CONCORD, NH – New Hampshire’s record-high annual median sales price and record-low affordability told the tale of the state’s 2023 residential home sales market.
The tight and pricey single-family home market pushed the townhouse/condo market to an all-time high annual MSP as well, as people who’d normally buy single-family homes opted for the lower-priced option, according to the latest monthly and year-end statistics from the New Hampshire Association of Realtors. But affordability for condos dropped to record lows as well, as low inventory kept the market tight.
The good news, the NHAR said, is that dropping interest rates may boost sales a little. Citing lower sales figures for December 2023 compared to December 2022, NHAR said, “Most of this period’s closed sales went under contract in October, when mortgage rates were at a two-decade high. With rates having dropped more than a full percentage point since then, existing-home sales may continue to pick up in the months ahead.”
There were 892 closed sales of single-family homes in New Hampshire in December, down 13.3% from December 2022’s 1,029, but there were 683 pending sales, up 15.2% from December 2022’s 593.
New Hampshire median sales price for a single-family home overall in 2023 was $470,000. The 2022 annual MSP was $440,000, and $395,000 in 2021. Median means that half of the homes sold for a higher amount, and half lower. December’s MSP was $460,750.
There were 11,620 closed sales in 2023, down 19.1% from 2022’s 14,360, and down steeply from 18,474 in 2020. New listings for the year were 13,650, down 16.4% from 2022’s 16,324. Despite the higher prices, sales volume dropped 13.8%. It was $6,552,300,000 in 2023, compared to $7,598,000,000 in 2022.
Inventory in December was 1.4, which means that if all the homes on the market sold at the current pace, with no new properties added, it would take 1.4 months to sell them. An ideal inventory is 6-8 months. The December number was the lowest inventory since May, and a drop from November’s 1.9.
With the high MSP, it’s no surprise that the affordability index for 2023 came in at an all-time yearly low of 65. That means that the median New Hampshire income is 65 percent of what is needed to pay the monthly costs of a median-priced home, including price, interest rates, property taxes and insurance.
The condo market, with generally cheaper properties, but only a fraction of the supply of what’s usually available in the single-family home market, has also had a price surge as buyers who would once look at single-family houses sought less expensive options.
The overall 2023 condo MSP was $380,000, compared to $345,000 for 2022. December’s MSP, though, was $399,000, up 10% from December 2022’s $362,765. The median sales price for a condo in 2021 was $288,765.
There were 285 closed condo sales in December, down from 311 in December 2022. For the year, there were 3,836, compared to 4,555 in 2022. As with single-family homes, inventory is tight, at 1.6, and condos stay on the market an average 27 days before being scooped up.
There was an uptick, though, in listings and pending condo sales compared to last December. There were 242 new listings in December, compared to 191 in December 2022, an increase of 27.7%. There were 233 pending sales in December, up from 195 in December 2022, an increase of 14.4%.
Overall, there were 4,484 new condo listings in 2023, down 9.3% from 2022’s 4,955. There were 3,836 closed sales, down 15.8% from 2022’s 4,555.