Although the Seacoast Board of Realtors had some good news to report at their State of Seacoast news conference in New Hampshire yesterday, there were some disturbing trends covered as well. In January and February of 2011, single-family home sales had their best start since 2008. Furthermore, residential sales volume in the entire state is up 5 percent over a year ago, and Pease International Airport is functioning as an “economic engine” in Portsmouth, according to David Choate of Grubb & Ellis[1].  However, the state is also losing young, two-income families at an alarming rate – and these are the families that are typically looking to buy homes. Only one in every five New Hampshire households is a family with children.

Peter Frances, a demographer, credits the mass exodus to New Hampshire’s “distinct bias against young people.” However, at the same time, he encouraged the realtors in attendance not to forget about aging baby boomers, who, he said, are a “major part of your market” as they look for second homes and permanent residences in the state. “The second home market is a robust market…despite the horrible recession,” he said [2]. Unfortunately, the two markets are often opposed to each other since older homeowners do not want younger homeowners with children buying in the area and increasing property taxes, Frances said.

Do you think that housing market improvements are “real” right now with all the uncertainty about the foreclosure process hanging over homeowners’ and lenders’ heads?

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[1] http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110311/NEWS/103110394/-1/NEWSMAP
[2] http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110311/GJNEWS_01/703119933