New Hampshire housing market shows signs of cooling, but it’s all relative

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MANCHESTER, NH – New Hampshire’s housing market cooled off slightly in September, though it is still much hotter than it was at this time last year.

Year-over-year sales declined again for the fourth straight month, this time by 8.5 percent, and the median price was $400,000, a 14.1 percent increase from last year – the ninth double-digit increase this year.

But on a month-to-month basis, the median is $10,000 lower than August’s, when it was $410,000. The median price of a single-family home in New Hampshire has been $400,000 or more since May.

Once again, those homes sold for more than the asking price, but at a 1.8 percent margin, compared to a 4.4 percent margin in June. And they’ve taken a bit more time to sell: 21 days in September as opposed to only 18 days in June and July, but it’s still a much faster rate than September 2020, when homes were on the market for an average of 45 days.

A continued shortage of inventory has been driving the high prices and quick sales. There were 2,049 homes on the market in September, 21.2 percent less than last September, and over 350 fewer than in August. That represents 1.3 months of inventory, down by about 10 days in August. There was a 3.7-month inventory last September.

In terms of hot and cold markets, Merrimack County saw the biggest jump in sales last month – 27 percent, with a median price of $399,000, a 21 percent increase. Coos County cooled off the most, with a 29.8 percent drop in sales but the biggest increase – 33.4 percent – in median price, which stood at $170,000, lowest among the counties. Rockingham County’s median price remains the highest, with a $515,000 median price, though prices there only” climbed by nearly 11 percent from last year.

Homes in Hillsborough County went fastest – 17 days, down from 26 last year – and Sullivan County’s went in an average of 21 days, a whopping 42 days fewer than the 63-day average recorded last September.


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About this Author

Bob Sanders

ReporterNew Hampshire Business Review