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March 11, 2024
Sales trend upward again,
but inventory remains low
After 30 consecutive months of single family residential sales declines compared to a year prior, February showed the second straight monthly increase for home sales in New Hampshire, and pending sales were ahead of last year’s pace by 14 percent as well.
NEW HAMPSHIRE MONTHLY INDICATORS
There were 581 February SFR closed sales in the state, a 3 percent increase from the 564 sold in February 2023. Year to date, sales are ahead of last year’s first two months by 5 percent.
NHAR President Joanie McIntire cautioned that while it’s good to see any gains in the market, there is still plenty of work to be done to address the fundamental issues of inventory and affordability.
“Yes, we’re seeing more activity than we did a year ago at this time, but remember that 2023 had the fewest number of sales in over a decade,” she said. “Really what we need to focus on is inventory, which remains low, and price, which continues to prevent many potential homeowners from buying.”
To that end, the NHAR affordability index was historically low in February, at 62 – meaning the state’s median household income is just 62 percent of what is necessary to qualify for the median-priced home under prevailing interest rates. It’s the lowest February since NHAR began measuring affordability in 2005 and marked a 14 percent decline from February 2023.
The median price of homes sold in February was $475,000, a 12 percent increase from a year ago and the highest-priced February in New Hampshire history.
“That’s a very high price point for most people,” McIntire said, “and particularly so for first-time buyers and the young people an economy needs in order to thrive.”
Driving that price is low inventory, which has been trending steadily downward since peaking in 2010 and has remained essentially flat since 2021. There were 1,230 single family residential homes on the market at the end of February, almost identical to February 2023.
That amounts to 1.2 months’ supply of inventory, meaning the number of months it would take to sell off the current supply of homes at the average pace of sales for the past year. A balanced market is considered five to seven months, a range New Hampshire has not seen since 2015.
For NHAR’s full slate of market data, including our Monthly Indicators report and detailed county- and town-level reports, visit our FastStats landing page. To create your own customizable and brandable market reports, visit NHAR’s members-only InfoSparks page.
Questions? Please email Vice President of Communications and Member Engagement Dave Cummings (dave@nhar.com), or call 603-554-7855