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Lakes Region of NH Real Estate Market Report - 2008 Year In Review

By
Real Estate Agent with Four Season Sotheby's International Realty

2008 Year End Review

The total number of residential sales in our Lakes Region of NH area towns for the month of December came in at 58 homes. That is up slightly compared to December 2007 which posted 51 sales. The average sales price, however, was down for the month to $373,170 compared to December 2007 at $404,958.

The total number of residential sales for the year 2008 came in at 675 units. That's down about 19% from the 832 sold in 2007. The average sales price also dropped about 12.5% from $398,719 in 2007 to $349,688 in 2008. The total number of sales in 2008 was off 45% compared to 2004 when sales peaked at 1241 units but the average sales price came in higher than the $344,401 average registered that year. Except for the past year and a small drop in 2001, the average sales price of a home in these communities has risen every year since 2000 for a total increase of 47% in value.

Residential Homes Sold December 2008

TOWN

# S0LD

< 100K

100 to 200K

200 to 300K

300 to 400K

> 400K

AVG SELLING PRICE

MEDIAN SALES PRICE

% SOLD TO   LIST $$

AVG DOM

ALTON

7

1

1

3

0

2

$510,893

$248,000

90%

73

BARNSTEAD

7

2

4

1

0

0

$138,179

$148,000

94%

196

BELMONT

1

1

0

0

0

0

$80,000

$80,000

89%

87

CENTER HARBOR

0

0

0

0

0

0

-

-

-

-

GILFORD

9

0

5

2

0

2

$274,828

$172,000

93%

220

GILMANTON

3

0

1

1

0

1

$275,125

$250,000

89%

318

LACONIA

11

0

4

5

0

2

$270,082

$236,500

96%

130

MEREDITH

9

0

0

1

3

5

$711,597

$784,000

91%

165

MOULTONBORO

6

0

3

1

0

2

$606,958

$189,875

91%

236

NEW HAMPTON

2

0

2

0

0

0

$149,750

$149,750

105%

26

SANBORNTON

2

0

2

0

0

0

$110,000

$110,000

85%

167

TILTON

1

0

1

0

0

0

$185,000

$185,000

97%

145

TOTALS

58

4

23

14

3

14

$373,170

$217,500

92%

168

Home prices are definitely down some, but the drop in the average sales price in 2008 can be partly attributed to about 7% more homes under $200,000 being sold compared to 2007. There were also fewer high end sales over $1 million compared to 2007, 54 versus 37, and the total dollar volume of those sales dropped to $64 million in 2008 compared to just over $100 million in 2007. The average sales price of high end homes (over $1 mil) dropped slightly from $1.854 mil to $1.731 million, but that is still higher than in ‘05 and ‘06 when both came in around $1.65 mil.  That means that waterfront owners should feel pretty secure in their investments. The total sales volume for all homes was down from $331.8 million in 2007 to $235.9 million in 2008.  So, while sales were down somewhat significantly and there was a drop in the average sales price in 2008, it would appear that when viewed over the longer term the Lakes Region is fairing pretty well!

 Residential Home Sales Comparison for Belknap County Plus Moultonborough, NH

 

  

  

Units Sold

Median Price

Average Price

2000

1138

$138,000

$236,717

2001

1037

$143,350

$222,350

2002

1090

$167,000

$263,364

2003

1113

$195,100

$293,050

2004

1241

$225,000

$344,401

2005

1140

$245,950

$348,862

2006

958

$246,000

$365,198

2007

832

$249,950

$398,719

2008

675

$228,000

$349,688

Diane Daley
Caron's Gateway Real Estate - Northumberland, NH

Thanks for sharing,  I should work on this area. 

Jan 19, 2009 05:06 AM
Ken Lambert
Ken Lambert Mortgage Enterprises, Inc. - Brentwood, NH

Hello Roy-  Great synopsis of your market.  BTW- Are you related to the "Brentwood" area Sanborns?  There's a lot of them out my way.

Good luck in 2009,

Ken L.

Jan 19, 2009 05:08 AM
Anonymous
Anonymous

Hi Diane, I hope the market is not as cold as the temperature up there in Groveton!

Thanks Ken, no relation to anyone in Brentwood that I know of...

Jan 19, 2009 07:00 AM
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