Affordability Drops Again: April Housing Market Report

May 11, 2022

Another Affordability Drop

The April 2022 NH housing market report

April marked the second consecutive month that the median price for a single family residential home in New Hampshire hit $440,000 – the highest ever in the state. That’s 15 percent higher than a year ago and brought the median price for the first four months combined to $422,000, roughly $57,000 higher than last year, which had been the previous four-month record.

As a result, the Affordability Index – which weighs the median household income vs. the median cost of a home – dropped by 31 percent to its lowest level in NHAR’s recorded history. The median income in New Hampshire is now only 75 percent of what is needed to qualify for the median-priced home under prevailing interest rates. By contrast, that number has been over 200 percent as recently as February 2018.

Inventory, meanwhile, has ticked up since last month, but the 1,311 single family residential homes for sale is still 20 percent below the level a year ago and the lowest April number in at least 17 years.

The number of homes sold in New Hampshire in April dropped as well, dipping by 21 percent from one year prior.

For our detailed April 2022 market report, click here or download the attached NH Monthly Indicators report. For statewide and county level data from 1998 to 2021, click here.

Questions? Please email Communications Director Dave Cummings (dave@nhar.com), or call 603-554-7855.