Sales prices of New Hampshire homes in November rose a full 5% from the same time last year, keeping the average purchase well above a half-million dollars as the number of available homes remained low.
“We are still in a market that excludes too many buyers, particularly young people whom the state needs to drive the economy,” said Susan Cole, the president of the New Hampshire Association of Realtors. “We have about a third the number of houses for sale that we did a decade ago, and when you have an inventory problem, you have an affordability problem.”
With a median price of $525,000 — meaning half of monthly sales were for less and half for more — housing remains very expensive. The association reported the state’s median household income “is just 60 percent of what is necessary to qualify for the median-priced home under today’s interest rates.”
Not since 2021 has that index been over 100, when median-income families could afford median-priced houses.
When it comes to inventory, the state lags national figures that show a 4.3 months’ supply, which is more than double the New Hampshire rate.
“Although the 2,092 homes on the market at the end of November represents a 19 percent increase from a year ago, it still provides just 2 months’ supply. … That’s well below the 5-7 months considered to be a balanced market,” New Hampshire Realtors wrote as part of their monthly housing report.
The last time New Hampshire saw a balanced market was October 2016, when 7,112 homes were for sale, more than three times the current number.
“Inventory is certainly higher than, say, three or four years ago,” Cole said. “But in context, we are still well short of what the state needs to see prices level off. ”