City of Portsmouth Annual Update

City of Portsmouth Annual Update

CITY OF PORTSMOUTH 2003 ANNUAL UPDATE

INTRODUCTION
The real estate market throughout the country and the Northeast has seen considerable appreciation in the past 8 to 9 years. This is especially true within the residential housing market. Residential homes, condominiums, and multi family homes have been increasing 12% to 18% annually, fueled mostly by the lowest interest rates in this country in the last 45 years. This increase in appreciation determined by repeat sales of homes, continues despite a slow recovery in most other sectors of the economy.

Repeat Sales 1
Home Price Index

1 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
 


MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE
City of Portsmouth

The City of Portsmouth is no exception to this increase in housing prices. The cost of housing has increased consistently throughout the residential market and throughout the entire city. The demand for housing throughout the city is still relatively strong and the inventory still limited. At any one time, less than 150 residential properties are available for sale.

In 2000, the Multiple Listing Service reported for the City of Portsmouth, 333 residential properties sold, the average price for a single family house was $213,400, and the average number of days listed was 71 days. The amount of sales and number of days a house stays on the market has remained constant. To date the amount of days a house remains on the market is increasing from 67 in 2002 to 81 days in 2003, a relatively small increase, however, if this trend continues, it could signal a slowdown in the residential market. Sale prices in 2003 continue to illustrate strong growth as the average selling price for the first half of the year has increased to $286,220. This is based on 193 sales. A summary of these trends is as follows:

 
  2000 2001 2002 Jun-03
# of listings 333 315 327 193
# of listings 333 315 327 193
Average Sale Price $213,400 $222,800 $261,800 $286,220
# of days listed 71 65 67 81


In recent years, commercial and industrial properties have not been appreciating at the same rate as residential properties, mostly due to the sluggish economy and lack of confidence in the market. Despite these factors, sale prices of commercial and industrial properties within the city have continued to show some appreciation since 2001, relatively smaller in comparison to the residential market.

Downtown rental space continues to be absorbed much to the surprise of many, especially retail spaces, while office vacancy rates have remained relatively constant. A positive sign for commercial properties citywide is that a majority of the new office space recently built is being occupied. What has been noticeable is a few of the larger tenants have opted for new office space, vacating older buildings. This has given the appearance of higher vacancy rates than in previous years, which overall is not necessarily the case.

In 2003, the residential market outpaced the commercial and industrial market and this is illustrated by the increases in total assessments as shown below. The Assessor's Office has updated the assessments to reflect this change. The result will be a slight tax shift of 2% away from commercial properties and on to residential properties. However, with a decrease in the tax rate, hopefully this should not have a large tax impact on any one segment of properties.

City of Portsmouth
Total Assessments by Use
  Totals 2002 % of Total Totals 2003 % of Total
Residential 1,503,918,890 55.89% 1,733,846,300 57.86%
Commercial/Industrial 978,200,300 36.35% 1,029,165,060 34.34%
Utilities 121,435,395 4.51% 122,549,718 4.09%
Pease Non Airport District 87,338,200 3.25% 111,239,200 3.71%
TOTAL ASSESSED VALUE
(not including exemptions)		 2,690,892,785   2,996,800,278  
Pease Airport District 99,564,200   118,417,190  


 
For the Full 2003 ANNUAL ASSESSMENT REVIEW please click here (7.04 MB)


 
Contact Information:
City Assessor: Lauren Elliott
Deputy Assessor: Rosann Maurice
Office Staff: Debbie Brock and Karyn Newton
Address:1 Junkins Avenue, Portsmouth, NH 03801
Phone:(603) 610 - 7249

Source: cityofportsmouth.com



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