November stats show slowing New Hampshire real estate market
Sales fall as prices, interest rates rise
The New Hampshire real estate market is slowing, thanks to tighter inventory, rising prices and interest rates.
Single-family home sales in November fell by a little more than 1 percent compared to November 2017 same month last year, while the median price went up by more than 7 percent, to $287,000, according to the NH Association of Realtors’ monthly market report. Houses are snapped up in 61 days, seven fewer than last year and 20 fewer than November 2016.
Prices have largely gone up because of lack of supply. There were 4,922 homes for sale in November, about 700 fewer than a year ago and 1,500 fewer than two years ago. The number of homes for sale was down 18 percent compared to last year, and new listings are off by nearly nine percent compared to last year.
Increased prices, combined with a rising interest rates, are making homes less affordable, said Bill Weidacher, a Bedford Realtor.
“This is not sustainable,” he said. “You have six, seven, eight years of appreciation in the high single digits. Wages are not keeping up with the increases.”
Weidacher said he expects 2019 to return to being a more “normal” market, with homes staying on the market for 90 days rather than 60 and slower price growth.
Rachel Eames, immediate past president of the NH Association of Realtors, who mainly sells along the Route 4 corridor from Concord to the Seacoast, said she has been doing well personally. But she acknowledged a pretty cool November for others, perhaps because of the “crazy weather.” It is also the time when the most of the homes on the market are “the ones you have left.”
However, November is following trends seen during the rest of the year.
Year-to-date, sales are down 0.8 percent and prices are up 7.4 percent and the affordability index is down 18.5 percent. Condo sales are off 1.4 percent through November. The median price of a condo has gone up 11.1 percent for the month and 6.8 percent for the year.
