PORTSMOUTH—The seacoast real estate market continues to rally its way back. September sales of single-family homes in the 13 sample seacoast towns exceeded last year’s totals by 21.6% according to monthly statistics released by the Seacoast Board of Realtors.
It was the fifth time in the last six months that sales have exceeded 2011 numbers.
The 90 single family closings for the month leave the seacoast market 25% ahead for the year, even though September was off 18.1% from August—a fairly normal trend from summer to fall months. The month wrapped up the best quarter of the year to date and represents a 54% improvement over third quarter 2011.
The condominium market is also well ahead of last year’s pace by a solid 31.7%. Still September totals were off 25% from August and down 8.3% from a year ago. Like residential sales, though, third quarter 2012 is the best for the year to date and an impressive 38.5% improvement from third quarter 2011.
“It’s important to compare apples to apples,” says Lauren Kane, president of the Seacoast Board of Realtors. “You need to focus on numbers year over year as opposed to comparing summer and fall sales seasons. We expect seasonal changes and we’ve still had increased sales in five of the past six months compared to last year.”
“Right now sellers have the competitive edge, as opposed to the spring when there’s a lot of new inventory,” Kane adds. “Buyers in this market are serious about making a purchase now so that they can take advantage of low interest rates which are hovering around 3.37% for a 30-year note. It’s truly historical.”
Source: http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121012/GJBUSINESS_01/121019674/-1/FOSNEWS
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