CONCORD, NH – Lack of inventory continues to be the story as the New Hampshire single-family home and condo market remained sluggish in March.
Nationally, existing home sales were up 14.5% from March 2022, but in New Hampshire, they were down 13.2%, according to the March monthly market report by the New Hampshire Association of Realtors this week. Meanwhile, prices continued to creep up and the affordability index inched down.
There was one month’s inventory available in the state in March. Four-to-six months’ inventory is considered to be what’s needed for a balanced market. While one month isn’t good, and slightly below February’s 1.1, it is an 11.1% improvement over last March’s 0.9. Condo inventory, a much smaller market in the state, was at 1.1, up from 0.8 in 2022. Nationally, inventory for existing single-family homes was 2.6 in March.
“Inventory remains suppressed in part because of mortgage interest rates, which nearly hit 7% before falling again in recent weeks,” the NHAR said in its report.
Nationally, the higher rates continued to put downward pressure on sales prices, which marked the end of a 131-month year-over-year price increase streak. The national median sales price in March was $363,000. Median means that half of the homes sold had a higher price, and half lower.
In New Hampshire, however, median sales price continued to increase, up to $445,000 for single-family homes, up from $440,000 a year ago, for a 1.1% increase. The median sales price for condos in March was $360,000, up 2.9% from March 2022.
The affordability index took another dive, dropping to 70 from March 2022’s 80 and February’s 72. An affordability index of 70 means that median income in New Hampshire is 70% of what’s necessary to qualify to buy a median-priced home. The index takes into consideration what a monthly payment would be, measuring price, interest rates, property taxes and insurance.
Other key March New Hampshire statistics:
- New single-family home listings were down 25.6% from a year ago, to 997 from 1,340; there were 373 new listings for condos, down 22.1% from 479.
- There were 981 pending sales in March, down from 1,047 a year ago. There were 335 pending condo sales, down from 422 a year ago.
- Average days on market for a single-family home was 37, up from 32 in March 2022; for a condo, it was 41, up from 24.
- Percentage of listing price received was 100.6%, down from 103.4%a year ago, and up from 99% in February; for condos it was 100.7%, down from 103.6% a year ago.
- Volume of closed sales for single-family homes was $381.7 million, down 12.2% from $434.8 million; for condos it was $111.7 million, down 21.1% from $141.6 million.
- There were 1,197 single-family homes for sale in March, down slightly from 1,211 a year ago and 1,237 in February. There were 389 condos for sale, up from 354 a year ago and 388 in February.