Every day in our industry, we see how rising home prices have made it more difficult to purchase a home in the Lakes Region; this fact is especially true for first-time homebuyers. The American dream of owning a home is a tough rodeo, especially with the market conditions we have experienced over the past several years. There is one upside for existing homeowners… they have seen a major spike in their home equity. During the fourth quarter in 2023, their home equity climbed by 8.6% or an average of $24,000 compared to a year earlier, according to CoreLogic. Home equity represents the difference between the value of your home and your mortgage. In Corelogic’s report, New Hampshire ranked 5th in the country, where homeowners saw the biggest jump in home equity last year. The Granite State registered a home equity increase of $46,000, much higher than the national average of $24,000.
- Rhode Island at $62,000
- New Jersey at $55,000
- Massachusetts at $53,000
- California at $49,000
- New Hampshire $46,000
- Connecticut at $45,000
- Maine at $39,000
- Florida & Virginia at $32,000
- Washington at $30,000.
It’s interesting that five of the six New England states were in the top 10. Texas was the only state where homes lost equity, with an average loss of $6,000. The rising home equity in the country has certainly helped tens of thousands of homeowners who were underwater on their mortgages. According to CoreLogic, there are just slightly more than one million homeowners who are now underwater, the lowest in CoreLogic’s history and significantly below the 12 million seen coming out of the Great Recession.
I pulled up another report published by the New Jersey Real Estate Network that revealed the states where home prices have risen the most over the last year (2023). In this report, New Hampshire was the state with the third highest increase in the country, experiencing an increase of $31,160 in home prices, resulting in an increase of 7.49%. In comparison, the state that saw the biggest decrease in house prices was Louisiana, where their home prices dropped 2.19%.
In other news, New Hampshire was recently ranked the smartest state in the nation, according to a new study by Guru99. The company analyzed six different metrics: average IQ, graduation rates, percentage of the population with low literacy rates, average SAT scores, percentage of the states that don’t have a high school diploma or GED, and GDP per capita. States were given a total score out of 60, and New Hampshire scored 56.82. New Hampshire is the smartest state in America; data shows that, on average, the state has the highest IQs across the country, with 103.2. The state also has the smallest percentage of the population with low literacy skills at 11.5%. New Hampshire also has one of the highest GDPs per capita, with $74,663.
Let’s take a look at another statistic. National housing inventory is down nearly 40% compared to pre-pandemic levels, which offers opportunities for sellers this spring. It’s difficult to predict when the best time to sell your home is in a given year; however, a new Realtor.com® study looked at historical listing metrics to pinpoint when sellers have the biggest advantage this year. The date selected was the week of April 14th. According to the report, this could be the perfect mix of market conditions for home sellers. In the Lakes Region and at Roche Realty Group, we know there is a major shortage of inventory. If you are considering a move this year, we feel this spring is the perfect time to catch the wave at its crest. With inventory levels extremely low and buyer demand strong, it’s the perfect storm. Nobody can predict the future; however, based on my experience selling homes in the Lakes Region for 47 years, I feel this is about as good as it gets.
This article was written by Frank Roche. Frank is president of Roche Realty Group with offices in Meredith and Laconia, NH, and can be reached at (603) 279-7046. Please feel free to visit www.rocherealty.com to learn more about the Lakes Region and its real estate market.
