R.I. home sales up for 5th straight month

BOSTON – Single-family home sales in Rhode Island rose 20.5 percent in October compared with last year, the fifth consecutive month that single-family sales increased, while condominium sales climbed 7 percent, real-estate tracking firm The Warren Group said Wednesday.

Prices, on the other hand, continued to slide for both single-family homes and condos and are down by double-digits from last year.

The Warren Group reported 787 sales of single-family homes in October, up 20 percent from the 653 sales in October 2008. The median sales price slid to $203,000 from $211,000.

The firm said every county in the state recorded sales gains, with Newport County experiencing the sharpest increase on a percentage basis. The county saw 57 sales in October, up from 46 the previous year.

“Rhode Island's housing market is on the mend because sales volume has been growing for several months,” said Warren Group CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr. “But the residential real estate market is still facing challenges because prices are declining, and foreclosures continue to remain a concern as unemployment has reached record levels.”

The unemployment rate in the Ocean State was 12.9 percent in October. The R.I. Association of Realtors reported that 22 percent of sales in October were distressed sales.

In the condo market, The Warren Group recorded 122 sales in October, up from 114 during the same month last year. The median sales price dropped 19 percent to $161,750. The year-to-date median condo price retreated 16.3 percent to $180,000 from $215,000.

The Warren Group Inc. is a provider of New England real estate data and the publisher of Banker & Tradesman and other journals. Additional information is available at TheWarrenGroup.com.