-by Peter Francese

The first quarter 2008 home sales data for New Hampshire look about as bad as it gets. (Please see county-by-county home sales table below.)  Fortunately, that awful three-month period is behind, us and there are reasons to think that the psychology of home buyers in our state may improve in the coming months.
          
In the future, Realtors will look back on this period with awe that our housing market could have deteriorated so fast and so far.  It did so in large part because of the disintegration of the highly leveraged and derivative addicted financial sector.  That unprecedented and for the most part unforeseen collapse meant that any potential home buyer had good reasons to hold off until the situation at least stabilized. 
    
Well, now the financial news is full of stories about emerging inflation, tight credit and a soft job market.  The average consumer has little reason to be optimistic about their near-term prospects.  But not all consumer households or all states are average.  Places and people with an above-average and growing incomes are more likely to see beyond the current bad news and be more optimistic about the future.

New Hampshire is one of those places.  Chart I below shows how our state differs from the nation in terms of household income for three important age and income categories.  In terms of the all household median income, New Hampshire, at nearly $60,000, is 123 percent of the United States median of $48,500, according to the latest (2006) Census Bureau American Community Survey.

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Avoiding the Mistakes

The total number of residential sales for March 2008 in our Lakes Region of NH communities came in at 58 homes changing hands compared to 54 homes in March of 2007. Given the difficulty showing property this winter this slight increase in sales numbers could be considered a major victory. We had four sales that exceeded the $1 million mark this past month. Last year in March there were none. On the other end of the spectrum there were 28 sales below $200,000 last month compared to 20 for the same month last year. So buyers seem to be getting active now on both ends of the real estate ladder.

There is an explosion of real estate related shows on TV right now. Channels like HGTV are providing a wealth of information to home buyers and sellers. This past week HGTV aired the “25 Biggest Real Estate Mistakes” when buying or selling property. If you missed it, I am sure it will be on again.  There is a lot of good advice and anyone buying or selling property should check it out. They list the #1 mistake made (by sellers) as “Failing to Showcase Your Home and Make Small Cosmetic Changes”. Failing to make small, affordable changes, and improvements will prolong the time it takes to sell a home and will probably result in a lower sales price. Staging rooms to showcase them at their best and making sure the home is spotlessly clean are simple processes that many sellers don’t take to heart. A thorough cleaning, minor repairs, and a fresh coat of paint will make any home sell quicker and for more money. The #2 mistake (again on the seller’s side) was “Setting Too High of a Sales Price”. Setting the sales price based on a market analysis provided by a real estate professional rather than on what the owner “thinks” it is worth is truly the correct approach. Putting a totally unrealistic price tag on a home will discourage buyers from looking at it and cause the home to stay on the market much longer leading buyers to think that there is something wrong with it.

There is good advice offered in the other 23 “big mistakes” as well. As a REALTOR ® I know for sure that there are also hundreds of other “little mistakes” that can cause you a lot of grief or cost you money when you buy or sell property. Way down at mistake #13 was “Not Hiring an Agent”. This really should be the #1 mistake. Being an agent, I am obviously a little biased here. But the other 24 mistakes are things that good agents have been telling their clients and customers about right along. We actually live these TV shows on a daily basis. So get an agent. And also avoid mistake #14 by getting the “right agent” who will do a good job for you, keep you informed, and will prevent you from making any mistake, big or small. Then you can sit back and watch some more TV.

RESIDENTIAL HOMES SOLD MARCH 2008

Towns of Alton, Barnstead, Belmont, Center Harbor, Gilford, Gilmanton, Laconia, Meredith, Moultonborough, New Hampton, Sanbornton, Tilton

The Most Livable State
 
As of April 1, 2008 the total number of residential homes on the market for the towns listed in our Lakes Region of NH Real Estate Market Report stands at 898 listings. The total is inching back up from a low of 778 listings in January. The average list price is moving up as well from $522,535 in January to $556,521 as of April 1 as more of the higher priced listings find their way back into the market.
 
Last week NH was named the Most Livable State in the nation for the fifth year in a row by the Washington based CQ Press. The week prior, the CQ Press also named NH as the Safest State in the nation. This may be a little bit of old news by now, but it is still worthy of repeating. It really is a pretty big deal. The news is also very meaningful relative to our struggling housing market.  Many of us locals tend to take our beautiful state for granted every now and then.  And we might question the wisdom of being designated the Most Livable State considering we are at the tail end of a record setting winter that seemingly will never end.  But these awards are representative of the very reason why so many people want to visit, vacation, and live here. And because so many people find our little state such a great place to live, our real estate market will recover more quickly and be stronger than the markets in other parts of the country. People want to live where there is a superior quality of life and where they can feel safe. NH epitomizes those attributes. The Most Livable State award is based on a list of 44 factors including median household income, crime rates, health, business tax climate, employment opportunities, environment, education, and believe it or not the number of sunny days! In my estimation, for NH to get this award we must have scored extremely high in all the other categories because we sure didn’t have many sunny days this winter!  All I saw this winter was white outs, snow banks, and the back end of my snow blower!

Residential Homes Available as of April 1, 2008

Towns of Alton, Barnstead, Belmont, Center Harbor, Gilford, Gilmanton, Laconia, Meredith, Moultonborough, New Hampton, Sanbornton, and Tilton