Median Price of a House in RI Is Freezing Buyers Out—See Top 10 Most Costly
Monday, June 21, 2021
The median cost of a home in South Kingstown is now $505,000. The price jumped 43% in the past year.
What might be most horrifying for homebuyers is that South Kingstown does not make the list of the top ten communities in RI.
And, on limited data for the year, two Rhode Island communities now have median home costs over $1 million.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFor the wealthy, it is challenging to win a bid for a new property.
SEE THE TOP 10 COMMUNITIES WITH THE HIGHEST MEDIAN PRICE HOMES BELOW
Top Rhode Island realtors like Robert Rutley at Mott & Chace, urge buyers to be pre-approved and that too often, the winning bidders for properties are all-cash buyers.
The Wall Street Journal warns that the day of the five percent down buyer may be gone. "Half of existing-home buyers in April who used mortgages put at least 20% down, according to a National Association of Realtors survey. In 10 years of record-keeping, that percentage has hit or exceeded 50% three times, and all have been since last fall. A quarter of existing-home buyers in April paid cash, the highest level since 2017, NAR said."
Utilizing the RI Association of Realtors data, GoLocal found that more than ten communities in Rhode Island have median sale prices this year over $500,000.
A lump sum of 20% or more can be hard to come up with as home prices skyrocket, especially without help from family members. “I’d say at least 50% of my first-time home buyers are getting gifts right now,” said Chris Borg, a mortgage broker at Vantage Mortgage Group Inc told the WSJ.
Driving the Prices
Multiple factors are driving housing factors -- low-interest rates, pandemic driven demand, limited inventory for growing families, and the irrational "fear of missing out" aka FOMO.
Now, buyers are forced to fall in and out of love with homes repeatedly as their bids are rejected.
"It is still hard to buy in Barrington, Newport, and on the East Side," said Kim Marion of Mott & Chace in a recent interview on GoLocal LIVE.
Marion said she has buyers where “one is on five tries but they're hanging in there and the other is on their third try.”
She said it can be frustrating.
Now, the prices are hitting a level before seen and the rate of the increase is breaking all records.
SEE THE TOP 10 COMMUNITIES WITH THE HIGHEST MEDIAN PRICE HOMES BELOW
