Construction of new houses in New Hampshire took a step back in 2023, putting the state behind in its efforts to ease the ongoing housing shortages.

To stay on track for a balanced housing market by 2040 — where supply meets demand — New Hampshire needs to add 32,704 homes by 2025, according to data from the state’s Department of Business and Economic Affairs.

So far, however, only 75% of that target has been reached.

While the overall building permits for housing faced setbacks, some towns in Merrimack County stood out for their growth in 2023.

Chichester, for example, approved 12 more building permits than the previous year, and Dunbarton saw an additional 8 permits granted.

Donna White, office administrator at Dunbarton’s building department, explained that a recent surge in development came from the 50 new lots created through subdivisions in the past few years.

“As soon as those new lots became available, they got built out,” said White. “Right now, we don’t have too many lots.”

White also noted that Dunbarton hasn’t received a single permit application for a new home in the past four months.

Meanwhile, according to the data, Concord saw a significant decline in approved building permits for housing, dropping from 110 in 2022 to just 11 in 2023.

Since then, Concord has approved permits for several large housing projects. Last year, the city greenlit the Townhomes at Capital Pointe, which will add 83 units to the state’s housing stock.

Concord has also been exploring zoning changes to make development easier in the city.

In 2023, Hillsborough County stood out by approving 1,591 new housing units, more than any other county in the state. All other counties saw a slowdown. Merrimack County issued 322 permits, down from 432 in 2022.

Statewide, the bulk of new construction permits continued to center on single-family homes, which made up 63% of all building permits issued in 2023.

But with supply still falling short of demand, New Hampshire’s real estate market continues to push home prices even higher.

According to the New Hampshire Association of Realtors (NHAR), “a half-million dollars or more has become the new normal” for single-family homes in the state, and the ongoing shortage of available homes is fueling the surge.

In March, the median price for a single-family home in New Hampshire hit $525,000.

Susan Cole, President of NHAR, said it’s unlikely that prices will dip below the $500,000 mark anytime soon.

“This crisis has been decades in the making,” Cole said in a statement. “It will take a sustained focus on long-term solutions to dig us out.”

Sruthi Gopalakrishnan can be reached at sgopalakrishnan@cmonitor.com