October home sales shot up, Realtors say

WARWICK - Sales of single-family homes in Rhode Island shot up 29 percent in October in year-over-year comparisons, but the median sales price continued its decline, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors reported Wednesday.

The association said 787 homes sold in October of this year, compared with 621 during the same month last year. The median sales price was $200,000, down from $215,000 during October 2008. The Realtors also reported that distressed properties comprised 22 percent of sales. The median price of sales that sold only through conventional means – not short sale or foreclosure – was $230,000.

Mortgage rates of less than 5 percent are helping home affordability, the association said. The National Association of Realtors reported earlier this week that home affordability conditions were the best on record since 1970. And the local association said the first-time homebuyers’ tax credit, which was set to expire on Nov. 30 until Congress extended and expanded it, helped encourage sales

“The expansion of the tax credit should help bolster the spring market. The new credit will help the move-up buyer as well as the first-time buyer, which is critical if we want to see a full housing recovery,” said Karl Martone, the recently installed president of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.

Communities that saw the sharpest increase in year-over-year sales on a percentage basis included West Warwick (16 sales compared with 4), Jamestown (11 sales compared with 3), and Foster (10 sales compared with 4). On the flip side, Exeter saw 3 sales compared with 8 and Narragansett saw 9 sales compared with 14.

Separately, the association reported that the multifamily home market continued to lag in year-over-year comparisons. The association reported 187 sales in October 2009, down from 193 a year earlier, marking a 3.1 percent drop. The median price also slipped from $116,000 to $110,000. The association labeled 18.6 percent of sales distressed.

Condominium sales, which had been battered this year, saw a 35 percent increase in sales in October compared with the same month last year. The association said 111 condos were sold last month, compared with 82 a year earlier. But the median price slid 29 percent to $161,000 from $227,500. Distressed sales made up 21 percent of the market last year, the association said.

“Buyers who previously looked to the condo sector as a great first-time option found other affordable alternatives in the multi- and single-family home sectors when the downturn occurred,” Martone said. “Now that those sectors have seen the bulk of their correction, the condo market should start to stabilize.”

The Rhode Island Association of Realtors has more than 4,700 member Realtors, who in 2008 were involved in more than 10,000 transactions totaling $2.8 billion. Additional information is available at RILiving.com.