Some of New Hampshire’s largest urban areas appear to be bouncing back – at least for now – from a lull in the real estate market that started with last year’s rise in interest rates. 

Statewide and county-by-county data through August show there’s still relative weak spots in the Granite State’s single-family home market, driven by a lack of inventory, higher interest rates and other factors that have squeezed and discouraged buyers. 

Single-family homes sales statewide were off 22 percent through the first eight months of 2023, continuing an alarming trend of fewer people putting their homes up for sale both in New Hampshire and across the country, according to data from The Warren Group, a real estate data company and publisher of The Registry Review.  

The median price for single-family homes did increase statewide by 5 percent year-to-date through August, to $440,000, but the rate of the increase still appears modest, at least compared to pre-pandemic levels. 

Reflecting a surge in rural-area prices as buyers push further north for affordable homes, Coos and Sullivan counties saw the biggest median price increases for single-family homes during the first eight months of 2023, jumping by 13 percent in both counties, to $209,000 and $312,000, respectively. 

But the median-priced single-family home in Hillsborough and Rockingham saw relatively small to modest year-to-date price increases through August – up 2 percent (to $458,000) in Hillsborough County and up 4 percent (to $561,000) in Rockingham County. 

Burrowing into county-level data, however, shows that major cities are seeing stronger price numbers, often driven by new luxury condominiums coming on the market. 

‘Manchester Stands on Its Own’ 

In Hillsborough County, Manchester’s sales of single-family homes were off less than 1 percent through August compared to a year ago – while prices jumped by about 4 percent to $400,000. But the median condo sale price was up 10.64 percent, to $260,000, during the same time period, according to data. 

Paula Martin, owner of the Paula Martin Group-Keller Williams in Londonderry, said the city of Manchester, with all its urban amenities and recent conversions of offices into residential units, is simply an attractive market for many buyers. 

“If you separate Manchester out from [other parts of Hillsborough County], it’s doing pretty well,” she said. “Manchester stands on its own.” 

Also in Hillsborough County, the total number of single-family homes sold in Nashua through August was off by 11 percent compared to the same period last year, but the city’s median prices were up 4.17 percent year-to-date, to $450,000, compared to a year ago.  

Meanwhile, the median condo sale price in Nashua was up a hefty 12.4 percent to $357,000 during the same time period. 

In Rockingham County, Portsmouth’s year-to-date tally of single-family home sales was down 31 percent, while the median single-family sale price was up only 2.5 percent to about $715,000 compared to the same period last year. 

Portsmouth Red Hot 

But Portsmouth’s condo market, at least this past spring and through the summer, has been red hot, with the year-to-date sales tally actually increasing by 22 percent to 103, while the median price jumped by 42.7 percent to $739,933. 

Janet Sylvester, owner of Great Island Realty in Portsmouth, said there’s no doubt that newly constructed condo developments are driving the huge condo sales and price spikes in the picturesque community. 

She pointed to a recent $2.5 million listing for a three-bedroom unit in the new 70 Maplewood condominium development, located in the city’s Historic North End, as an example. 

“Portsmouth is just really hot,” she said, noting many out-of-state buyers continue to flock to the seacoast enclave to snap up properties. “Everyone wants to walk to downtown in Portsmouth. They’re snapping up everything. There’s been a lot of new construction [to meet demand].” 

Adam Dow, chief executive of the Dow Group at Keller Williams, agrees that Portsmouth remains a popular real estate market. 

But he warned that even Portsmouth, for all its strengths, is still not performing as well as it did before the pandemic. He noted that 344 homes were on the market in August 2023, but that number stood at 901 homes in August 2019. 

Prices in Portsmouth and statewide probably would have been much higher if it wasn’t for the Federal Reserve’s series of interest rate increases over the past 18 months, as part of its efforts to reduce overall inflation, Dow said. 

“The Fed did its job – it’s keeping prices down,” he said. 

Even Concord Hit 

As for the fall market, Dow said he doesn’t see much of a change. If anything, inventory might drop further, he said.   

“I think it’s going to be a very slow market,” he said. 

Dawna Banks, owner of Foundation Realty Group in Merrimack, said lack of inventory is keeping prices up in places like Manchester and Nashua. 

And higher prices in Southern New Hampshire communities are forcing buyers to search further northward for affordable deals. 

But even Concord, located in Merrimack County, has seen major price increases of late, Banks said. 

Indeed, the median single-family home price in Concord jumped during the first eight months of this year by 4.67 percent to $392,500, according to The Warren Group’s data. 

“Prices used to be more attractive in Concord, but prices keep going up,” she said. 

As for this fall, Martin of Paula Martin Group-Keller Williams said she’s personally seen a boost in exclusive listings heading into the final three months of 2023, perhaps indicating a small uptick in overall market listings. 

“But it still won’t be enough,” she said. “Homes put up for sale will still be snapped up fast. They’ll spend only a few days on the market.”