Wealthy Homebuyers Are Driving Up Prices in This Under-the-Radar Ski Town in New Hampshire

When it comes to premium ski destinations in the United States, wealthy locales like Aspen and Vail are likely to come to mind. However, the charming, quiet town of Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, has seen some of the largest gains over the last few years when it comes to alpine property prices.

According to a new report from Realtor.com, the New England enclave has seen a shocking spike in home prices since the pandemic. In that time, listing prices jumped a whopping 121 percent, which raised the median home price roughly 25 percent higher than the national average. For context, the U.S. median home price was $408,732 as of November 2023. “It’s those children who grew up skiing here,” Mike Aronson, an agent with Waterville Valley Realty, told the real estate portal. “Now, with remote work, they’ve come back to live here.”

Waterville Valley, nestled inside New Hampshire’s White Mountains National Forest, has long been a big draw for slope-schussing homebuyers. A two-hour drive from Boston, the town’s picturesque ski resort was founded in the 1960s by the late Olympic skier Tom Corcoran. Today, it features an epic 52 trails and 265 acres of alpine terrain. “Like a lot of ski towns, we’ve become more of a four-seasons destination,” Aronson added.

Per the New Hampshire Housing Market Report, average home prices across the state have risen 36 percent between 2020 and 2022. And as of 2023, the median home price clocked in at $449,799. Not far from Waterville Valley is the town of Holderness, where properties on scenic Squam Lake run in the $4 million to $7 million range. Currently, the area’s most expensive residence is 158 Cromwell Point Road, a 4,134-square-foot pad with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The $7 million spread is positioned on roughly four wooded acres and features a wine cellar, a U-shaped boat dock, and a stone patio.

Nearby, 80 Mooney Point is listed for just shy of $4.5 million. The 2,409-square-foot waterfront cottage comprises four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a renovated kitchen, and a screened porch. There are tons of exposed beams and wooden paneling, which makes it look as if it’s straight out of the 1981 drama On Golden Pond, starring Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn. Well, that could also have to do with the fact that the movie was actually shot on the same lake!