New home construction has jumped in southern Maine, near the city of Portland, while construction has remained stagnant in the rest of the state. Even with the increases, the number of building permits being issued is still lower than the recession began. Builders are not optimistic about 2013. “We’ve been running along the bottom for three years,” Mark Patterson of Patco Contruction, INc. told the Portland Press Herald. “Every year I’ve said it can’t get any worse. I don’t see a big increase next year.”

The growth in home starts may in part be fueled by a stronger economy in that section of the state. Cumberland and York Counties have unemployment rates of 5.6 and 5.8 percent, while the statewide average is 7.6 percent. Mr. Patterson noted that the strongest growth is nearest Route 95, which goes through Massachusetts and New Hampshire and then upwards through Maine.

An online poll of 668 readers responding to the question “Do you think southern Maine’s real estate market is starting to rebound” found them evenly split on the answer.