


Though our home owners come from all over the country, a substantial portion of them are moving here from Massachusetts. More specifically, we see a lot of people from towns that border the Granite State such as Haverhill, Methuen, and Lawrence.
Though Atkinson is a neighboring town, what inspires a homeowner to cross state borders, even when they're moving just one town over? We wanted to explore some of the reasons that homeowners might make the crossover to the Granite State and here's what we came up with.
According to a report on the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies, New Hampshire obtained 70,000 new residents from Massachusetts between 2000 and 2013, and a net count of about 11,000 people moving to New Hampshire from Mass in 2015. In the first eight months of 2016, the median home price in Rockingham County rose 3.2 percent, while the median price in its neighbor Essex county rose to 4 percent.
While New Hampshire does have a higher property tax, hovering around an average of 2.05% of the overall property value compared to the Massachusetts average of 1.15%, homeowners could be saving their money in other ways. Housing finder websites like Zillow will document their median list price per square foot. In Massachusetts, property was more than $100 higher than New Hampshire.
It should also bear repeating that while the state property taxes exist at a higher rate, New Hampshire has no sales tax. It is somewhat of a running joke (albeit true , in some cases) that residents of Massachusetts will cross the border to get things like groceries, alcohol, or gasoline to save money instead of paying the 5-8% sales tax that exists in the Bay State.
For those that are still working, let's also not forget income tax. If you're living and working in New Hampshire, the state's individual tax rates apply to interest and dividend income only and is not levied on wages. In Massachusetts, there is a flat tax of 5.13% on most types of incomes, with the average household income tax reaching just over $2,000 a month.
In effect, this means that the difference in price could afford you a larger home for less at the price of an additional 10 to 15-minute drive to Boston.
We could go on and gush about the perks of life in the Granite State, with its lovely beaches, beautiful mountains, and great culture of New Hampshire. However, when discussing terms of homeownership in New Hampshire, crossing that state border makes sense for some people and could also make sense for you. Contact us with any questions you may have about moving to the Granite State.
Averages calculated at www.smartasset.com