CONCORD, NH — The median sales price for a single-family home in New Hampshire in November dropped to the lowest it’s been since March, but the price of condos is quickly closing the gap, as low inventory continues to take its toll on the state’s housing market.
The median sales price for a single-family home in November was $450,000, according to the latest market report from the New Hampshire Association of Realtors. Median means that half of the houses sold in November sold for more, and half for less. Buyers paid 100.1% of the list price, down slightly from the 100.8% they paid in October. The average time on the market rose to 27 days from 21 in October.
Home buyers looking to tap into the traditionally lower-priced condo market are in for some sticker shock. The median sales price for a condo/townhouse property was $429,000 in November, an all-time high. A year ago, the MSP for a condo in New Hampshire was $355,000. The MSP for a condo/townhouse in New Hampshire hit $400,000 for the first time in June, dropped slightly below that in July and August, but breached the $400,000 mark again in September.
Condo buyers in November paid 101.1% above list price; the average time on the market for condo/townhouse properties was 23 days.
The drop in single-family home MSP gave a tiny boost to the affordability index for buyers, which rose to 64 from 59 in October. That means the state’s median household income is 64% of what is needed to pay the monthly cost of a median-priced home, including mortgage, taxes and insurance. An ideal affordability index is 100 or higher. The affordability index for a condo in November was 67, down from 84 in November 2022, and 140 in November 2021. It was 69 in October, when the MSP was $401,000.
Inventory of single-family homes dropped to 1.8, its August level, after rising to 2.1 in September. It was 2.0 in October. The indicator measures how many months it would take all the properties on the market to sell at the current sales pace if nothing new were added. An ideal inventory is 6-8 months, something New Hampshire has not had for more than a decade.
Inventory for a condo property was 1.6, the same as it was in October and higher than November 2022’s 1.4. It was 0.9 in November 2021.
There were 1,775 single-family homes for sale in New Namsphire at the end of November, compared with 1,830 at the end of November 2022. There were 541 condos for sale, up slightly from 12 months ago, when there were 532.
While closed sales of single-family homes were down 5.5% from 12 months ago, 1,034 — compared to 1,094 — pending sales and new listings were up slightly. There were 866 pending sales at the end of the month, compared to 859 pending 12 months ago, and there were 891 new listings, compared to 855 in November 2022.
The condo/townhouse market showed a similar trend. There were 338 closed sales in November, down slightly from 346 in November 2022 months before. Pending sales, however, were up — 292 in November, compared to 273 at the end of November 2022. There were 337 new listings, up from 298 at the end of November 2022.
Nationally, sales of existing homes were at their slowest pace since August 2010, during the Great Recession, according to the National Association of Realtors, as prospective buyers waited for mortgage rates and home prices to drop. Inventory also continues to be at historically low levels nationwide, with a 3.6 months’ supply of single-family homes.
“The shortage of available properties for sale has kept pressure on home prices, which have continued to climb despite the slowdown in sales,” the NHAR November report said. The MSP for a single-family home nationally was $391,800 in November, an all-time high for the month, with annual price gains reported in all four regions of the country, the NHAR reported.