RI Home Sales Decline While Prices Hold Steady

July sales statistics released by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors showed continued stabilization of the Rhode Island housing market in July.  The median single family home sale price rose less than one percent from the year prior while sales activity declined by three percent.  While prices appear to be moderating, July’s median single family home price remained higher than ten of the past twelve months.

“Prices rose fairly quickly and now that rate of appreciation is slowing down, which can actually be considered a good thing.  The last thing we want to see is the unsustainable price escalation that we saw earlier this decade.  People need to get the chance to get back on their feet again,” said Robert Martin, President of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.

Fourteen percent of all single family home sales were distressed in July, falling from 22 percent in the beginning of the year.  The pre-crisis share of distressed sales was traditionally about two percent according to Corelogic, a global provider of property information and analytics.  Sales trends have shown that Rhode Island has made significant progress in reducing distressed sales since the peak of the housing downturn.

Prices fared better in July in the condominium and multi-family segments of the market, with median price up eight percent among condo sales and nine percent in the multi-family market.  The nine percent increase in the investor-driven, multi-family market led to the highest median price in nearly three years. The number of sales dropped year over year among both categories. 

---

More WBOB Reads

• RIPTA Buses & Trolleys Free Wednesday Due to Air Quality
  
• AG Kilmartin Applauds Reclassification of Highly Addictive Opioids
  
• CDC: 250K Youths Who Never Smoked Used E-Cigs in 2013
  
• Secretary of State Unveils New RI Voter Information App