Gibson Sotheby's International Realty President Nicole Rideout Hartwick (left) Chairman Larry Rideout (second from left) and CEO Colleen Barry (right) pose in this undated handout photo with Madden Group broker/owner Jenn Madden to mark Gibson Sotheby's purchase of Madden's brokerage. Photo courtesy of Gibson Sotheby's International Realty
Boston-based Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty announced it’s bought the Madden Group, a Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based, five-agent brokerage.
The move marks the large brokerage’s first physical presence in the New Hampshire market, although its purchase of a 16-agent brokerage just across the state line in Newburyport in 2023 gained it agents that served the state.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Jenn [Madden] has built a brokerage that reflects many of the values we’ve prioritized as we’ve grown: a boutique culture, close collaboration, and a deep commitment to the communities it serves,” Gibson Sotheby’s chairman and founder Larry Rideout said in a statement. “This builds on a business already active in New Hampshire, where our agents have long served clients from Newburyport and across coastal New England, and Jenn’s team is an exceptional cultural fit.”
Madden Group broker/owner Jennifer Madden will join Gibson Sotheby’s as its vice president for New Hampshire, and her brokerage’s short-term vacation rental management division, Rising Tide Rentals, will continue to operate under its existing brand.
“Since 2010, we’ve built our business on trust, local expertise, and strong relationships across the Seacoast region,” Madden said in a statement. “Joining Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty allows us to pair that foundation with the support and global reach of the Sotheby’s International Realty brand, elevating what we can offer our clients while continuing to serve the communities we know best.”
Gibson Sotheby’s wouldn’t release a specific headcount growth target or timeline for the office, but spokesperson Becca Logue said “the acquisition should be viewed as a long-term investment in the New Hampshire Seacoast market, with the expectation of thoughtful growth over time.”
The deal has already resulted in “a handful” of additional agents joining Madden Group who were not originally affiliated with the brokerage, she said.
The Rockingham County market has traditionally been one of several areas in Southeastern New Hampshire that have attracted Massachusetts homebuyers looking to trade commute time for cheaper houses or bigger lots. But like much of the New Hampshire housing market, its sales pace has slowed dramatically since the pandemic as slow construction and a jump in interest rates dramatically tightened the market.
Only 525 homes of all types were sold in the county in the first quarter of 2026 according to the most recent data available from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. That’s down slightly from the 539 that traded hands in the first quarter of 2025, 558 sold in the first quarter of 2024, but down almost 44 percent from the 931 homes sold there in the first quarter of 2019.
