Jack Henry: The math doesn't work on rents in New Hampshire

To The Daily Sun,

I recently priced apartments in the Lakes Region. A townhome in a half-built Brady Sullivan development runs $2,550 a month. To spend the recommended 30% of income on housing, I'd need to earn $102,000 a year.

So I looked downmarket. A unit in a converted single-family home on Summer Street: $2,200, with low ceilings, no central air, and a washer and dryer so deep in the basement I'd need a wizard to knock on my door and invite me on a quest to reach it. That still requires an $88,000 salary.

The "less desirable" options, the ones with a marina blocking the water view or no downtown to speak of, rent for $1,950 to $2,100. Even those demand $78,000 a year. Seasonal rentals, listed so someone's mortgage gets covered while they winter in Florida, run $2,200.

Here's what surprised me: the big development companies everyone loves to blame are often the better deal per dollar. It's the small-time landlords, sitting on portfolios of converted single-family homes, charging nearly corporate rates for basement laundry and window units.

New Hampshire has become unattainable at every tier. People are priced out of even the least desirable housing in the state. We have neighbors working full time who cannot afford to live here with roommates. And we keep being told the problem is supply, while listings sit at prices no local paycheck supports.

The math doesn't work. Someone should say so out loud.

Jack Henry

Laconia