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Rental Housing Costs Continue To Rise In New Hampshire

A "For Rent" sign hangs in a window
Shane Adams via Flickr/CC - http://ow.ly/OJ5Pe

The median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in New Hampshire, plus utilities, is now over $1200 a month - up almost 15 percent from five years ago. 

That's according to the 2016 Residential Rental Cost Survey from the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority. 

Housing officials say the number of apartments available at any time has been dropping - the state's vacancy rate is now just 1.5 percent - and that's forced prices higher.

Jane Law of NHHFA says there are a few signs of change in the market. Some renters who held off on purchasing homes in the years after the Great Recession are finally moving into the real estate market. And construction of new rental units has picked up.

But, she says, there's a catch: "Just based on cost of construction, new units coming online tend to be at the higher end of the market. So it still makes it difficult for those who are at low or moderate incomes to find quality housing to live in."

The New Hampshire real estate market, meanwhile, remains strong, with the number of home sales and median home prices continuing to rise. 

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