In Rhode Island, There Are More Than 10 Realtors for Every House on the Market

In Rhode Island, There Are More Than 10 Realtors for Every House on the Market

The number of homes, condos, and multi-family properties now for sale in Rhode Island is dwarfed by the number of licensed realtors in the state.

The are almost exactly ten times the numbers of active brokers and salespersons than there are available properties.

According to Rhode Island’s Division of Business Regulation, there are 9,972 active brokers/salespersons registered.

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And at the beginning of May, Rhode Island had 653 houses, 171 condos, and 93 multi-family properties, which add up to 917 total properties for sale. The price of single-family homes has remained level for about a year at the $400,000 range. Add in the small condo inventory and there is a near-record low number of multi-families on the market.

“While multifamily homes have always been attractive to investors, with today’s high rental prices, they have become an extremely hot commodity...with inventory this low, we won’t see much relief in price,” said Bryant Da Cruz, President of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.

 

Homeowners Trapped

Many homeowners believe they are trapped in their homes due to the difference in their existing interest rates which they had previously locked in and the rates that are now available to purchase a new home.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “As of March 31, nearly two-thirds of primary mortgages had an interest rate below 4%, according to mortgage-data firm Black Knight. About 73% of primary mortgages have fixed rates for 30 years, Black Knight data show. The average rate for a new 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.39% in the week ended May 4, according to Freddie Mac.”

 

Home sales in 2022 are down more than 30%.

And, the impact on realtors is significant.

According to a monthly report by Alignable, 31% of real estate agents nationally struggled to pay rent on their offices in December,

Listings tend to center around top agents and brokers that have technology and networks. 

Out-of-state buyers accounted for 23.7% of residential home sales in the first quarter, up from 22.4% of all sales in the first quarter of last year. The top five states sending buyers to Rhode Island were Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Florida and California. Buyers from Massachusetts alone accounted for 14.1% of sales from outside of Rhode Island.

Lastly, the Rhode Island market continues to suffer from the lack of new inventory. Rhode Island builds the fewest new homes per capita of any state in the country.