E=mc² and the Housing Market in the Lakes Region of NH

As of June 1, 2010 there were 1256 residential homes for sale in the communities in this Lakes Region market report. The average asking price stood at $578,941 and the median sales price was $299,000. This equates to a very high 19¾ month’s worth of inventory on the market (just in case you are wondering why it is taking a long time for your home to sell). In June of 2008 there were 1128 homes for sale and in June of 2009 we edged up to 1170. The average listing price has increased from $533,339 in June, 2008 and $562,780 in June, 2009 but this again is a reflection of what is for sale and definitely not an increase in overall home values.

It is no secret that it is taking longer to sell mid to upper end homes in today’s market. Homes currently on the market priced over $400,000 have been on an average of 213 days. The average days on market calculated by our MLS are lower than the actual days on market due to the fact that the system can only account for how long the home has been listed with the current real estate agency. Many homes have been listed multiple times with different agencies therefore the average days on market figure is higher—possibly a lot higher.

As of June 1, there were 163 homes listed with the same agency for more than a year and 29 of those were on for over 2 years! There were 7 new construction (to-be built) listings that exceeded 1800 days on the market (which actually is not unusual and they might be there another 1800 days).

There were three other properties that exceeded 1,000 days on the market. There is an 800 square foot cottage in the water access community of Balmoral in Moultonborough that started out at $194,900 about 1113 days ago and now is offered at $184,900. Another is a 2,100 square foot, 3 bedroom home on the Merrymeeting River at 32 Suncook Valley Rd in Alton that was originally offered at $895,000 and has been reduced to $549,000 and has been on the market or 1092 days. Lastly there is a two bedroom cottage in the prestigious Bald Peak Colony in Moultonborough that was listed for $645,000 a mere 1097 days ago is now down to $450,000. Do you think these sellers might be getting a little anxious by now?

But you know, some homes do sell quickly! Since the first of the year 108 out of the 278 homes sold (as of June 2) were sold in less than two months! Of those, 64 homes sold in less than a month! The homes that sold in 31 days or less averaged 97% of their asking price and the average sales price was 87% of their assessed values (for those listings reporting their assessments). Homes that sold between 32 to 62 days of coming on the market garnered 91% of their asking price and the average sales price was 96% of their assessed values. The average time on the market for all 278 homes that sold was 162 days. Now some of these homes could have been on the market with another agency for more money before, but you get the drift.

You had to be Einstein to come up with E=mc², but you don’t have to be a genius to figure out that providing a buyer with a good value = lower DOM.