Prices
stable, inventory up in New Hampshire
real estate market
Buyers in New
Hampshire’s uniquely diverse housing
market have plenty to choose from after
a first half of 2007 that saw prices
remain stable but sales volume drop,
leaving plenty of inventory for those
looking to purchase a home in the
Granite State.
And with interest rates
still near all-time lows, conditions are
great for all buyers: first-timers,
those looking to purchase a second home,
retirees, and everyone in between.
"Buyers are smart to make a move while
inventory is up and prices aren’t
rising," New Hampshire Association of
Realtors President Bonnie Guevin said.
"It’s great to have choices, and that’s
what New Hampshire buyers have right
now."
Residential sales volume
in the first six months of 2007 was
5,929 units, down 9.3 percent from the
6,539 units sold in the first half of
2006 and down 22 percent from 2004, the
peak year, when 7,594 units sold from
January to June.
Residential sale prices,
however, remained stable in the first
six months of 2007 at an average of
$303,038, just a 1.6 percent decline
from last year’s average of $307,875,
which was the peak year historically for
January-to-June sale prices. And the
June average of just under $313,000
marked the fourth consecutive month in
2007 that the average price has
increased....
The decrease in
volume and a six-day increase in average
days on market (108 in June 2006, 114 in
June 2007) has led to a large number of
active residential listings. As of July
16, there was more than a nine-month
supply of inventory, with over 12,700
listings in New Hampshire, and 1,377
residences having sold in June. The
National Association of Realtors
typically considers five or six months
supply a "balanced" market, less than
that a "sellers" market, and more than
that, as is the case now, a "buyers"
market.
