NH Sees Most April Home Sales Since 2006; Highest April Prices in Three Years

There appears to be even a bit more spring than usual in this year’s spring real estate market.

April traditionally marks the beginning of the annual resurgence of home sales activity in New Hampshire, and this year is holding to that pattern, plus some.

The number of residential sales in the state hit 1,073, marking a 9 percent increase from April last year and the most of any April since 2006, according to data released this week by the New Hampshire Association of Realtors. It was the 17^th consecutive month of year-over-year increases.

The median price of those sales jumped as well, up 8 percent from last April to $206,000, the highest median price for the month since 2010. And the sales volume in April, meaning the total dollars exchanged in those residential home sales, was $260.8 million, up 11 percent from last year and the marked the largest April volume since 2007.

Year to date through the first four months of 2013, unit sales are 9 percent ahead of last year, while median price is up 5 percent and sales volume ahead by 9 percent.

“We never want to pretend we’ve got a crystal ball, but this trend continues to have the earmarks of early recovery,” said 2013 NHAR President Bill Weidacher, a 30-year veteran of the real estate industry and a managing broker at Keller Williams Metropolitan Realty in Bedford. “Slowly, steadily and consistently, we’ve seen activity increase for a year and a half, and now the slow and steady price increases seem to be following suit.”

Condominium activity in New Hampshire is trending at an even greater rate than residential sales this year. Unit sales of condominiums are up 12 percent through the first four months of 2013 compared to the same period last year, while median price has seen a 9 percent increase and sales volume a 20 percent jump.

Weidacher said the increase in activity is indicative of buyers recognizing that the opportunities of this market, including relatively low prices and continued low interest rates, may be fleeting. “If prices are indeed on the way up, now would seem like the time to take advantage,” he said.

Locally, eight of the 10 New Hampshire counties saw residential unit sales increases in April, the only exceptions being Carroll and Coos counties. Median price also increased in eight of 10 counties, with only Cheshire and Sullivan counties witnessing price declines.