Re/Max broker and co-owner Joshua Naughton, standing in front of the famed Re/Max balloon at his 169 Daniel Webster Highway, Nashua office, said the real estate market rebounded quickly because agents adapted to the pandemic quickly.

NASHUA – The Re/Max balloon landed in Nashua, as the organization, like many area realtors is open and ready for new business.

“With that balloon up, we want people to know that we’re still here and we’re still working,” Re/Max Innovative Properties broker and co-owner Joshua Naughton said. “Things are still happening.”

Naughton, and Re/Max broker and co-owner Andrew White have five offices in southern New Hampshire and one in Lowell, Massachusetts.

With COVID-19, the real estate market took an unusual turn over the last few months.

“It was more like a hairpin turn,” White said. “It was really incredible. When COVID first hit at the end of March, we all sat back and thought, ‘Oh geez, this could be the end of the upward trend in the real estate market.'”

White said that the market could have easily spun out, the way it did in 2005 and 2006.

“But what we found after putting safe practices into place, is that the market just roared back to life,” White said. “We typically have seen strong spring markets and have for the past six years as the market started to come back.”

Naughton and White said what they’ve witnessed in the past few months is hard to describe.

“The intensity of the buyer activity was double or triple of what we were used to seeing in a spring market,” White commented. “And again, this didn’t really happen until the end of the spring, because people were just sitting on their hands waiting to see what was going to happen.”

The desperation of the buyers instigated a reboot of sorts that no one watching COVID thought was possible.

“The offers being made – it’s hard to gauge,” White said.

Naughton said the real estate market rebounded quickly because agents adapted to the pandemic very quickly.

“In terms of how we marketed and showed property, 360 virtual tours became the norm,” Naughton said. “Practices that we had used forever just went by the wayside. And all this digital technology really just took on a life of its own, practically overnight. It was amazing how quickly the industry adapted to that.”

As sellers got more comfortable, the market moved. Naughton added that low interest rates and high rental rates also help swing the market pendulum in the right direction.

“It feels like the ’04 – ’05 insanity again,” Naughton said. “Buyers just want to get into something before they feel like they missed out on something. So, for sellers, it’s a great time to sell, because you’re almost guaranteed multiple offers and over-asking price on your property, assuming that you priced it correctly to start with.”

From talking to buyers and agents, White said that many people are moving in this direction from Massachusetts, especially the greater Boston area.

“It seems as though people want to get out of that area and into New Hampshire,” White said. “People want to get away from the city and get a piece of property here.”

Naughton said he has many friends and associates that are trying to do the same – get away from the potential hotspot that Boston could be.

“Living in the city with kids during COVID and not being able to leave their two bedroom apartment with no outside space, people are saying ‘I want some green space,'” Naughton said.

Naughton called it “a perfect storm.”

“You have a number of things coming together,” Naughton said. “You have a bunch of buyers who are living in more densely populated areas and are trying to leave. They want to move to our marketplace, which is considerably more rural. And you’ve got people who have been quarantined at home for a long time that have decided that their current house and current living situation, if they’re going to be spending more time at home and working from home, doesn’t quite work for them.”

Low interest rates also make houses more attractive to and more affordable for people.

“At some point in March, the thirty year rate went into the two’s,” White said.

“And that’s coupled with the fact that we were struggling with an inventory issue prior to COVID,” Naughton interjected. “That only worsened as COVID came in, and that’s our biggest challenge.”

Naughton and White said they have plenty of new buyers, and people who want to move up or move around the market, and the sellers are not there.

“There just isn’t an inventory for people to buy,” Naughton said. “That’s causing multiple offer situations. I was in a webinar today, and nationally, the statistic said 80 percent of homeowners still feel like if they put their house on the market today, it won’t sell due to COVID. And that’s crazy. We can sell anything that we put on the market as long as it’s priced right.”

The statistics show a shortage of inventory, a high demand from buyers and increased prices.

“Our average sale price is up right now,” Naughton said. “But our average number of units sold per year is down. So, we don’t have as many properties on the market, but the ones that are coming on are transacting for more than they would have at this time last year.”

People are buying primary residences more than they are investment properties.

Geography has much to do with the demand of houses in the Greater Nashua area, which includes Pelham, Salem, Windham and Hudson.

“Lowell is still north of Boston and to some people, that still feels right,” Naughton said. “We haven’t really seen any drop-offs in Lowell.”

And the hottest spot in the area?

“I’d say it’s the entire border,” Naughton said. “Nashua, Hudson, Windham, Salem – right across the board.”

“In those communities, you can’t touch anything,” White said. “Like Josh said, you’ve got to make seven or eight offers on homes until you actually get one for your buyer.”

As of Wednesday morning, there were 21 single family homes on the market in Nashua.

“It has to be two or three times that much, for this time of year,” Naughton pointed out.

On the commercial side, the hospitality industry has naturally been hurt by the pandemic.

“For obvious reasons, that’s been a challenge,” Naughton said.

Naughton and White said as far as the future goes, the inventory will control it.

“As long as the inventory level is this low, the buyers are just going to continue to push the market,” White said.

“Our challenge is to keep the buyers educated on what the market’s like,” Naughton said. “If you’re going to step foot into this market, you have to be prepared to be patient. You have to be prepared to make a number of offers. It’s a long game. It could take a while.”

“There is desperation in the market,” White said. “You have buyers coming into this market to buy houses. And they’re waiving all of their contingencies. No appraisal, no inspection, no financing, they’re borrowing cash, or using 401-K money or they’re using their parents’ money. That just shows complete desperation of the buyers. It’s very common.”

Naughton and White said they’ve never seen anything like it.

“The last boon that we had was in 2004, 2005, before that crash,” Naughton said. “This is like that. But on steroids.”