Lakes Region of NH Real Estate Market Report - 2/22/08
The Lakes Region of NH Real Estate Market Report has been revised this month to focus primarily on Belknap County communities along with the Town of Moultonborough which is important statistically for waterfront and vacation homes. Sales were weak in these communities in January with only 33 residential homes changing hands. This compares to 57 in January 2007, 52 in 2006, and 59 in 2005. The average price for sales in these towns inflated to $463,629 due to the lower number of sales coupled with some high end waterfront sales. This compares to the average sales price of $369,232 in 2007, $368,028 in 2006, and $308,967 in 2005.
The number of “days on market” reported for listings in Alton, Laconia, and New Hampton came in unusually high and warrants an explanation. In Laconia two new construction properties finally closed with one being on 1356 days and another for 1036 days leading to an average of 587 days on market in Laconia. Another new construction home in Alton was on the market 516 days before selling leading to an average of 402 days on market. Over in New Hampton another new home was on for 439 days. In general, new homes will be on the market longer as builders will often list their properties when they start construction. Some hope to get buyers before they even start building but that doesn’t happen very often. Buyers usually want to see a finished or at least a nearly finished product before making offers. It might also be appropriate to point once again that the “days on market” column reports only the days that the listing has been active with the current agency. If a property has been listed previously with a different agency those days are not calculated by our MLS system. If you are looking to buy a property, your REALTOR® will be able to tell you if that property was on the market before and for how long.
The high sale honors this past month goes to a property on Governors Island in Gilford. This cozy 8,000 sq ft, nearly new, Adirondack style waterfront sold for a mere $3,770,000. This home has 14 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 6 baths, and a 7 car garage and sits on a 1.6 acre lot with 300 ft of waterfront, a sandy beach, and docking for 5 boats. Obviously, this is a stunning home with superior craftsmanship and attention to detail which is to be expected in this price category. I was thinking of making an offer on the property myself, but I couldn’t justify the $40,000 a year tax bill. The market has been a little slow you know…
RESIDENTIAL HOMES SOLD JANUARY 2008
| 100 | 200 | 300 | AVG | MEDIAN | % SOLD | AVG | ||||
| # | < | TO | TO | TO | > | SELLING | SALES | TO | DOM | |
| TOWN | S0LD | 100K | 200K | 300K | 400K | 400K | PRICE | PRICE | LIST $$ | |
| ALTON | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | $256,200 | $256,200 | 96% | 402 |
| BARN. | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $160,000 | $160,000 | 94% | 122 |
| BELMONT | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | $250,100 | $269,000 | 95% | 112 |
| CENT. HAR. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - |
| GILFORD | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | $1,641,667 | $867,000 | 94% | 99 |
| GILMAN. | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | $241,000 | $178,000 | 83% | 98 |
| LACONIA | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | $352,600 | $265,000 | 96% | 587 |
| MERE. | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | $438,625 | $235,000 | 98% | 125 |
| MOULT. | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $718,325 | $336,700 | 92% | 306 |
| N. HAMPT. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | $295,000 | $295,000 | 94% | 439 |
| SANBTN. | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | $224,000 | $224,000 | 90% | 160 |
| TILTON | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | $198,350 | $184,650 | 99% | 159 |
| TOTALS | 33 | 1 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 6 | $463,629 | $269,000 | 94% | 241 |
