RYE – The sale of a Rye home, complete with heated pool and multi-purpose sports court, for $3.69 million topped the coastal single-family home sales list in July.
The four-bedroom, four-bathroom home at 229 Wallis Road was the most expensive of 80 single-family homes sold, according to the Seacoast Board of Realtors.
The home was built in 1998 and is within walking distance to Pirates Cove Beach. There is an outdoor pool with pool house and a detached carriage house for three cars. The home includes a breakfast bar, office, exercise rooms and media room.
According to Rye records, the city’s last assessment for the property was $2,236,500.
“Enter your own world of peace and seclusion just three-quarters of a mile from the Atlantic Ocean,” said the ad for the now-sold property.
The single-family home was sold by Susan Haberstroh, a real estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Verani Realty in Portsmouth.
“I would describe it as the house you drive by and think, ‘What a great property, I wish I could walk down the winding driveway and look inside,'” she said of the home. “I think that’s why it appealed to so many buyers, it was just so stunning. For me, it was a great honor to be chosen to represent and market it. We did well and had several offers in the first week.”
Million dollar sales record in Seacoast in July
John Rice, statistician for the Seacoast Board of Realtors, noted that 31 homes on the coast sold for at least $1 million last month, a new July record on the coast.
Rice, an associate broker for Tate & Foss Sotheby’s International Realty, tracks real estate transaction data for the panel from 13 communities in the region: Exeter, Greenland, Hampton, Hampton Falls, New Castle, Newfields, Newington, North Hampton, Newmarket, Portsmouth, Rye, Seabrook and Stratham.
Monthly median home price on the coast drops (slightly)
The average monthly cost of a home on the coast fell 12.7% last month from a year ago, to $795,000, according to Rice. The area’s 80 single-family home sales represented a 10% decline from June, although sales rose 56.8% from a year ago, when only 51 homes sold, Rice reported.
Only two single-family homes on the coast sold for less than $400,000 in July. Another 27 homes sold for $400,000 to $700,000, while 20 sold for between $700,000 and $1 million.
Seven months into the year, a total of 373 single-family homes have been sold in the Seacoast region, up 2.1% from this time in 2023. The average price of all homes sold in the Seacoast in 2024 through July is $829,000, up 15.1% from January through July of last year.
“Our real estate market continues to perform very well,” said Lynn Lagasse, president of the Seacoast Board of Realtors, in a prepared statement. “While average prices have softened somewhat, volume numbers have been very strong across all price categories.”
Coastal condo sales of $3.8 million also set a record in July
The condo market had a record month as 10 units sold for at least $1 million, a new July record. All of the condos sold were in Portsmouth, Rice said.
The top-selling Seacoast condo in July was a $3.8 million three-bedroom, four-bathroom condo in Harbor Place, just above the Piscataqua River. The condo was on the market for 71 days and is located in a complex with a rooftop deck, elevator access and is close to downtown Portsmouth.
In July, 64 condos were sold for an average total price of $596,950, an increase of 29.7% over the previous year.
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Six condos on the coast sold last month for under $300,000, 27 for $300,000 to $600,000 and 21 for $600,000 to $1 million.
Rice’s report says 338 condos were sold on the Coast this year through the end of July, an 11.9% increase from the first seven months of last year. The annual median price of all condos sold on the Coast in 2024 is $600,000, a 12.2% increase from all units sold last year through July 2023.
