RI Home Sales Down 6.9%, Median Price Jumps to $280K Highest Since 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
The median price of a Rhode Island home has increased to $280,000 — the highest since before the collapse of the housing market in “the Great Recession.”
The Rhode Island Association of Realtors report second-quarter data also that shows slowing sales — down 6.9 percent from April through June of 2017.
The average number of days a home remained on the market fell to 50 from 59 one year earlier. The number of foreclosure and short sales cut in half, falling from 256 in the second quarter of last year to 127 this year.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe same dynamics were found for condos and multi-family houses in the state. Both median price and closing activity increased over last year among condominium and multifamily property sales. The condo market experienced a 5.3 percent increase in median sales price, rising to $224,000, and a 7.3 percent hike in sales compared to April through June of 2017. The median sales price of multifamily properties rose 20 percent and the number of those sales increased by 3.9 percent. Like the single-family home market, average days on market and the number of distressed sales fell precipitously in both sectors.
“The national median price of all residential property types in June was $305,900. It was $276,900 in the Northeast and $272,000 in Rhode Island. Prices are edging up everywhere but by comparison, the cost of housing here remains competitive,” said Joe Luca, 2018 president of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.
Washington County saw the steepest year-over-year median price gains of all Rhode Island counties, rising 10.8 percent to $390,000. Bristol County had the highest overall median price at $442,000, an increase of eight percent over the second quarter of 2017. The area also saw the most significant slowdown in sales for the three-month period, falling to 76 sale this year compared to 87 during the same period last year.
