FILE - In this April 1, 2020 photo, a "For Sale" sign stands in front of a home that is in the process of being sold in Monroe, Wash., outside of Seattle. It’s an exciting time to be a home seller, and 17% of homeowners plan on selling in the next 18 months. But we’re in a unique market, and now is not the time to dive in without proper preparation. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
FILE - In this April 1, 2020 photo, a "For Sale" sign stands in front of a home that is in the process of being sold in Monroe, Wash., outside of Seattle. It’s an exciting time to be a home seller, and 17% of homeowners plan on selling in the next 18 months. But we’re in a unique market, and now is not the time to dive in without proper preparation. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) Credit: Elaine Thompson

At mid-year, single-family homes in New Hampshire are selling faster and at higher prices than ever before.

The median price of a single-family house in June was $409,000, a 23.7% increase from last year, and more than $7,000 over. the previous month’s median.

Home equity has risen $49,000 in just half a year. That’s the annual salary of many blue-collar jobs, the salary of someone who can probably no longer afford to buy a home. And if they were thinking about buying a condo, they should think again. Condos sold in June at a median price of $280,000, a 14.2% increase.

Still, there are many willing buyers at these prices. Indeed, homes are now selling for 4.4% over asking price, and condos at 3% over.

The average home was snapped up 18 days after being put on the market. A year ago, it took 50 days. In May, it took 24 days. Condos in June went in an average of 20 days.

The reason, of course, is that there are so few homes on the market, at least in comparison to willing buyers. That’s why sales were only up by less than a percent. Single-family home inventory is 37% below what it was a year ago, and condo inventory is 48.2%.

But there is a glimmer of hope for would-be homebuyers in the future. Some 2,445 new homes came on the market in June, an 8.8% rise from last year, and over 400 more than were put on the market in May.

In June, there was 1.2 months of inventory on the market – the highest that statistic has been since November. There were 0.8 months of condo inventory.

The biggest increases in prices have been in the North Country. The median price of a home that sold in Carroll County was $100 short of $400,000, a 40.3% increase from last year. Belknap’s median price has risen 33.5% year-to-date, to more than $360,000. Coos County still have the cheapest homes on the market but they’re not so cheap anymore – $207,000 in June, a 38% from last year.

In the most expensive county – Rockingham – the median price of a single-family home was $509,800 in June, a 16.8% annual increase, and in Hillsborough, where homes are being snapped up in 14 days, the median price in June was $435,000, up 22.5%

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