What a $150K Rochester home says (or doesn't) about real estate market

ROCHESTER — A 600-square-foot Rochester home sold last month for $150,000, a price falling well short of Strafford County’s median sale price of single-family residences sold in November. 

Described as a “fixer-upper in a great neighborhood,” the one-bedroom, one-bathroom house at 15 Brock St. was listed for $106,900 close to three weeks before the sale closed. The small home, which comes with 0.29 acres of land, a two-car detached garage and a shed, has a new dishwasher, first-floor laundry and a wooden ramp and deck.

“Great opportunity for first-time home buyers or investors,” states the listing for the house, which was constructed in 1936.

Monthly real estate statistics released by the New Hampshire Association of Realtors show the sale of 15 Brock St. was an anomaly compared to the prices of other homes sold in November. The median cost of a home in Strafford County last month was $410,000, a 10.8% increase from the November 2021 median sale price of $370,000 for county homes.

Strafford County home sales down nearly 27% compared with November 2021

Per the association’s report, 96 Strafford County homes sold last month, a nearly 27% decrease from the 131 residences that sold in the county in November of last year. Countywide sales are also down year-over-year, as through last November, 1,425 homes had sold, compared to the 1,144 that had sold this year through November. 

Last month felt less action-packed in the real estate market than months previous, according to outgoing Strafford County Board of Realtors president Karen Mairs.

“It felt slow and it was reflected in the numbers of the 26% decline,” she said.

Throughout the county last month, the total number of homes sold produced an overall sales volume of $46 million, an 11% year-over-year decline. Also declining was the amount of time homes spent on the market with an average of 17 days.

At the beginning of December, Strafford County registered a median home sale price for the year to date of $405,000, up from the $360,000 total seen through the first 11 months of 2021.

With 2023 on the horizon, Mairs noted some buyers may find difficulty with the current state of the market but encouraged them not to lose faith and commit to a real estate agent to assist them.

“They know the market,” she said. “They know the nuances and they have relationships with other Realtors.”

Anyone seeking to navigate the market without a trusted agent beside them may face difficulties, Mairs added.

“I don't pull my own tooth out. I go to a dentist,” she said.

Statewide real estate figures from November show there were 1,095 homes sold statewide in New Hampshire, with the median price coming in at $435,000, an 8.3% jump over the previous year. Homes for sale spent an average of 28 days on the open market, and the overall sales volume of homes sold throughout the state last month sat at approximately $605 million, a 17.1% decrease from November 2021.

•••

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.