2021 in New Hampshire ended with a bang when it came to the price homes were selling for, and with a whimper when it came to the number of actual home sales.

The median price of a single-family home in the Granite State was $400,000 in December which, although down slightly from November, was a full 14.3 percent over the median price in December 2020. Indeed, in every month of 2021, except for October, there was a doubledigit increase over 2020, and the average monthly increase was almost 18 percent.

But only 1,417 homes actually were sold in December, and that was 18.6 percent fewer than the same time in 2020. Usually, December isn’t a big house-hunting month, but this was the biggest year-overyear drop of 2021.

The culprit was not weather or Covid, but the lack of inventory that has been plaguing the market all year. There were just over 1,000 homes for sale (1,083 to be exact) in December 2021, a 34.4 percent drop from December 2020. New listings were down 15.1 percent.

Condo sales also fell in December, by 18.5 percent, and the median price, $290,000, was a 5.8 percent increase over 2020. Again, there were a lot fewer condos for sale (41 percent), and condos sold 2.1 percent over asking price. — BOB SANDERS