Sell Your Commercial Property In Manchester, NH

Who rents in Manchester

Manchester is New Hampshire's largest city, with 115,643 residents in the 2020–2024 American Community Survey, about 27.1% of Hillsborough County's 426,378. Renters occupy 25,233 of the city's 49,162 occupied homes, or 51.3%. Countywide the renter share is 32.6%, and statewide it is 27.2% across New Hampshire. Manchester holds 45.9% of the county's renter households with 27.1% of its people.

Health care and education anchor the tenant base. Elliot Hospital is a 296-bed acute care facility, Catholic Medical Center reports more than 3,000 employees and 330 beds, and Southern New Hampshire University runs a 300-acre campus in the city with more than 3,000 on-campus students. The city's economic development office adds technology, advanced manufacturing and biofabrication professionals. Owners in the North End and the West Side compete for hospital staff, students and downtown workers, while Bedford and Goffstown sit in the same HUD rent area and price against the same benchmarks.

Rents and affordability

Median gross rent in Manchester was $1,564 over 2020–2024, $59 below the county's $1,623 and $73 above the state's $1,491. Median household income was $81,007, against $103,545 in Hillsborough County and $99,031 statewide. Half of the city's renter households, 50.0%, pay at least 30% of income for housing, and 22.1%, or 5,399 households, pay half or more. The county shares are 48.2% and 21.7%.

HUD's fair market rents for the Manchester HMFA, which covers Bedford, Goffstown, Manchester and Weare, run well above the census median, which blends every unit size and lease vintage:

Source: HUD FY2027 FMR schedule, effective October 1, 2026. Boston matters to this market: the same schedule puts the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy HMFA two-bedroom rent at $3,008, 38.7% above Manchester's $2,168, and the one-bedroom gap is 52.0%. The city describes itself as less than an hour from Boston.

The apartment stock

According to ACS table B25024, 17,081 of Manchester's 52,108 housing units, 32.8%, are in buildings of five or more units, against 20.7% in Hillsborough County and 15.5% statewide. By size, 6,319 units sit in 20–49 unit buildings, 4,581 in 5–9 unit buildings, 3,288 in buildings of 50 or more and 2,893 in 10–19 unit buildings. Two-to-four unit buildings add 13,552 units, and detached houses are only 35.7% of the stock, compared with 56.6% countywide. The city holds 46.4% of the county's 36,798 units in 5+ unit buildings.

The stock is old. Per table B25034, the median year built is 1966, twelve years older than the county's 1978, and 64.8% of units predate 1980, including 28.1% built in 1939 or earlier. Only 2,329 units, 4.5%, date from 2010 or later, and 488, or 0.9%, from 2020. If you sell commercial real estate in Manchester, NH, buyers will price roofs, boilers, wiring and lead-paint compliance accordingly. Vacancy is 5.7%, or 2,946 units, against 5.1% in the county.

Property taxes in Hillsborough County

New Hampshire levies one property tax for city, school, county and state purposes. Manchester's assessment year runs April 1 to March 31, with bills due July 1 and December 1, according to the city finance office. The Assessors Office lists the 2025 rate at $20.24 per $1,000 of assessed value: $10.04 municipal, $7.33 local education, $1.51 state education and $1.36 county. The finance office's table notes that the assessment rate for real property is 100%.

That rate is about to be replaced. RSA 75:8-a requires reappraisal at least every fifth year, and the city is mid-way through its 2026 revaluation. The assessors report a 2025 ratio of 64.8% and say a new, lower rate will be set this fall on the larger tax base; WMUR quoted the Board of Assessors chair saying rates should drop significantly. On a $2 million assessed value, the 2025 rate gives $40,480 a year, but buyers will underwrite the new rate and the new assessment, which owners can contest by abatement after the final bill arrives, by March 1, 2027. A sale also pays the state transfer tax of $0.75 per $100 under RSA 78-B:1, charged to buyer and seller alike under RSA 78-B:4: $15,000 each on $2 million.

Landlord rules

Owners who want to sell commercial property in Manchester, NH start with the city's own rules. Manchester requires a Certificate of Compliance for every residential rental under Chapter 150 of its Housing Code, and owners who buy or sell with an expired certificate may face penalties, according to the Planning and Community Development Department. A new owner of a building with a valid certificate files a Transfer of Ownership with a $50 fee. Properties that were vacant or owner-occupied need a new application at $25 per unit plus a $50 inspection per unit, which leads to a three-year certificate once violations are corrected. Tenants who find violations must first complain to the landlord; if the problem is not addressed within a reasonable time they can file with the city, and an inspector issues a violation notice to the owner.

State law governs the tenancy. RSA 540-A:6 caps deposits at one month's rent or $100, whichever is greater, and requires a seller to turn deposits over to the buyer at the deed or within five days after, with certified-mail notice to tenants. RSA 540-A:7 sets a 30-day return deadline. A multifamily building is restricted property under RSA 540:1-a, so RSA 540:2 limits evictions to listed causes, and RSA 540:3 allows 7 days' notice for nonpayment and 30 days for other terminations. Rent increases need 30 days' written notice, and for leases of 12 months or longer, non-renewal needs 60 days' notice from July 1, 2026.

What this means if you own a building in Manchester

Manchester offers a renter majority, a hospital and university tenant base and an older stock. Against that, a reset tax rate and a city rental certificate are the items buyers will question first. If you plan to sell commercial property in Manchester, NH, our cap rate calculator shows how taxes move value, and our post on why rental demand stays strong in Manchester covers the tenant side. Skyline Capital Investments buys 5+ unit buildings across Manchester, listed or off-market; our seller page explains how we underwrite.