In case you missed it the New Hampshire Association of REALTORS recently released the following press release.
While I agree that prices seem to have stabilized somewhat, the message has not reached the ears of home buyers yet.
We need to spread the message.
The message that NHAR president Bonnie Guevin is promoting is so true, New Hampshire home buyers do have choices and it is a great time to be a New Hampshire home buyer.
Inventory is up big time in my little town of Hampstead NH.
Hampstead alone has 95 listings currently on the market, which is a lot for Hampstead. To put it in perspective, during the last 5 to 6 years of the sellers market we had roughly 30-33 active listings on the market at any given time. 95 is more than triple! That is a HUGE increase.
A big increase in inventory means that there are choices for buyers and lots of competition for sellers. It is great time to buy...spread the word!
The following is Reprinted with permission from NHAR
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.
“During this serious housing downturn in other parts of the nation, values in New Hampshire are holding
up quite well,” said NHAR demographer Peter Francese, who also pointed to the fact that New Hampshire
has one of the lowest home foreclosure rates in the nation as a positive sign.
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.
It is that buyers’ market, Guevin believes, that will help spur activity in New Hampshire’s summer and into
its fall selling season.
“We know it’s a cyclical market so this housing supply won’t last forever,” she said, “but right now there is
certainly no shortage of options for buyers.”
Jay and Monika McGillicuddy
Serving Southern New Hampshire and Rockingham County
Monika McGillicuddy Real Estate Training Website
Hampstead NH Real Estate
603-548-7728
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