New Hampshire residents shopping for a home should prepare themselves for sticker shock, as roughly one in four homes for sale in the Granite State last month was priced for at least $1 million.
According to a report in the New Hampshire Union-Leader, more than 110 localities across the state had at least one seven-figure single-family home for sale last month. In comparison, 1 in every 26 homes was priced at $1 million or more in 1015, while in 2020 the ratio was 1 in 11.
New Hampshire Housing estimated that a resident buying a $1 million home with a 20% down payment — $200,000 — needs an annual household income of nearly $300,000 to pay for principal, interest, insurance and property taxes – a sum that is up by nearly 50% from four years ago. However, only about 14% of New Hampshire households make at least $200,000 a year.
“Higher percentages of $1 million-plus homes means home ownership is out of reach for more and more Granite Staters,” said Elissa Margolin, director of Housing Action NH, a statewide affordable-housing advocacy coalition. “How are New Hampshire’s businesses going to recruit and retain a workforce if there is no place for people to call home?”
Margolin warned that higher home prices will also impact the state’s rental housing supply.
“Unaffordable homeownership translates into increased pressures on the rental market,” she said. “Having a home is a universal and basic need. If New Hampshire families can’t afford to buy a home, they will stay longer in the rental market, driving up costs there as well. These kinds of numbers remind us why we have a below 1% vacancy rate in New Hampshire’s rental market, with virtually no rentals near New Hampshire’s job centers.”
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