Supply woes worsen as New Hampshire home prices continue to rise

Less is more when it comes to real estate. The number of home sales in New Hampshire last month dropped by nearly 15% from a year ago as prices climbed by 18%.

For the past three months the median price for a single-family home in New Hampshire has been hovering at about $400,000. and it was $402,000 in July. More importantly, inventory – the number of homes on the market – which had been rising, started to fall again. And new listings, which had been climbing since December, fell by 500 from June to July, to 1,832, which is 15% below July 2020. The number of homes for sale dropped by nearly 200 from June and was down 40% from last July.

The average home was snapped up in 18 days, and it was 13 days in hot markets like Hillsborough and Rockingham counties, where the median home prices were $415,000 and $520,000, respectively

But the biggest price increases percentage-wise were in the summer getaway counties. In Carroll, home prices went up by more than a third to $381,000 in July, and in Coos, they went up by a quarter and have risen by 36% year-to-date, to $172,000, still the state’s lowest median price.

On the whole, homes are selling at about 4% over asking prices.

As for condos, the median price rose by a fifth, to $294,000, and sales were down 14.5%. New condo listings were down 22%, with nearly half the number of units for sale compared to a year ago. They are selling for 3% above asking price.

When it comes to supply, things aren’t looking much better for August. Pending home sales were down by 11% in July, and pending condo sales were down 18%.