Sell Your Commercial Property In New Hampshire

The New Hampshire rental market at a glance

New Hampshire's median gross rent was $1,491 a month in the 2020-2024 American Community Survey, up from $1,111 in the 2015-2019 period. Rental vacancy statewide sat at 4.0%, and 48.2% of New Hampshire renters spent 30% or more of income on rent, per Census table B25070.

Renters filled 151,369 of New Hampshire's 555,822 occupied homes, a 27.2% renter share. Larger buildings remain a smaller slice of the New Hampshire market: only 15.5% of New Hampshire's 648,472 housing units sit in structures of five or more units, a figure concentrated in Hillsborough and Rockingham counties.

New Hampshire's median household income reached $99,031, and employment grew to 749,856 people with unemployment at 3.3%. HUD's FY2027 fair market rents for New Hampshire's metro areas run from $1,195 to $3,008 for a two-bedroom unit, a range that frames what a New Hampshire rental can support.

Five-year trends

New Hampshire's median gross rent climbed 34.2% between the 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 ACS periods, well ahead of the state's 29.0% growth in median household income. That gap matters for an owner selling an apartment building in New Hampshire into a market where rent has outrun what tenants earn.

Units in New Hampshire buildings of five or more apartments grew 8.9% to 100,245 over the same five years, per Census table B25024. Renter households slipped 1.6% statewide even as New Hampshire's population grew 3.5% and employment rose 2.8%, a sign some new residents are buying rather than renting.

County trends diverge further. Rockingham County's median rent rose 37.4% and its 5-plus unit stock grew 18.0%, the fastest expansion of the three counties New Hampshire hubs track. Strafford County's apartment stock grew fastest in share terms, up 27.9%, while Hillsborough's renter households barely moved, up 0.6%.

County comparison: Hillsborough, Rockingham and Strafford

Hillsborough, Rockingham and Strafford counties cover New Hampshire's largest rental markets, from Manchester and Nashua to Portsmouth and Dover. The table below lines up median rent, renter share, larger-building stock and vacancy for each.

Rockingham County commands New Hampshire's highest rent but its lowest renter share, a seacoast pattern of higher homeownership near the Massachusetts line. Strafford County runs the loosest vacancy of the three at 5.1%, while Hillsborough stays tightest at 3.5%, consistent with steadier demand around Manchester's job base.

New Hampshire landlord, tax and transfer rules

New Hampshire charges a real estate transfer tax of $0.75 per $100 of the sale price under RSA 78-B:1, owed by both buyer and seller, a combined 1.5% of price. On a $1,000,000 New Hampshire sale, each side pays roughly $7,500, with narrow exceptions listed in RSA 78-B:2.

Security deposits in New Hampshire are capped at one month's rent or $100, whichever is greater, under RSA 540-A:6, and must be returned within 30 days of move-out with an itemized list of damages under RSA 540-A:7. A seller who holds tenant deposits must turn them over to the buyer at closing or within five days.

Eviction notice periods in New Hampshire run 7 days for nonpayment, damage or a health and safety issue, and 30 days for other lease terminations, under RSA 540:3. New Hampshire towns must reappraise all real estate at full market value at least once every five years under RSA 75:8-a, so an assessment can lag several years behind current New Hampshire rents.

What this means if you sell in New Hampshire

Buyers who evaluate an apartment building in New Hampshire price it against the county table above, not a single statewide number. A seller in Strafford County, at 5.1% vacancy, should expect a different cap rate conversation than one in Hillsborough County at 3.5%.

The transfer tax changes the math on both sides of a New Hampshire closing: at 1.5% combined, it is a real line item to model before you sell commercial property in New Hampshire, alongside whatever your town's last RSA 75:8-a revaluation set your assessment at.

We review New Hampshire multifamily buildings of five or more units across Hillsborough, Rockingham and Strafford counties and the rest of New Hampshire. Send the rent roll and current tax bill, and we will set the property against these county figures.