We are through an almost snowless January and half of February with but 4-6” or so and I’m thinking this is pretty great as I haven’t had to plow my driveway much and I haven’t sanded it once! However, the lack of snow in the Lakes Region of NH definitely has a negative impact on the local businesses and is certainly not good for the local economy.
Although January residential home sales weren’t really stellar we had an avalanche of activity compared to last year. You may recall, last February I reported that January of ’09 had to be just about the bottom of the market with only 28 sales with an average of sales price of $217,283. It was pretty bad!
Well, last month we had 44 residential sales at an average price of $377,781. That may not sound like much, but that is a 57% increase in sales over January 2009. More importantly, on a rolling 12 month basis we posted 736 residential home sales for the period ending 1/31/10 compared to 669 sales for the 12 month period ending 1/31/09. That is a 10% increase in sales over a 12 month period which might not be as exciting as a blizzard to Gunstock Ski Area but it certainly is better than the downward trend we had been experiencing.
The average sales price is down from the $336,088 posted in 2009 to $298,879 as of 1/31/2010 but that is to be expected with the large number of low end sales and foreclosures. Again, half the sales in January 2010 were below the $200,000 mark which seems to be the case just about every month. But there were two sales over $1 million and two sales over $2 million all on Lake Winnipesaukee. The highest sale in January was a waterfront property at 66 Iroquois Lane in Moultonborough which sold for $2.25 million. This 5,500 square foot Adirondack style home had 12 rooms, 5 bedrooms, seven baths, a three car garage, and all the amenities and quality construction expected in this price ranges. The home was set on a fabulous 1.9 acre lot with 150 feet of frontage, H dock, and a sandy beach. I’m sure the buyer of this property is hoping for no more snow and an early spring!
Remember, Will Rogers once said that “Real Estate is the best investment in the world because it is the only thing that they’re not making anymore”. Particularly, if it has a dock… 
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