This $4.5M Hampton home sale leads Seacoast market as sales volume drops again
HAMPTON — A Hampton home tops the list of highest-priced home sales in the Seacoast in October, becoming the eighth home in the area to eclipse the $4 million mark.
The 5,274-square-foot oceanside residence at 35 Dumas Ave. at Boar's Head closed for $4.5 million in an off-market deal completed on Halloween. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom home was built five years ago. It is two stories with a deck overlooking the water and an outdoor patio above the shore.
The deal was brokered by Duston Leddy Real Estate in Portsmouth.
"This very special Boar's Head home has open ocean views spanning from Maine to Massachusetts," said Joe Leddy, broker and co-owner of the firm. "The home is designed by Shannon Alther of TMS Architects and was built by Bob Gray. This oceanfront home is truly extraordinary."
The Hampton home was one of 17 in the Seacoast to sell for at least $1 million last month, according to the Seacoast Board of Realtors. The board tracks single-family home and condominium sales data in 13 local municipalities: Exeter, Greenland, Hampton, Hampton Falls, New Castle, Newfields, Newington, North Hampton, Newmarket, Portsmouth, Rye, Seabrook and Stratham.
High mortgage rates drive record low volume of home sales
As mortgage rates remain high, the Seacoast saw the fewest October single-family home sales (63) in at least a decade, despite inventory levels peaking to their highest totals in 16 months.
“Mirroring recent activity in the greater Boston area and with local 30-year mortgage interest rates at their highest levels in more than 20 years, there were just 63 single-family transactions last month,” John Rice, statistician for the Seacoast Board of Realtors, wrote in his monthly report. “This is the fewest for October since 2011, despite inventory levels at their highest since July 2022.”
Bankrate, a New York-based consumer financial services company, reported Wednesday the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 8.02% nationally.
Rice noted the median closing price for Seacoast homes in October was $670,000, the lowest figure since March. Rice's report states the total number of home sales in 2023 through October is 24% less than the first 10 months of 2022, yet the median sale price has jumped to $727,000, a 7.7% rise, indicating high-end homes are selling.
“The pattern of fewer sales at higher prices seems to persist,” said Seacoast Board of Realtors president Jessica Ritchie in a prepared statement. “Mortgage rates have made things more difficult for both sides of the transaction, but buyers are very much engaged and activity remains strong.”
The least expensive Seacoast home sale in October came in Newmarket, where a circa-1956 ranch house sold for $365,000. Thirty-four homes sold for less than $700,000 last month in the region, while 12 sold for between $700,000 and $1 million.
The second-highest-priced home sold in the Seacoast in October was a five-bedroom, three-bathroom Seabrook residence that closed for $2.475 million on Oct. 20.
Seacoast condo sales trend has similar theme
Seacoast condominium sales slowed last month, too. Just 45 units changed hands, the fewest in October since 2013, according to Rice.
The median sale price of condominiums in October was $520,000, a 6.1% decrease from October 2022.
“For the first 10 months of 2023, condominium sales are off 13.7%, while the median sale price of $553,000 is up 8.6% from last year,” Rice’s report states.
At $1,542,018, a three-bedroom, 2,650-square-foot condominium at 131 Sage Lane in Portsmouth was the area’s highest-selling condominium last month.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton NH home sells for $4.5M as Seacoast market drops again
