The cost of buying a house in New Hampshire has reached record highs all summer, including last month when the median price ballooned to $550,000, the local real estate agents group said.
Median home prices rose 2.8% in the Granite State in August compared to the year prior, according to the New Hampshire Association of Realtors, which also tracks condominium activity. Home prices have now grown year over year for 67 straight months, according to the group's latest market report.
Homebuyers and sellers are approaching the market with different mindsets now that prices are continuing to climb, said Plymouth-based Sara Holland, an agent at Coldwell Banker Realty Center Harbor.
"If you're a seller, you still want to ride that kind of COVID high where your prices have increased and you have aspirational pricing and you get what you want really quickly with no contingencies," Holland said in an association podcast interview. "And on the buy side, you're being a bit more reserved."
New Hampshire is in a severe housing shortage brought on by stalled new-home construction that hasn't kept pace with the state's rising population.
A 2023 projection from state officials found that New Hampshire will likely welcome 74,400 new households between 2020 and 2040, which means the housing market will need to add another 90,000 units to keep up with demand. Most of those 90,000 will need to be detached, single-family homes, state officials said.
Housing is also in short supply because a large number of Granite Staters are retiring in place, occupying homes that would normally sell, according to the 2023 projection from New Hampshire Housing, a nonprofit that operates rental and homeownership programs to help low- and moderate-income people find affordable housing.
Supply is short, but inventory is climbing
The number of homes available for sale grew in August, with single-family inventory climbing 23% year over year in August from 2,092 to 2,569. New listings rose 11% from 1,448 to 1,609.
Thousands of homes are for sale in New Hampshire — including a three-bedroom Cape Cod in Nashua for $629,900, a three-bedroom Colonial in Concord for $799,900 and a four-bedroom farmhouse in Fitzwilliam for $695,000.
Despite prices growing, New Hampshire buyers are still inking deals. Closed single-family home sales grew 2% year over year in August from 1,340 to 1,367. Pending sales jumped 21% from 1,181 to 1,428.
"If a property is priced correctly for what it is, then it is going to sell fairly quickly," Holland said on the podcast. Homes were sitting a little bit longer on the market — 25 days on average compared to 23 days in August 2024.
For condos, the median sales price rose 1.7% year over year in August from $408,089 to $415,000. Days on market were flat at 29.
Closed sales of condo units grew 1.7% from 412 to 419, while pending sales grew 24% from 370 to 459. Inventory of condos rose 9.5% from 707 to 774, and new listings jumped 2.8% from 467 to 480.