By Patrick Adrian
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — While Claremont and the surrounding region seem poised for potential growth, the limited housing stock still poses obstacles to fully capitalizing on the opportunity.
A surge in prospective homebuyers remains strong in the region, said local realtor Bonnie Miles, in an interview with the Eagle Times this week. The last two years in particular have illustrated an undeniable trend that people from other states are migrating to the region, according to Miles, who has many clients coming from states including Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.
However, this trend is arguably more beneficial to the sellers than the buyers, because the sellers have potential to make considerable money, Miles said.
For many buyers, the experience is less positive.
“There are not a lot of available houses out there,” Miles said. “And many people, who are good buyers, hard-working people with good credit, just can’t find a house. They can’t even rent a house or an apartment.”
The competition over housing was similar two years ago, when Miles, a Coldwell Banker realtor of 32 years, last spoke to the Eagle Times about the housing market. At that time, Miles had noted a decline in the number of house listings, which she speculated might be tied to the pandemic. Between March 1 and June 30 of 2020, only 53 residential homes were listed in Claremont, Miles had said, compared to 67 listings the previous year during that same timeframe.
As of Monday, there are only five single-family homes listed in Claremont.
Houses are being listed, Miles said. But many listings are quickly snatched, with many buyers either overbidding or offering cash.
“There are people coming up from the south and laying cash down on properties,” Miles said.
The competition puts lower-to moderate income buyers at the greatest disadvantage, particularly people using a secondary assistance program like the Federal Housing Authority or New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority.
At present, the homes still priced in the range of assisted homebuyers are “fixer uppers,” homes that will require renovations or repairs, Miles said. Yet competition is driving up the prices of these properties. Even if the mortgage is still manageable, the assisted homebuyer would likely need loan assistance to fund the repairs.
Central to the housing crisis is a need for new housing stock, with a diversity of options to all needs, from single-family homes, apartments to multi-family dwelling options, according to Claremont officials.
To the city’s credit, Claremont has seen recent gains in its housing stock, said Claremont Planning and Development Director Nancy Merrill.
In 2020 the city celebrated the opening of the Goddard Block, a mixed-income apartment building with 36 units, including nine market-rate apartments and 27 units for tenants earning between 30 percent to 80 percent of the region’s median income.
The Goddard Block, funded with a variety of state and federal tax credits and grants, restored a previously condemned apartment building that had held 24 units.
In June, Claremont will welcome the opening of Monadnock Mills, a restored downtown mill building that will add 83 market-rate apartments, including studios and one or two bedroom units.
In addition, there are six single-family homes currently being built, Merrill said.
“We are starting to see growth in our housing stock,” Merrill said. “We just need it to continue, with more housing next year and the year after that.”
Some of this work is happening at the local legislative level. Over the past couple of years, the Claremont Planning Board has been revising the city’s zoning ordinances for accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
ADUs are second residential units on properties where the owner also lives, such as a basement apartment inside a family home.
The Planning Board is currently working on ordinance changes that will permit “detached ADUs,” or a second dwelling that is not physically attached to the main residence.
The board’s current work is a response to recommendations made by a 2018 housing study, which the city funded through a Plan NH grant.
That study projected a higher future demand for smaller, economical living units, partly due to the area’s aging population and competition between seniors and young families for the same starter homes or apartments.
The study also recommended the city review its zoning laws to accommodate more varieties of multi-unit housing, such as duplexes, ADUs or tiny homes.
Currently the New Hampshire legislature is still working on legislation for tiny homes, which must be adopted before municipalities may work on local ordinances.
reporter @eagletimes.com
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