A New Hampshire real estate sales activity update

Instead of cooling off, prices for single-family homes in New Hampshire have shown recent increases, putting more strikes on our affordability issues. According to the New Hampshire Association of Realtors, the median sales price of a single-family home in May jumped to a whooping $576,000 compared to $560,000 in April, that’s a 6.7% increase, which does not make sense. It is a new state record. The last state record was June 2025 at $569,000. I know in the Lakes Region, we usually see the highest prices in June or July, our peak closing. If we are seeing increases like this in May, I wonder what the next few months will look like.

If you look at the national median price for an existing single-family home in the U.S., it was $434,300 in May, a 2.9% month-over-month increase from April, when the national median price was $429,900. Readers can see why we have some affordability issues when you compare the May price of $576,000 to the U.S. price in May of $434,300. That’s 32.6% higher in New Hampshire versus the national average.

Even with interest rates showing upward movement, buyer demand continues to be strong, considering we still have affordability issues. It also looks like we are still seeing continued momentum during our summer months because statewide, there were close to 1,600 pending sales in May, which is the highest monthly total in four years. At certain price points, we see limited inventory, while in others, the inventory has been increasing, as I look at the Lakes Region.

During the past 50 years, I have seen the cycles, and I feel the pricing has become too aggressive statewide and in the Lakes Region at certain price points. In some cases, I am seeing multiple price reductions bringing prices down to more realistic levels. Let’s face it. We have a lot of moving parts going on around the world, and the real estate and stock markets have heated up considerably, making it becomes difficult to sustain momentum. It is good that pricing adjusts at certain levels. It’s a normal process with its own ebb and flow.

It gets even crazier, in Rockingham County alone, New Hampshire Seacoast, the median sales price establishes a new record, with a median sales price of $717,500. The highest ever for any New Hampshire county. Can you imagine three-quarters of $1 million for a median-priced single-family home … We are not in California; we are in New Hampshire.

We have seen modest inventory increases in our real estate inventory statewide. In May, there were approximately 2,400 single-family homes for sale, which represents a slight improvement over the 2,156 homes that were for sale in May 2025. However, when you look at the inventory levels before the pandemic, there were 4,000 homes that were on the market in 2019, basically twice the amount. I can remember back in the mid 2000 to 2010 in New Hampshire. The inventory levels covered in the 6,500 to 8,500 range, which was a much more balanced market. At least we crawled out of the bottom when New Hampshire’s inventory was at its modern bottom with only 873 active listings in February 2022.

So today, the state has approximately a 2.3-month supply of inventory. A balanced market should be between five and six months of supply. It looks like we will continue to see an inflationary world out there. On June 10, the U.S. annual consumer price index inflation rate jumped to 4.2%. This number is high relative to the Federal Reserve's long-term target of 2%.

We’ve all experienced soaring gasoline and energy costs related to the conflict with Iran.

However, we are still better off than we were in June 2022 when the CPI hit a 40-year peak of 9.1%.

Looking ahead, the New Hampshire real estate market will likely experience some bumps in the road, which is normal. However, the demand and low inventory levels will keep the affordability factor in place at today’s high price levels. In New Hampshire and the Lakes Region, we have an exceptional quality of life that will continually draw people to our beautiful state.

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This article was written by Frank Roche, the president of Roche Realty Group, located in Meredith, and can be reached at 603-279-7046. Data was compiled from PrimeMLS and is subject to change. Visit rocherealty.com to learn more about the Lakes Region and its real estate market.