New Hampshire Hasn't Had a Balanced Market Since 2016

It's not just a feeling. New Hampshire hasn't seen a balanced housing market in nearly ten years, and that one fact explains almost everything about Concord.

If you've been watching the national housing news lately, you've heard a lot about the market cooling down, more inventory, longer days on market, buyers getting some breathing room. Then you look around here in New Hampshire, and especially in Concord, where homes still seem to sell almost as fast as they're listed, and it doesn't quite add up. We want to be honest with you about why, because understanding this one thing will help you make a much better decision, whether you're thinking of buying or selling in the Concord area.

Here's the fact that explains almost everything: according to the New Hampshire Association of Realtors, New Hampshire hasn't had a balanced housing market since October 2016. That's not an exaggeration. A balanced market, the kind where neither buyers nor sellers have the upper hand, generally has about five to six months of supply. In early 2026, New Hampshire had roughly 1,400 homes available on the market at any given time. For comparison, a balanced market in our state would need something closer to 7,100. We're sitting at less than a third of that. Back in 2019, before the pandemic, we had around 3,600. So even our recent "improvement" is still well below where things were just a few years ago.

That single number, our stubbornly low inventory, is the engine behind nearly everything you're experiencing. It's why homes here still sell quickly, often in a matter of days, while other parts of the country slow down. In Concord specifically, well-priced homes have been going under contract in roughly ten days, a pace that would stun a buyer coming from almost any other part of the country. It's why prices have held firm, with the statewide median for a single-family home sitting around $530,000 and Concord's own median holding in the low $400,000s. And it's why New Hampshire has felt so competitive for so long. This isn't a bubble or a frenzy that's about to pop. It's a genuine, long-running shortage of homes, and it behaves very differently than a market driven by hype.

"New Hampshire's market isn't behaving strangely. It's behaving exactly the way a decade-long housing shortage makes a market behave."

If you're selling in Concord, this is largely working in your favor, and we'll be straight with you about it. With so few homes available, a well-priced, well-presented home still attracts serious attention and tends to move quickly. You're not fighting a flood of competing listings the way sellers in oversupplied markets are. That said, low inventory doesn't mean you can name any price you want. Buyers here are stretched on affordability, and a home priced noticeably above what the comparables support will still sit, even in a tight market. The winning move is the honest one: price it right for what it truly is, present it well, and let the scarcity work in your favor.

If you're buying in Concord, we won't pretend this is an easy market, because it isn't, and you deserve honesty more than cheerleading. Fewer homes means more competition for the ones that are out there, and it means being genuinely ready before your dream home appears, financing lined up, priorities clear, and an agent who can move the moment something right comes on. The upside is that Concord and the surrounding towns remain places people very much want to be, drawn by the quality of life and New Hampshire's lack of an income tax, so the home you fight for is an investment in a market that has stayed remarkably resilient. Being prepared, and having someone in your corner who knows every Concord-area neighborhood, is what turns this challenging market from frustrating into winnable.

Here's the honest bottom line. New Hampshire's market isn't behaving strangely, it's behaving exactly the way a decade-long housing shortage makes a market behave. Once you understand that, the fast sales and firm prices stop feeling mysterious and start becoming something you can plan around. Whether you're getting ready to sell the home you've loved or hoping to find your place here in Concord, we'd be glad to walk you through what it means for your specific situation. Call or text us at (603) 557-6661, email us at operations@hvizdateam.com, or visit hvizdateam.com. Let's figure out your next step together.