Just when you thought the supply of homes for sale couldn’t get tighter in New Hampshire, they did. 

Despite preliminary data that suggested the number of homes sold may have increased last year in the state, final year-end stats from The Warren Group show that the supply woes actually got worse in 2024, not slightly better. 

Across the state, the sale of single-family homes was down by 4.8 percent in 2024 compared to 2023, ending the year with 9,293 single-family sales, according to The Warren Group’s data, which is based on legal transaction filings in county registries of deeds. 

Statewide condominium sales were also down in 2024 compared to the previous year, falling by 5.4 percent to 3,118 sales. 

Needless to say, residential real estate prices continued their relentless upward surge amid the current low supply of houses for sale and high demand for units among buyers. 

The median single-family house price shot up statewide by 10.39 percent in 2024, ending the year at $485,0000, according to the Warren Group, the real estate data analytics firm and publisher of The Registry Review and Boston’s Banker & Tradesman. 

Meanwhile, the median statewide condo price rose 6.8 percent, compared to 2023, ending the year at $389,933. 

“I’m disappointed but not surprised,” Stephen Morrissey, a broker associate at Allison James Estates and Home, said of ongoing inventory woes within the industry. “There’s just a lot of people not wanting to sell. There’s still a lot of people sitting on 2 or 3 percent mortgage rates.” 

Low Expectations, Squashed 

At the start of 2024, few were expecting major changes in the low-inventory outlook, due to a number of market factors, including the lack of new housing construction across the state. 

But some thought there might at least be a slight inventory improvement in 2024 after the Fed moved to cut interest rates in September and after the economy continued to improve throughout the year. 

But a supply reversal wasn’t in the cards. 

Industry observers agree the state real estate market began softening a bit in early autumn, as the presidential race heated up. 

“People just wanted to see how [the election] played out,” said Randy Parker, owner of Maxfield Real Estate in Wolfeboro. “The market just slowed down.” 

There were some small bright spots, if you can call them that, in 2024. 

In Rockingham County, single-family home sales did increase a bit, by 1.6 percent, ending the year with 2,099 transactions. The median sale price jumped 7.9 percent in the Portsmouth-dominated county, ending the year at $610,000, data shows. 

But in Hillsborough County – which includes the cities of Manchester and Nashua – single-family sales fell by 1.44 percent last year while the median annual single-family sale price jumped by 7.5 percent to $500,000, according to data. 

The Bloom Is Off the Second-Home Rose 

The biggest sale and price swings of late have occurred in the state’s least populated and northern-most county, Coos, where single-family homes sales were down last year by 27.8 percent, the largest drop in New Hampshire. 

Meanwhile, the median single-family price increased by only 1.7 percent in Coos County, to $232,000, the smallest annual price increase in the state in 2024, according to The Warren Group. 

Matt Martel of RE/MAX Northern Edge in Berlin said the market has indeed softened in Coos County.  

“People are still buying, but it’s nothing like the fever pitch of a few years ago,” he said. “It has definitely slowed down, no doubt.” 

Indeed, Coos County may have seen the biggest impact, if that’s the right word, of the home-buying frenzy that seized the state following the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, with many out-of-state residents seeking to buy in New Hampshire to escape pandemic hotspots elsewhere.  

Not only were out-of-state buyers snapping up properties in Coos County, but residents from southern parts of the state were also looking north for more affordable real estate deals, said Martel. 

The bottom line: Since 2019, the median single-family homes price has shot up by 110 percent in Coos County, for the highest five-year price gain in New Hampshire.  

But that COVID-tied boom is now clearly over, Martel said.  

The sale and price numbers in other second-home markets are not as clear cut as they are in Coos County 

But they do show a slowdown of sorts as well. 

In Carroll County, home to the northern shore areas of Lake Winnipesauke, single-family house sales fell 13 percent last year, while sales in Belknap County, host of the southern shore areas of the lake, were down 7.6 percent. 

“We’ve gone through the full COVID cycle like most everyone else – going up and then down,” said Maxfield Real Estate’s Parker.  

Buyers Passing on Fixer-Uppers 

Allison-James’s Morrissey, who is based in Francestown in Hillsborough County, said inventory remains a major problem across the state, one that’s making homes increasingly less affordable for many buyers, particularly first-time homebuyers. 

But sales are obviously still happening, particularly if houses or condos aren’t in need of major repairs and upgrades. 

“Homes in good shape sell well,” said Morrissey. “If homes are not in good shape and need a lot of work, they don’t go as fast. Younger people are not as much into sweat equity as they were in the past.” 

Despite today’s numerous market challenges, some real estate officials are upbeat about 2025. 

They point to the likelihood of more interest rate cuts in the coming year and possibly lower oil prices that could spur further economic growth in general 

“It will definitely be better than 2024,” said Parker. “People are ready. Things are starting to get busier.” 

But Morrissey said he’s not so sure the coming year will go smoothly.  

First, he said he doesn’t see any major change in the inventory picture. 

Second, the economy faces continued uncertainty. 

“I see insecurity in some respects,” he said, noting President Donald Trump, who won the ’24 presidential election, is already making major policy changes since being sworn in on Jan. 20. “Whether you like him or not, Trump’s a disrupter. I’m worried his tariff [ideas] could hurt the economy. We’ll see”