Housing among the top issues for local, regional and national candidates

A lot of campaign talk this election has focused on housing, with candidates of all stripes — from governor to senator to representative, even president — pitching their statewide and local solutions to the crying need for more plentiful and more affordable places to live.

While the New Hampshire Association of Realtors (NHAR) doesn’t make political endorsements, its president says the organization is listening to what the candidates are saying with keen interest.

“NHAR does not endorse candidates, however, I am pleased to see that the lack of housing and more specifically the lack of affordable housing has become a part of our national conversation. Hopefully, this will encourage deeper conversations at the local level that will lead to increased development around the state,” said Joanie McIntire, president of the statewide association that represents real estate professionals.

Even with campaign rhetoric, McIntire said she believes the governor and New Hampshire Legislature can only go so far in reversing a years-long trend of a very expensive buyer’s market in the state.

She points to efforts by the state to allocate money to the Affordable Housing Fund of the New Hampshire Housing and Finance Agency (NHHFA). According to an agency fact sheet, allocations as of January totaled $93 million to help fund 119 projects worth more than $500 million to develop, or preserve more than 3,600 housing units statewide.

“State government has allocated funds to housing, largely through the Affordable Housing Fund at NHHFA, and while this is an important indicator that housing has become a priority at the legislative level, it is nowhere near what is needed to bridge the inventory and affordability gap,” said McIntire, associate broker at Coldwell Banker J. Hampe Associates in Concord.

“Realistically, neither the state nor federal government can make a large enough expenditure to make a real dent in the 23,000-unit shortfall in New Hampshire,” she added. “It’s not enough for government to simply throw money at the issue.”

Adjustments in the market that balance availability and affordability come at the micro level, the municipality level, according to McIntire.

“Real change will come when local municipalities understand that the outdated, restrictive zoning we see throughout the state is the biggest roadblock to affordable housing,” said McIntire. “Of course, health and safety should always be a consideration of government, but it’s hard to say that two- or three-acre minimum lot sizes, 200 feet of frontage, or two parking spaces for a studio apartment, for example, are reasonable ways to protect health and safety. In the Live Free or Die state, it’s ironic that expanding private property rights is such a monumental challenge.”

The non-partisan politics and policy organization CitizensCount has compiled the positions that candidates have articulated on a variety of issues.

For the governor’s race, here are the responses to the Citizens County question:

Should the state do more to encourage municipalities to remove zoning barriers to housing development?

From Kelly Ayotte: “Kelly will work to streamline the state permitting process and cut unnecessary red tape to make it easier to build new housing in New Hampshire. Kelly respects local decision-making and will work with local communities to build more housing by partnering with them on issues like infrastructure including roads, water and sewer. Finally, Kelly will convene state and municipal officials and the private sector to bring all of the stakeholders to the table to determine how we can work together to build more workforce housing in New Hampshire.”

From Joyce Craig: “We need a governor who is ready to tackle the mental health crisis, the opioid epidemic, and the lack of affordable housing, instead of forcing cities and towns to face these issues alone.

In Manchester we’re putting forward solutions. We’re partnering with the National Alliance to End Homelessness and focusing on how to increase housing. There are more than 2,000 units in development in our city, including 500 affordable units. I’ve allocated $10 million to Manchester’s affordable housing trust fund, worked directly with developers to incentivize affordable housing, and we’re updating our zoning ordinances to allow more development.”

Even though September had the smallest increase in the median so far this year for a single-family home, McIntire doesn’t believe the market is moderating to more favor the buyer. The NHAR in its residential real estate market report for September said the median price of $520,000 for a single-family was a 6.5% increase over September 2023, the smallest increase so far in 2024.

“Although the $520,000 median-priced home in September is down from New Hampshire’s all-time price peak of $540,000, which we saw in July, it is the highest ever median price for September,” she said.

“That decrease can be attributed to the seasonality of the market, as prices typically come down in the fall and winter,” she added. “When we look at the median sales price over the long term, say the last 10 years, we see a steady increase in prices. This is a result of the continued decrease in inventory.”

The September report shows three continuing trends that exacerbate the higher prices: Lack of supply, high demand and affordability.

A balanced real estate market would have from four to six months of available inventory. That data point in New Hampshire for September was 2.4 months, a slight improvement of the 2.0 months from September 2023.

In terms of demand, single-family homes in the Granite State stayed on the market an average of 24 days in September, compared to 23 days last year.

The Housing Affordability Index measures whether or not a typical family earns enough income to qualify for a mortgage loan on a typical home at the national and regional levels based on the most recent price and income data. An index of 100 means the family has exactly enough money for a home in the area in question.

The less the number, the less the affordability. In New Hampshire in September, the affordability index was 61, up two points from what it was last year.

For a residential condominium/townhouse in the state, the median price was $401,000, a 0.4% decrease from last year. The months supply stood at 2.1, the days on market was 30, and the affordability index was 79.