Rye home, New Castle condo lead record-slow Seacoast real estate sales: What's happening?
Through the first two months of the year, more condominiums are selling in Seacoast New Hampshire than single-family homes, though sales volume overall remains slow.
The Seacoast Board of Realtors reported 29 condo units sold in the region in February. The 25 single-family residences sold was a record low for sales volume since data collection began in 2010. Realtors at the start of 2024 had expected interest rate reductions would boost sales volume, but those rate cuts haven't materialized yet. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell recently indicated rate cuts will hinge on further reduction of inflation, expected later in the year.
“We’ve reached a point in our market where the volume action seems to be on the condominium side,” Seacoast Board of Realtors president Lynn Lagasse said in a prepared statement. “It’s unchartered waters but it’s the new reality.”
The Seacoast Board of Realtors reviews single-family home and condominium sales data across 13 area municipalities: Exeter, Greenland, Hampton, Hampton Falls, New Castle, Newfields, Newington, North Hampton, Newmarket, Portsmouth, Rye, Seabrook and Stratham.
Rye home, New Castle condo sell for more than $3 million
The highest-priced single-family home of the month came in Rye, where a four-bedroom, five-bathroom house at 18 Star Fish Circle closed for $3.6 million. The home was sold by Jennifer Madden, owner of Madden Group | RE/MAX Rising Ride.
The highest-priced condominium of the month — a three-bedroom, four-bathroom unit at Dockside at Wentworth by the Sea at 172 Little Harbor Road in New Castle — was not far behind at $3.57 million.
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Seacoast Board of Realtors statistician John Rice, an associate broker at Tate & Foss Sotheby’s International Realty, noted the New Castle condominium was the second highest-selling condo in the town’s history.
“The first came in November on 167 Little Harbor Road for $4.6 million,” he wrote in his February report.
Median price soars as sales volume drops
Nine Seacoast single-family homes sold for at least $1 million last month. According to Rice, two houses sold for less than $400,000, 10 were sold for $400,000 to $700,000, and four sold between $700,000 and $1 million.
The median price of a single-family home last month soared to $769,900, a 17.9% increase year-over-year. Overall sales volume, however, is down 25% from February of last year.
The median price among the condominiums sold last month was $559,900, a 23.1% increase from the February 2023 total. Three more condominiums were sold last month than in February 2023, Rice reported.
In February, three condominiums sold for less than $300,000. Rice’s report notes 14 units sold between $300,000 and $600,000, seven sold between $600,000 and $1 million, and five sold for over $1 million.
“For 2024, condominium sales are up 38.2% and the median price of $600,000 is a 10.5% improvement over 2023,” he wrote.
Sixty-eight single-family homes in the Seacoast board's area were listed on the market at the start of March, in addition to 66 condominiums.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seacoast NH condo sales lead record-slow real estate market
