New Hampshire Realtor Mark Allen says that Auburn, Manchester, and Merrimack are the places to be in New Hampshire, despite what may appear to be a softening market.

Auburn

"First off, let me say that I'm convinced Auburn will continue to grow for several years to come," says Allen, "as will the rest of the 101 corridor east of Manchester. For better or for worse, Auburn will change dramatically and will hardly be recognizable to people who knew it only a few years ago. That said, while Auburn can still be considered a booming market, the housing market is showing signs of softening. It is not really a buyer's market, but it is not the hot seller's market it was last year either. Appreciation has definitely slowed, and prices seem to be leveling off -- but prices have not gone down in any market segment. The price differential between 'high-end' and 'mid-range' seems to be narrowing. If interest rates rise, I expect the over $300K market especially to slow significantly."

Manchester

"Easy access to 101, 293, and 93 (which is due to be widened) continues to draw commuters to Manchester," observes Allen. "On top of the local employment opportunities, I expect the Manchester housing market to benefit from this commuter phenomenon for at least the next 10 years. But the market is slowing down somewhat. Even in the formerly red-hot multi-family market is showing signs of softening from the torrid pace we had gotten used to over the past few years. It is still not a buyer's market, but we are no longer seeing multiple offers and bidding wars except in rare cases."

He explains, "Appreciation has slowed, and prices seem to be leveling off, but as with Auburn, prices have not gone down. The higher market segments are flat, while the lower ones are slowly appreciating. The price differential between 'high-end' and 'mid-range' seems to be narrowing. I think appreciation may soon be over, and we may be in the early stages of a long-term stable market -- which is not the end of the world. We'll call it a 'balanced' market ... that's a nice word for it!"

Merrimack

"The Merrimack market continues to benefit from extremely high real estate prices in Massachussetts," says Allen, "which pushes many buyers over the border where our prices seem like a bargain! Nonetheless the housing market in Merrimack is showing slight signs of softening. It is not really a buyer's market, but listings take much longer to sell than they used to! The future of interest rates will be very important in determining where this market goes from here."