The cost of owning a home in New Hampshire just hit a new record, with the median price for single-family houses soaring to $565,000 in June — a sign that the state’s housing crisis is deepening.

According to the New Hampshire Association of Realtors, housing prices jumped 4.6% from the previous record of $540,000, set in June 2024 and matched this past May.

At the county level, prices vary widely. Rockingham County posted the highest median at $710,000, followed by Merrimack County at $503,000. The most affordable homes can still be found in Coos County, where the median price is $260,500.

“The idea of owning a home is becoming more challenging for too many New Hampshire residents, especially young families and first-time home buyers,” Susan Cole, president of the NHAR, said in a press release. “Demand for housing in our state is still very high, and these numbers suggest that trend is not going away soon.”

At the end of June, there were just 2,431 single-family homes for sale in New Hampshire. Back in October 2016, when the market was considered balanced, there were 7,112 homes on the market. That’s a 66% drop in available inventory since then.

Cole pointed out that, despite national reports suggesting housing inventory is starting to rebound, New Hampshire hasn’t seen the same progress. In May, the national housing market had a 4.6-month supply — the time it would take to sell all current listings — while New Hampshire had less than half of that, with just a 2.1-month supply.

Mike Danis, owner of a construction company in Lyndeborough, thinks tiny homes on wheels could be part of the answer to New Hampshire’s housing crunch.

These compact dwellings, built on trailer beds in just eight to 12 weeks, range from 200 to 400 square feet and are equipped with modern amenities, including quartz countertops, full kitchens, showers, washer-dryer units and large windows.

Danis said they would cost around $115,000.

“We’re trying to achieve something that is a code-compliant residential structure that people can purchase and live in and call it their own with an affordable amount of money,” said Danis. “We want to try to get the legislature to write a bill that makes tiny homes legal to use as primary dwellings or accessory dwelling units.”

This year, lawmakers passed new measures to help increase the housing supply and tackle the affordability crisis.

These laws make it easier for property owners to add accessory dwelling units, require towns to allow multi-family housing on land zoned for commercial use and limit local governments to asking for just one parking space per housing unit in new developments.

“We applaud the legislature and governor for taking critical bipartisan action to expand housing opportunities,” Cole said. “But it’s important to remember that this is just a start if we want to bring down the cost of purchasing a home or renting an apartment. There is still so much more our elected officials on the local and state level can do.”

Sruthi Gopalakrishnan can be reached at sgopalakrishnan@cmonitor.com.