Third Quarter Home Sales Figures Show Ups and Downs
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Third quarter figures of Rhode Island single family home sales have been released, showing sales have rose monthly since July, but fell 30% compared to a year earlier. Positive indicators of the market, however, show distressed sales–those involving foreclosure or short sale–dropped 46%. According to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors (RIAR), of the 1,653 single family home sales in the third quarter, 374 sold through foreclosure or short sale, compared to 693 distressed sales in the third quarter of 2009. The number of sales fell most significantly in communities including Warwick and Providence, which had some of the state’s highest rates of foreclosures last year sparking heightened sales activity. The median price of single family homes rose 5% to $219,500, likely resulting from fewer foreclosures.
Slow Recovery
Fueled by lingering economic woes, news of fraudulent investigations in the foreclosure market, and potential changes resulting from the today’s election, consumer uncertainty appears to have slowed the market recovery that began in Rhode Island last year. Single family home sales and median price had been rising through the second quarter of 2010, but third quarter sales data showed a sharp trend reversal in the number of properties sold. Median price, however, has continued to show healthy gains, because the rate of lower priced foreclosures and short sales declined.
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