Slowdown begins to rear its head in New Hampshire’s real estate market
30 percent drop in home and condo sales reported in November as inventory grows
Home sales in New Hampshire fell by 30.9 percent in November compared to last year, and while prices rose by 8.3 percent, to $435,000, it was the slowest price hike of the year, showing the housing slowdown has definitely begun.
According to the latest statistics released by the NH Association of Realtors, homes were staying on the market an average of 28 days last month – more than twice the rate seen in May and June. At that time, homes were averaging about 5 percent over the asking price, about $460,000. In the last two months. the sale price averaged 99.7 percent of asking price in October and 99.9 percent in November.
Sales have been down all year to some extent, but mainly due to shrinking inventory. In the last few months, something else is going on.
“Certainly, interest rates slowed things down,” said Adam Gaudet, owner of 603 Birch Realty in Concord and president of the Realtors Association. “Buyers aren’t in as much of a frenzy as they were in the spring. They are not going to rush in and overpay for something. Those days of $30,000 over asking are not happening,”
Inventory, whose scarcity drove double-digit price hikes earlier this year, has grown in the last two months, by 13.7 percent in October and 20.2 percent in November. Still, pending sales in November dropped 23 percent to 959, the first time that number has dipped under a thousand since February.
Despite the small price hike, interest rates have pushed homes out of the reach for many buyers. The affordability index declined nearly 35 percent compared to last year.
Meanwhile, the median prices for condos increased 16.4 percent, to $355,000. Sales are down by nearly 30 percent, and they stayed on the market for 24 days. The affordability index has declined by 40 percent.
Single-family homes sales fell sharpest in Merrimack County, by 39.3 percent. As they have for many months, Rockingham County homes sold at the highest price in November $590,000, a 14 percent increase. The median price dropped in Coos by 34 percent, to $165,000.
