Robust spring market pushes NH home prices higher

This New Hampshire Association of Realtors chart from social media shows the 15 priciest communities for single-family homes. Nine of them are in Rockingham County.

So far this year, the median price of a single-family home has climbed ever upward — from $540,000 in January to $560,000 in April.

The highest median price ever recorded for a home in New Hampshire was $569,000 in June of last year. With a very active spring market transitioning into a very active summer sales season, the likelihood for a new record is a possibility, but not something that the president of the New Hampshire Association of Realtors (NHAR) is ready to predict.

“I see strong indicators suggesting the spring and summer real estate market will be robust.  Whether that results in continued increases in prices remains to be seen,” said Joshua Greenwald, NHAR president and owner/broker of Greenwald Realty Group in Keene.

“The trajectory of prices has been increasing steadily, so it is a reasonable assumption that prices will continue to rise over summer 2026,” he added.

New data from the NHAR point to ingredients for market pressures that could send future home pricing close to or beyond the June 2025 record.

The average number of days that it took to sell a home in April was eight. In a balanced market, it’s usually 47 to 62 days, something that New Hampshire hasn’t seen in many years.

Available inventory of homes showed some improvement in April, increasing 18%, the highest April level since 2020. Even so, according to NHAR, inventory remains far below historical norms. There were 1,966 homes for sale in April 2026, compared to 7,286 in April 2016 — a 73% decline over the past decade.

Months’ supply of inventory held steady at 1.8 months, well below the 5 to 6 months typically considered a balanced market.

According to the NHAR, one indicator of the robust market going forward is the pending home sales, which in April were up 24% compared to last April, marking the largest monthly increase since 2020.

Because pending sales reflect accepted offers that have not yet closed, this spike is a strong indicator that buyer activity is accelerating and could translate into higher closed sales in the months ahead, it said.

“We’re seeing a market where demand remains very strong, even as buyers continue to navigate limited inventory,” said Greenwald. “The increase in pending sales is an encouraging sign that more transactions are in the pipeline, but continued price growth also underscores how competitive the market remains.”

From $540,000 in January, the median price of a house here went to $525,000 in February, then $530,000 in March.

Continued high prices for homes puts continued pressure on a household’s ability to afford a home.

New data from WalletHub shows that New Hampshire ranks 8th in the country when it comes to the weight of mortgage debt.

WalletHub used its data to nationally compare the change in mortgage debt from Q3 2025 to Q4 2025. It found that New Hampshire’s mortgage debt increased by 0.64%, putting it eighth behind Alaska, Delaware, Maine, Nevada, California, South Carolina and Florida.

“Despite the smaller growth rate, New Hampshire residents carry relatively high mortgage balances overall, with the average reaching $230,535. This translates into a notably high average monthly mortgage payment of $2,377, placing the state among the top 10 for monthly costs,” said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

“Homeownership costs in New Hampshire are further impacted by high property taxes. The state has one of the highest effective real-estate tax rates in the country (1.66%), which can significantly increase the overall cost burden for homeowners,” Lupo added.

In a statement to NH Business Review, Lupo further noted that Granite Staters face high property taxes along with relatively high vehicle excise taxes, adding to the broader cost of living.

New Hampshire ranks 12th as the most expensive state to register a car. It ranks fourth in terms of the property tax burden.

In an interesting April 29 social media post, the NHAR noted the priciest communities in the state, given the sales data over the 12 previous months. It put New Castle as No. 1 with a median sales price of $2.25 million, followed by Hanover at $1.275 million, and Hampton Falls at $1.2 million. (See accompanying chart.)

Of the 15 priciest communities listed by the NHAR, nine are in Rockingham County, consistently the New Hampshire county with the highest median price for a single-family home.

In the residential condominium/townhouse market in the state, the median price in April decreased to $400,000 from $422,000 in March. The $400,000 in April compares to $410,000 in April 2025. The average days on market for the sale of a condo in April was seven.

Pending sales for condos also saw an uptick in April, indicating that the robust market for single-family sales might also be in store for condos as well.