2nd Home Market Improving in Lakes Region
 

Lake Winnipesaukee’s second-home market said to be on upswing

http://www.unionleader.com/article/2...59979/0/NEWS06

This report aligns with what I have been thinking while trying to sell my multi-family house on the Jersey shore so I can buy in Wolfeboro. The folks who are buying houses right now are wealthy and can buy with cash. Middle class buyers are few and far between. :(

That's great news! Thanks for posting.

...rah-rah-rah-sis-boom-bah!

Newspaper reports that home sales are improving always need to be taken with at least a couple good shakes of salt.

The reference guy for this article is the same guy from Laconia who the newspapers always go to for a reference source on the lakes region economy. And, he was the same guy who back in 1972, said that the urban renewal plan for Laconia would be a good way to revive the downtown Laconia business area.

What business are the newspapers in .....the advertising business!

Who is their biggest advertiser.......... the real estate business!

If increasing home prices have been reported off and on for the last three years, then how come there are so many 'for sale' listing signs in the neighborhoods that also have been there for the last three years. Reports of a real estate turn-around with prices increasing are greatly over-stated. Don't believe it yet! It probably does not surprise anyone that prices are still trending down, down, down!

How low can home prices go? Check back in 18-months.......down...down...down!

I think you've been reading too many newspapers from the last century, FLL. Yes, newspapers used to do quite well from real estate ads, both display and classifieds. The Internet has pretty much killed that golden goose.

Hello Lamprey, Caldwell Banker, Century-21, & RE Max......this is your local lakes regions newspapers; the Citizen and the LaDaSun....and we were wondering what has happened.....like where did you all go?

Not having anything better to do, and being a curious type, I took a peek into the classified sections of today's July 26 Laconia Citizen and Laconia Daily Sun to see what they had for real estate broker ads. You know....those display style ads which feature a small photograph of one specific house, a brief description, the price, and the realty name.

Guess what.....there was a total of zero ads like this....zero....I was surprised because the papers used to be full of these ads. What has happened and where did the ads go?

Have they all moved to the weekly Meredith News that comes out on Thursdays for 75-cents? I have no clue?

Hello local real estate advertisers......this is your local newspaper calling.....where r u? ...... can we talk?:rolleye2::(:rolleye2:

I think they went to the internet. We bought our place in Laconia last fall and I can honestly say that looking for ads in a newspaper never entered our minds. Why go out and pay for a dead tree when the realty sites will email you results for your search criteria in real time?

Let's face it newspaper on dead tree is dead. The few remaining will take a few years to realize it, but in a decade or so only boutique specialty newspapers will be published on paper. Advertising is the life of newspapers and as it moves to the internet, the papers will starve.

I'm surprised the free color real estate booklets at resturants and grocery stores are still here. They look expensive to print and I'm sure they go stale quickly. But evidently they drum up enough interest to keep someone paying for them.

Go to YouTube and type in the name of any Lakes Region town. 95% of what you'll get is videos of homes for sale.

Meanwhile, this week's Granite State News has less than one page of classified display ads paid for by area realtors.

Our kids were visiting last week from Alabama and they were looking for the real estate booklets. Not a one to be found anywhere. The real estate offices in Wolfeboro did have copies of listings outside their offices but no booklets.

Internet House Hunting
 

For those of us house hunting in the area, I would assume most are using NNREN or other online real estate sites that list NH MLS. (they are plentiful)

I am glad to see an uptick in housing sales in the lakes region, but as I said before, most buyers these days are buying with cash. People are having a really hard time getting mortgage loans. Those who have enough cash to buy a waterfront home are very fortunate, but I don't think they will be interested in the abundance of the other housing inventory, which needs a different kind of buyer. Here's wishing prosperity for us all.

I'll second that motion!

And I'll keep Hoping that the next Change will be a little more than the spare-change the Hopeful Change got us last time around

Saw a bumper sticker in Laconia the other day that was on point...

"I'll keep my guns, money and freedom...you can keep the "Change"

HCG

Must be skewed
 

The only reason for this would be because those who had the money before still have it now and the house prices continue to drop so it makes it an even greater buy.
As mentioned before, jobs in this area are going away, they were before the recession and they continue to do so. There are very little manufacturing jobs left in this area and there is nothing being done to bring them back into this area.
Once tourism is gone for the season much of the work force also leaves, this is indicated by the number of seasonal only restaurants and those new restaurants that pop up for a year then are gone when they cannot survive during the off season.
Just last night on the news, something like 2000 being laid off at Elliot hospital.

Those that don’t live here don’t realize how bad it is. Drive through Laconia and check out all the, for rent, for sale or just plain empty houses in the area. There are a lot more than you realize.
There is a brand new 3BR house down by the skating rink in Laconia that’s been advertized for rent for 1200.00 and it’s been empty for awhile. My wife has a 2 family in Laconia which has been completely remodeled. Rents were at 1000 to 1200 when she bought it. The rents are now in the 900 range because there just isn’t anyone in this area that can afford to pay that much. Especially when you can rent a house on the lake for that much as she found out when she did a search to compare rents.

According to this chart the rents are not that far off.

Rents
 

My friend in Portland, ME is looking at rentals and most 1-bedroom places are over $1,000. I have a multi-family house on the Jersey Shore and my studio apartment rents for $650 (the guy has been there for a long time so the rent is kinda low) and the 1-bedroom rents for $1,100. The house is 5 blocks from the beach. Utilities included.

Have to wonder if there's any or many lakes region, year round residents who have the financial ability to own a residence, but instead they make the choice to be renters?

Renting a vacation house for nine months/year: no property taxes, no maintenance repairs like painting, possibility of a low rent because that's all the rental market will allow to the property owner?

And, for June-July-August, one can always go camping and stay at one of the 23 different campgrounds in the White Mountain National Forest for $16 to $20/night, and go mountain hiking all summer long, and upgrade yourself from a tent to a used rv camper vehicle with the money you saved by not paying any property taxes or maintaining a house! http://icampnh.com/

I get your point but your numbers are way off. My girlfriend just barely survived the layoff. 182 layed off from the Elliot.

siksukr
 

Ya my bad on the layoff numbers.

Winnisquamguy charts aside the numbers are real. People in Laconia would rather pay less and rent a s-hole then pay for a nice place. Both our 3 bedrooms are renting for around $900.