Only 72 homes sold in Seacoast in July. Median price fell to $648K. Here are all numbers.
PORTSMOUTH — The Seacoast Board of Realtors is reporting sales of single-family homes in its 13 sample communities fell to a new July low of 72 amid growing economic concerns and a pervasive lack of inventory.
The 13 sample Seacoast towns and cities are Exeter, Greenland, Hampton, Hampton Falls, New Castle, Newfields, Newington, North Hampton, Newmarket, Portsmouth, Rye, Seabrook and Stratham.
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The sale of 72 single-family homes was off 25% from July 2021 and 29.4% lower than the previous month.
The inventory of single-family homes available for sale in the Seacoast is recovering, but still near record low July levels. Also challenging the market are interest rates almost double what they were a year ago. According to Bankrate, the national average for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is 5.5%.
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The July monthly median sale price was $648,500, third lowest for 2022 and down 7.9% from last year’s July median of $704,599. For the year, the median sale price rose 5.6% to $655,000, but sales volume remained off 15.2% for the first seven months of 2022.
Condo inventory low, too, but rising
Inventory also continued a slow recovery on the condominium side in the Seacoast, reaching an 11-month high of 92 active listings. All the same, unit sales for the month were off 20.8% from last year and 17.3% from last month.
Property sales data: Check out our Rockingham County, NH Real Estate Market Report
The July monthly median condominium sale price of $425,000 was the lowest since December but off only $1,610 from 2021. For the year, condominium sales volume is off 23.2% but the median sale price is up a healthy 29.7% to $510,000.
Jessica Ritchie, president of the Seacoast Board of Realtors, expressed optimism amid the challenges.
“Given all the economic news, I think the market was sort of catching its breath last month,” Ritchie said. “Pending sales for August are the highest they’ve been for the year and median sale prices continue to rise. It’s still a competitive market place out there.”
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seacoast NH real estate: Home sales hit record low in July
