New Hampshire Housing Market Still Better Than Most

As it turns out, the sky may not be falling.

At least not in the New Hampshire housing market.

Yes, New Hampshire mortgage foreclosures are on the rise. And the increases look scary: Hillsborough County is on track to nearly double last year’s numbers and quadruple the year before.

The real estate market has seen better days. Home values dipped again this year and houses are staying on the market a bit longer, according to the latest statistics from the New Hampshire Association of Realtors.

But compared to other states, New Hampshire is faring well.

“Foreclosure in New Hampshire is a really small matter,” demographer Peter Francese said. “It’s kind of like lightning strikes. You don’t want to be there when it happens, but it’s a very rare event.”

In New Hampshire, one in every 1,275 owner-occupied properties is in some stage of foreclosure, said Francese, director of demographic forecasts for the New England Economic Partnership.

“I’m willing to bet that many homes catch fire every year,” Francese said, “and we don’t sit around saying houses are burning all over the place.

“Compare that to the national foreclosure average – about one in every 700 homes - and New Hampshire looks pretty good.

As for the real estate market, N.H. Realtors President Bonnie Guevin tells a similar story. Home sales declined nearly 10 percent in the first six months of 2007 compared to the same period last year, but home values held fairly steady.

Not many states can say the same.

“New Hampshire is so fortunate because of our location,” Guevin said.

Many states have only one type of demand for housing: People need to live where they work. New Hampshire has four. The market gets a boost from the sale of vacation homes, retirement homes and commuter housing for people who work in Massachusetts.

“All of these multiple demands, they’re not present in Cleveland,” Francese said. “Nobody retires to Cleveland. Nobody retires to Detroit.”

Here’s where the numbers start to look scary:

There were 353 foreclosures in Hillsborough County through Aug. 14 of this year, according to Registrar of Deeds Judith MacDonald.

If that pace keeps up, New Hampshire mortgage foreclosures in the county could reach an all-time high of 500 by year’s end.

By comparison, last year there were fewer than 300 - all year. In 2005, there were 101. In 2004, there were 73.

“I’ve been here for 27 years and I’ve never seen it like this,” MacDonald said. “The future, to say the least, is bleak.”

Statewide, a study for the New Hampshire Banking Department predicts 1,800 homeowners will face foreclosure this year, with the number climbing to 2,000 or more next year, The Associated Press reported.

To address the problem, the department launched a support program this month for homeowners in danger of foreclosure.

Abby Shane, who coordinates the outreach, said sessions are focused on educating borrowers who have taken advantage of non-traditional mortgage loan products or adjustable-rate mortgages in the last three years.

Homeowners “certainly are indicating they may not have fully understood what they were signing,” Shane said. “We are working as quickly as we can to make up as much ground as we can.”

A large percentage of the people who showed up so far have filed consumer complaints against their lenders, but not as many homeowners have taken advantage of the help as she expected.

Continue reading this Nashua Telegraph article about the current state of New Hampshire real estate …