The median cost to rent a two bedroom apartment, plus utilities, in New Hampshire these days? $1,157 a month, according to this year’s Residential Rental Cost Survey from the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority.
Of course, prices are higher in places with more jobs and more people, such as Portsmouth and Nashua, than they are in the North Country – but Jane Law of NHHFA says there’s pressure on the entire rental market because of the high prices and low vacancy rates in southern New Hampshire.
“People are moving out because they can’t afford the more urban areas," Law says. "It does cause prices to go up in general the further you go out. [It’s] the same thing that happened in the homeownership market during the boom.”
Law says that pressure is likely to continue. Real estate prices are back on the rise, which prices some would-be homeowners out of the market. And, she says, some would-be homeowners are renting instead of buying because of tighter lending restrictions put in place after the Great Recession - “needing a lot more money down, having to have really good credit – and that becomes a barrier for a lot of buyers," Law says. "So they stay in the rental market.”
Law adds that the number of people still coming out of foreclosure is putting still more pressure on rental housing. While there are some new developments being built to relieve some of that pressure, she says the growth in construction costs means those units tend to be on the higher end of price ranges.
Hover over the map below to see the median rental cost per New Hampshire county.
Interactive Map: How Much Does It Cost To Rent Where You Live?
