As we look into the 2015 real estate housing market with optimism, let's take a look back at how the New Hampshire real estate market finished out 2014. The New Hampshire Association of REALTORS® (NHAR) has recently released the December 2014, year-to-date and Q4 data for the New Hampshire real estate market.
Since real estate is local, here are some of the highlights from Sullivan County and Grafton County in New Hampshire:
Sullivan County Single Family Residential Home Sales 2014
Sullivan County, NH saw a decrease in single family residential sales closings in both November and December of 2014 compared to closings during those months of 2013. In November, we saw a 26.7% decrease (from 45 to 33) in closings compared to November 2013. Then in December, we saw a 15% decrease in closings (from 40 to 34) compared to December 2013.
The fourth quarter of 2014 ended down 12.1% in single family residential closed sales compared to Q4 of 2013 in Sullivan County. Similarly, the total year-to-date 2014 closed sales for the county were also down 12.1% to 449 compared to 2013, but the median sales price was up 5.3% to $149,500 and the number of days on market was down 6.3% to 134 days compared to the year prior.
So in spite of the number of houses sold in Sullivan County decreasing in 2014, those houses sold were on the market fewer days and sold for a higher median price.
Grafton County Single Family Residential Home Sales 2014
Grafton County, NH experienced a smaller decrease in single family residential closed sales for both the fourth quarter (4.8% down to 239) and entire year-to-date (down 5.4% to 895) of 2014 compared to the same periods in 2013.
However, we actually saw a slight 0.1% increase in median sales price by the end of 2014 ($178,750) compared to the year before. The total days on market for single family residential homes 2014 in Grafton stayed exactly the same as it was at the end of 2013 (132 days).
New Hampshire Condo Closings 2014
The total condo closings in Sullivan County were up 8.3% in 2014 compared to 2013, even though the days on market were up 17.2% to 252 days. Grafton County saw a smaller increase of 2.5% in condo closings and a 2.8% decrease in days on market to 171 days.
All of New Hampshire 2014 Real Estate Market Data
For the whole year, the entire state of New Hampshire only had a 0.4% decrease in single family residential closed sales totaling 14,208 (see chart). However, the days on market for the state was slightly down from 2013 (from 100 to 95), and New Hampshire condo closings for 2014 were up 0.3% to 3,542 from the year prior.
Your Local Real Estate Market
Looking ahead into 2015, we continue to see factors in the real estate market that make it a great market for first-time home buyers, including the improved ability to qualify for credit and to afford the down payment (Realtor.com).
Talk to our realtors at CG Shepherd Realty, LLC for more details on the local Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee real estate market to see if now is a good time for you to buy a home in New Hampshire. Similarly, those of you thinking about listing your New Hampshire home for sale, please contact our agents at CG Shepherd Realty, LLC to get a better idea of the real estate market in your area.
(Data for this article was found in the following NHAR Real Estate Market Data Reports: November 2014 NHAR Market Data, December 2014 and Year-End NHAR Market Data, Q4 2014 NHAR Market Data)
View past 2014 and 2013 New Hampshire Real Estate Market Data.