Not even COVID-19 could dampen the demand for housing this spring and summer across New Hampshire. 

If anything, the pandemic merely increased demand amid an ongoing slump in the inventory of homes and condos for sale, according to new year-to-date data from The Warren Group, publisher of The Registry Review. 

According to figures through August, the median sale price of a single-family home rose by 9 percent over the first eight months of the year, to $310,000, compared to the same period in 2019. Meanwhile, median condominium prices rose by 15 percent, to $235,000, during the same time period. 

As for the actual number of sales? They were down again – way down – as potential sellers pulled back this past spring amid concerns about the economic downturn and about possible coronavirus-carrying buyers trooping through their homes to view properties, real estate officials say. 

Single-family home sales were down 19 percent, to 8,684, during the first eight months of the year, compared to 2019 figures, while condo sales were off 12 percent, to 3,091, according to Warren Group data. 

“It’s been insanity,” Lisa Boucher, an associate broker at Hearthside Realty in Manchester, said of the dramatic supply-and-demand imbalance that’s driven prices up to records levels across the state. 

SINGLE-FAMILY SALES
County	2020 Sales	Percent Change	2020 Sale Price	Percent Change
Belknap	562	-16%	262667	5%
Carroll	559	-4%	$269,933	8%
Cheshire	519	-20%	$235,000	12%
Coos	216	-31%	$135,000	23%
Grafton	601	-17%	$239,933	9%
Hillsborough	2,264	-21%	$332,467	10%
Merrimack	1,095	-11%	$280,000	8%
Rockingham	1,717	-27%	$408,533	10%
Strafford	796	-16%	$285,000	8%
Sullivan	355	-1%	$200,000	18%
Statewide	8,684	-19%	$310,000	9%
**Source: The Warren Group
**Year to date through Aug. 31

Demand High for Second Homes 

Every part of New Hampshire saw price spikes year-to-date through August – including in the usual-suspect counties of Hillsborough and Rockingham in southern New Hampshire, where prices rose 10 percent over 2019 levels, Hillsborough to a median price of $332,467 and Rockingham to $408,533, according to data. 

But rural Coos County saw the biggest price spike in New Hampshire, with the median single-family sale price rising by 23 percent to $135,000 and the median condo price by 28 percent to $412,000. 

The reason? Strong pandemic-driven demand for second homes, usually by out-of-state buyers trying to escape more densely populated areas in the Northeast, said Matt Martel, co-owner and associate broker at RE/MAX Northern Edge Realty in Berlin.  

And one surprise: Multifamily dwellings are in big demand in Coos County, as buyers search for seasonal abodes they can easily rent out via Airbnb, Martel said.  

“It just went crazy,” he said of people searching for multifamily properties. “It was a surprise.” 

The total number of sales in Coos County may have been low compared to other parts of the state, with single-family home sales numbering 216 and condo sales hitting 21 in the first eight months of the year. But the strong demand – and high prices, at least for the area – are a big deal in northern New Hampshire, said Martel. 

“Right now, it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down,” he said. 

Paul Wheeler, broker-owner of RE/MAX Presidential in North Conway, agreed that second-home buyers – mostly from out of state – are driving much of the demand.  

“They’re looking for a safe place to go” during the pandemic, said Wheeler, who covers the vacation-attractive lakes and mountain regions of Carroll County. 

This past spring, there was hesitation on the part of sellers and some buyers to jump into the market, said Wheeler. Then summer hit.  

“Prices just kept escalating and escalating,” he said. 

In Carroll County, single-family median home prices over the first eight months of 2020 hit $269,933, up 8 percent, while single-family prices in August alone spiked to $290,000, data shows. Carroll County condo prices reached $218,000 year-to-date through August, up 18 percent, according to The Warren Group. 

CONDOMINIUM SALES
County	2020 Sales	Percent Change	2020 Sale Price	Percent Change
Belknap	223	0%	$218,000	18%
Carroll	163	-3%	$216,000	4%
Cheshire	42	-38%	$169,467	17%
Coos	21	11%	$412,000	28%
Grafton	330	-13%	$175,000	6%
Hillsborough	921	-20%	$229,000	12%
Merrimack	255	-8%	$210,000	24%
Rockingham	959	-7%	$290,000	14%
Strafford	147	-15%	$205,000	25%
Sullivan	30	-29%	$244,500	37%
Statewide	3,091	-12%	$235,000	15%
**Source: The Warren Group
**Year to date through Aug. 31

Entry-Level Shortfall 

In Keene, Susan Doyle, a broker associate at Masiello Group-Better Homes & Gardens, said multifamily properties are going quickly.  

First-time home buyers are looking for mostly two- and three-unit properties, in hopes of living in one and renting the others to help defray costs, she said. Investors are snapping up multifamily properties with 4 or more units, she said. 

Across Cheshire County, median single-family home prices increased by 12 percent, to $235,000, over the first eight months of the year, while condo prices jumped by 17 percent, to $169,467, during the same time period, according to Warren Group data. 

Like other real estate agents across the state, Doyle said she expects the same supply-and-demand imbalance to last through the end of the year, with prices escalating along the way. 

Stephan Morrissey, an associate broker at Allison James Estates in the Nashua area, said the market has been tough on first-time buyers, who face bidding wars for the few number of affordable homes that come on the market.  

“There remains a great shortfall of entry-level homes,” he said.  

He noted that July is “normally a dry month” for sales. But this year, it boomed in July and throughout the summer.  

“The pent-up demand burst through,” he said. 

Still, Morrissey said the nation’s economy and political volatility makes him nervous about the future.  

“I still have great trepidation about what happens after the November election,” said Morrissey. “There are so many unknowns out there.” 

As for Manchester, Boucher agreed that the spring market was hurt by a lack of sellers putting homes on the market. But sales activity – and prices, of course – has picked up since, she said. 

“Half of my sales are buyers coming in from out of state – from Massachusetts, New York and even Texas,” she said. 

One small home for sale received 28 offers and ultimately sold for 25 percent over the asking price.  

“The market is very strong,” she said.