Lakes Region of NH Real Estate Market Report -10/11/08

 More Affordable Homes Available

The number of residential homes on the market in the Lakes Region of NH has dropped ever so slightly from 1313 last month to 1301 listings available as of October 1.  This represents a 23 month supply of homes on the market and that it is daunting number of homes to sell. And while there are a lot of homes available in each price range,  it is interesting that the percentage of affordable homes, those in the $100,000 to $200,000 range, has been increasing yearly from 16% in Oct 2006, to 18% in Oct 2007, to 22% currently. Over the same time period, the percentage of homes in the $200,000 to 300,000 range has dropped form 34% in 2006, to 31% in 2007, to 27% currently. It would seem that these numbers reflect the downward pressure on pricing as well as a number of bank owned properties coming on the market. If there is any silver lining with the current market it is that there are many more affordable homes on the market to choose from for lower income or first time buyers. A bit of other good news on the national level is that pending homes sales rose 7.4% from July to August putting that index at the highest it has been since June of 2007. Hopefully that trend will continue.

You can't escape the news about the financial market meltdown and problems in the mortgage industry. Every day, every newspaper, and every newscast.  So it is worth repeating again and again that the Lakes Region of NH is fairing much better than many other parts of the country even though it might not feel like it.  If you are looking to buy a home there is plenty of  money available from local banks such as Laconia Savings, Meredith Village, Franklin Savings, and Citizens Bank and other lenders like Wells Fargo Mortgage that did not get caught up in the sub prime lending mess. Because these lenders were more conservative and maintained their standards insisting that borrowers had reasonable down payments, verifiable incomes, and a good credit history they are still able to carry on business as normal, lend money for homes and to businesses and actually increase their business in these tough times.  So with all the bad news about Wall Street and Main Street, we are somewhat fortunate to live on the Side Streets and Back Roads of NH.