Last month, the median price of a single-family home reached an all-time high at $575,000 in New Hampshire, according to the NH Association of Realtors.
When taking a closer look, Hillsborough County’s median hit $575,000 as well, with Cheshire at $400,000.
The state saw a 6.5% increase over the year, while Hillsborough increased by 4.5% and Cheshire increased by 11.3%.
Andy Peterson, a realtor based in Peterborough at Four Season’s Sotheby’s International Realty, explained that these medians don’t necessarily represent the diversity of house prices in each county.
“The thing to realize is we have had a normal overall rate of value growth over the past 20 to 30 years when averaged out,” Peterson said, referencing Hillsborough, his territory.
He also pointed out Hillsborough is the largest county in the state, encompassing rural areas as well as the largest cities in the state: Manchester and Nashua.
Rockingham County had the highest median ever recorded in the state at $717,500.
Peterson attributed the differing median prices to location, citing the Seacoast in Rockingham County, as well as a recent shift of vacation home purchases toward the northern part of the state. He also pointed to clear contrasts in prices between rural and urban homes, and between waterfront properties and those inland.
Another big factor is the post-pandemic changes to the market.
Impacts from the pandemic
Part of the rising prices is due to a lack of housing inventory.
The NH Association of Realtors recognized that inventory has slowly improved since last year. In May, there were more than 2,400 single-family homes for sale statewide compared to 2,156 homes during the same time last year, but this is historically low. Before the pandemic hit in 2019, around 4,600 homes were for sale across the state.
Peterson said inventory is a problem, but understands that homeowners don’t want to upgrade their houses to take on higher interest rates. Another problem for inventory is that people enjoy living in New Hampshire and don’t want to move.
“People really like it here,” Peterson said.
The state’s months’ supply of inventory is low compared to a balanced market, according to the NH Association of Realtors. The supply of inventory refers to the amount of time it would take to sell a home with no new homes in the market.
In New Hampshire, the supply of inventory has remained at 2.3 months since May 2025. The NH Association of Realtors stated housing economists consider five to six months to be a healthy market for real estate.
“While inventory has improved from the record lows we experienced several years ago, New Hampshire remains far from a balanced housing market,” said Josh Greenwald, president of the NH Association of Realtors. ” … Until we significantly increase the number of homes available for purchase, affordability will remain a challenge for many Granite State families.”
People are still buying
Despite the increase in pricing and low inventory, people continue to buy homes in the state.
The NH Association of Realtors stated there were about 1,600 pending sales recorded in May, the highest monthly total in the last four years.
Peterson noted, in his experience, younger generations are also looking to move back to the Granite State.
In the end, “If property values didn’t go up, that would be a real problem,” Peterson said.
While he has seen rapid growth in value since the pandemic, without a crystal ball, Peterson said it’s hard to predict what the future of the market will look like.
“It really happens in real time,” he said.
Greenwald said May is an odd time to see such a high increase in prices, given that summer usually welcomes an increase.
“If those seasonal trends continue, it’s likely we’ll see even higher median prices during the summer months,” he said.
Knowing the future is uncertain, Peterson said the market will work itself out.
“I think that we will see a stabilization and continued desirability. It’s a very desirable place to be,” he said.