Latest New Hampshire housing market numbers show supplies getting tighter

Realtors report shrinking inventory, rising prices in September

Single-family home sales in New Hampshire rose by 1 percent on a year-over-year basis in September and condo sales rose by 11.1 percent, but a shortage of inventory is still plaguing the market, according to date released by the NH Association of Realtors.

In addition, the Realtors reported that, with yet another increase in the median sale price of single-family homes – to $265,000 from $255,000 in September 2016 – “home prices have reached unaffordable levels for many new entrants into the housing pool at exactly the same time that established owners are proving to be less interested in moving.”

According to the Realtors new listings of single-family homes in September were down 2.7 percent, to 1,904, with a drop of 3.4 percent, to 487, for condo properties.

Meanwhile, pending sales increased – up 15.9 percent to 1,780, for single-family homes and 10.2 percent, to 464, for condo properties.

But the big concern, as it has been for over a year, is the drop of 21.8 percent in months supply of inventory (4.3 months in September 2017 from 5.5 months in September 2016) for single-family homes, along with a 28.6 percent plunge for condo units (3.0 months in 2017 from 4.2 months a year ago).

Looked at another way, there were 6,418 single-family homes on the market in September, 19.6 percent fewer than the 7,981 on the market a year earlier. And there were 1,181 condo units on the market in September, 24.6 percent fewer than the 1,566 on the market a year ago.

One other sign of an extremely tight market: Sellers of single-family homes received an average of 97.8 percent of their asking price. For condos, the average was 98.9 percent.