUD's published estimate of gross rent — rent plus tenant-paid utilities — for standard-quality units by bedroom count in each Maine county or metro area. Public housing agencies use FMR to set Housing Choice Voucher payment standards.
Is Fair Market Rent the same as the rent a Section 8 landlord receives?+
Not necessarily. The housing agency sets a payment standard that is usually a percentage of FMR, then the approved contract rent depends on rent reasonableness, unit condition, and the tenant's income. The housing assistance payment (HAP) covers the agency's share and the tenant pays the balance.
How is FMR used when underwriting a rental in Maine?+
FMR is a useful market reference for modeling rental income when there is no executed lease, alongside the appraiser's rent schedule. Lenders underwrite to the lesser of documented rent or the appraiser's market rent, subject to program guidelines.
How current is the Maine FMR data on this page?+
The figures are pulled live from the HUD User API for the current published fiscal year. HUD revises FMRs annually, and mid-year Small Area FMR updates can apply in some metro areas.
Local market news & updates
What the latest published data says about Maine
Every update below is a published figure from a named federal source, shown with the exact period that source covers. Where a dataset is only produced at county or state level, it is labelled that way rather than presented as city data. These are market statistics for informational purposes only — they are not rates, loan terms, or an offer of credit.
State dataData through ACS estimates, ACS 5-Year 2023
Maine housing costs — ACS estimates, ACS 5-Year 2023
The most recent published Census reading for Maine shows a median owner-occupied home value of $266,400, a median gross rent of $1,084 per month. These are survey estimates for the period shown, not live listing prices, and they are the starting point investors use to sanity-check a rent assumption before underwriting a DSCR file.
State dataData through ACS estimates, ACS 5-Year 2023
Maine renter demand indicators — ACS estimates, ACS 5-Year 2023
Census reports a population of 1,377,400, a median household income of $71,773, a rental vacancy estimate of 21.1% for Maine. Income and vacancy set the practical ceiling on achievable rent, which is what a DSCR calculation is ultimately built on.
Source periods represented above: ACS estimates, ACS 5-Year 2023. Each figure updates only when its publisher releases a new period — we never restamp an older reading with a newer date.
Informational market data only. Nothing in this section is a rate, an annual percentage rate, a payment, a loan term, an approval, or an offer or commitment to lend. Citing a federal dataset does not imply the agency endorses, sponsors or is affiliated with Simply Approved Mortgages LLC (NMLS #2620881). Financing referenced on this page is business-purpose investment property financing.
Buying Section 8 property in Maine?
Send the address and asking rents — we'll compare to HUD FMR and reply with DSCR pricing feedback.
A DSCR file is judged on the property, not your tax returns: qualifying rent divided by PITIA — principal, interest, taxes, insurance, plus HOA and flood where they apply. Most programs use the lesser of the in-place lease rent and the appraiser's market rent, so a lease signed below market usually caps the ratio no matter how strong the comps look.
Three inputs move the outcome more than anything else: rent support on the appraiser's rent schedule (Form 1007 or 1025), the LTV tier, and the credit tier. Dropping leverage by five points or moving up a FICO band frequently changes pricing more than shopping a different lender does.
Before you write an offer, price taxes and insurance at post-sale levels rather than the seller's current bill. In reassess-on-transfer states and in coastal insurance markets, that single adjustment is the most common reason a deal that penciled at contract fails the ratio at underwriting.
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