New New Hampshire housing numbers show 192 foreclosures in April. That’s half of what the state recorded at the same time last year. And it appears to be part of an ongoing trend.
The report released by the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority strikes an optimistic note. Between March and April of this year, foreclosures dropped by 30 percent. Economist Russ Thibeault says he’s encouraged because the state has seen improvements pretty much every month of 2013. And this trend marks the first time the state has seen significant improvement.
“Foreclosures have been running ten times higher than normal over the last three or four years. And there have been about 20,000 foreclosures in New Hampshire," Thibeault says. "So this is really good news, and is yet another sign of a housing recovery. We really, in New Hampshire now, have set the stage for housing recovery.”
He says home sales have also been on the rise, partly because low interest rates have made buying affordable. But over the past six weeks, interest rates have risen, which Thibeault says could hurt the fledgling recovery.
