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July Housing Market: Sales Slightly Up, Prices Slightly Down
by Jon Greenberg on
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According to the latest numbers from the New Hampshire Association of Realtors, there were about 60 more sales this July than there were in July a year ago. That makes two months in a row of modest increases. It’s not much but it’s enough to encourage association president Paul Sargeant.
“ One month does not make a market, Two months doesn’t. But from an activity standpoint, the results are starting to be more positive.”
First-time buyers taking advantage of $8,000 tax credits in the federal stimulus package continue to play a major role. In general, homes are more affordable. Prices have declined about 9 and half percent from last year. Statewide figures mask wide variations across jurisdictions. Activity in three counties, Hillsboro, Merrimack and Rockingham, account for about two thirds of all sales.
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Declining home prices continue to help residential sales in New Hampshire. Prices are down about 11 percent and sales for the year are a hair above what they were in 2008.
Real estate agents are pleased with the October numbers. After a grim period stretching from last fall to early spring, there’s been a consistent if modest upward trend. The number of homes sold last month rose compared to this September and compared to October a year ago. The data come from the New Hampshire Association of Realtors.
The state unemployment rate fell 4-tenths of a percent in October.
Unemployment dropped to 6.8 percent. The decline caught most analysts by surprise. Usually, when the national rate rises, as it did, so does the state’s.
Economist Annette Nielsen with the labor market information bureau says the job growth is real. The rate is not due to lots of people dropping out of the labor force. But Nielsen takes a cautious view.
Nielsen: "I would like to see a couple of months before I would definitely say this is what’s going on."
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