RESOURCES
PORTSMOUTH—The pandemic wreaked havoc with Seacoast May residential real estate closings in the 13 Sample Seacoast Towns, but the report is hardly all doom and gloom.
The 13-Sample Seacoast Towns are Exeter, Greenland, Hampton, Hampton Falls, New Castle, Newfields, Newington, North Hampton, Newmarket, Portsmouth, Rye, Seabrook and Stratham.
To be sure, it was the worst May on record, but not the worst month ever. The 59 closings did not even represent the worst month for 2020. Further, the 81 pendings are the most since last May and a harbinger of a strong June to come. For the record, however, sales were off 42% from last May.
Against the background of the fewest May listings since 2010, the median single-family sale price rose $5000 from last month to $510,000, although that was $5,000 below 2019. For the year, closings are off 17.7% while the median sale price for the first five months of 2020 is $500,000, up 4.2%.
It was the slowest May since 2014 for condominium sales, but still one sale better than last month. Sales were off 37% from last May, yet 4.9% ahead for the first five months of the year. The median May sale price was $325,000, down 7.9%. For the year, the median sale price stands at $349,900, up 9.3% from 2019. Unlike single family properties, condominium inventory remains a non-issue.
“Buyer activity is very strong right now”, said Adam Gaudet, president of the Seacoast Board of REALTORS. “Multiple offers are quite common and indices, such as May residential pendings, point to a swift return to normal June numbers. At this point, I think inventory levels are more of a concern to Buyers than the pandemic.”