New Hampshire’s median home price has soared to an all-time high, reaching the highest point in the past decade. With a continuous dearth of properties for sale, it’s a seller’s market like never before, say real estate experts.

In the state capital of Concord, the situation is particularly striking, with only a dozen homes currently listed for sale. The median list price stands at $580,000, surpassing the statewide median sale price, which hovers around $525,000.

Joanie McIntire, president of the New Hampshire Association of Realtors noted that housing prices in Concord have more than doubled since the market was last balanced in 2015.

A balanced housing market is where supply meets demand.

“We are so far off of a balanced market that it’s hard to imagine us getting there quickly or hard to even imagine prices coming down,” said McIntire. “They would have to moderate first.”

As of Tuesday, there are only 1,600 houses available for sale in New Hampshire, leaving the state short of 23,000 units to reach a balanced market.

Many towns in New Hampshire have zoning ordinances requiring a minimum of three acres to build a house. A potential solution, according to McIntire, is to allow for affordable housing and permit the construction of three homes on three acres instead of just one.

“The only way that we’re going to move ourselves out of this is to build more homes, which means that towns are going to have to relax their zoning,” said McIntire.

Concord is not the only city in Merrimack County experiencing high home prices and a limited housing supply. According to data from the New Hampshire Association of Realtors, the median price for a home in Merrimack County is $467,750.

For a home in Hopkinton, the median price is $401,000 and in Bow it is $1,098,500.

Rockingham County has the highest home price in the state at $650,000.

These elevated prices pose challenges for first-time home buyers and middle-income individuals, exacerbating the difficulty in filling job vacancies.

In the current market, where the average house price is $500,000 statewide, home buyers would need to come up with at least 5% for the down payment and secure a mortgage of around 7%.

McIntire said it’s almost impossible for first-time and middle-income buyers to find a property in the current housing market

“These buyers are the people who really are the engine of our economy,” said McIntire. “Teachers, policemen, firemen and all those jobs that real run our economy, if they can’t find a place to live, I think that’s a real problem.”