Latest news with #HousingActionNewHampshire
Daily Mail
13-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Why housing prices have soared in New Hampshire
Housing prices have soared in New Hampshire. The Granite State's median home price hit $565,000 last month and has no plans of cooling off. While the start of the summer is typically a popular time to buy, the record-breaking prices continued a five-year long streak of ever-climbing home prices, and it's bringing rich new residents in and pushing locals out. Housing Action New Hampshire reported that the state needs nearly 90,000 new, affordable homes by 2040 to accommodate the rising population. Adam Gaudet, the former president of the New Hampshire Association of Realtors and the owner of 603 Birch Realty, agreed. He told Daily Mail: 'What feels like a great deal to someone moving to New Hampshire, feels unaffordable to many New Hampshire natives.' Gaudet said one of his clients was a single father in his 40s, forced to live with his parents for three years while he saved for a home for his family. Gaudet said the COVID-19 pandemic played a big role in the recent switch of the real estate market. 'The lifestyle and work changes that we saw as a result of [the pandemic] made New Hampshire more appealing than ever to out-of-state buyers who were more open to the idea of living more rural, while paying no income or sales tax.' In 2019, prior to the pandemic, the median price for a home was only $300,000. Gaudet explained that there has been a decrease in the number of homes on the market in the state as the demand has continued to rise. As a result, prices continued to increase and have remained at 'record levels'. For reference, experts believe that the last year for a 'balanced market' in New Hampshire was June 2016 when there were over 7,000 homes for sale. This year there are less than 2,500 in the same month. According to Gaudet, that's especially affecting first-time buyers. He said: 'If you have a home to sell, you can afford to move into that next level home – but the first-time buyers who don't have a home to make profit from are the ones hurt the most.' The construction of new homes has slowed in recent years as well, adding to the strain on the housing market. Many homeowners don't want to sell while interest rates remain high. 'Buyers today are not rushing to make over-asking offers like we previously saw,' said Gaudet. 'They're more patient and no longer waiving inspections or appraisals.' He said his average listing is about three bedrooms and sits comfortably at the median or just below. Properties closer to nearby cities like Boston or mountains and beaches tend to sell for more.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Coalition backs setting maximum housing lot sizes
Jan. 28—Realtors, homebuilders and housing advocates said limiting maximum lot sizes for residences would be the single most significant policy change that could address the state's affordability crisis. The legislation (SB 84) would set a cap that in each town a majority of the property zoned for single-family residences must have lot sizes that are no bigger than 1 1/2 acres on parcels without public water and sewer. Those with public water could be no larger than one acre and the size would be limited to half an acre on property that has water and sewer service under the bill. The legislation would grandfather existing house lots larger than the proposed maximums. State Sen. Keith Murphy, R-Manchester, said he's authored 10 different bills to try and promote more residential construction. "If we are really serious about expanding, this is the bill to do it," Murphy told the Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday. "Everything else, including all my other bills, are really window dressing by comparison." Prices dropped slightly from record highs in 2023 Brady Deshaies, a lobbyist with the New Hampshire Municipal Association, was the lone opponent during a one-hour hearing on this bill. Creating artificial maximums will not necessarily lead to more housing because cities and towns lack the public works systems to support more development, he said. "One-size-fits-all mandates that overrule the votes of the legislative bodies, the voters of the municipality, they will not necessarily lead to more construction because without that infrastructure, you can't build the housing," Deshaies said. New Hampshire's median price of a home in 2023 crossed over $500,000, the ninth highest in the country. Prices dropped slightly and the median last November was at about $480,000. Murphy, who has a master's degree in community planning, said some private companies won't locate or expand here because workers are unable to afford apartments. "Make no mistake we are missing out on jobs and opportunities because of our anti-housing policies," Murphy said. Nick Taylor, director of Housing Action New Hampshire, said a study of the state's zoning atlas concluded only about 15% of buildable land is available for the construction of starter homes. Rob Dapice, executive director of New Hampshire Housing, said making changes to zoning ordinances to reflect these new lot maximums would not be a "heavy lift." "The status quo has gotten us to the situation that we are in and it's time to rebalance the equation," Dapice said. Matt Mayberry, CEO with the N.H. Homebuilders Association, said his group is willing to negotiate on these lot sizes, but said it's time for action. "We are sick of talking about the need for housing," Mayberry added. "Let's actually go get it done." klandrigan@
