Single-family home sales rise 14% in February

SINGLE-FAMILY HOME SALES in Rhode Island rose 14 percent in February compared with the previous year, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors said.
SINGLE-FAMILY HOME SALES in Rhode Island rose 14 percent in February compared with the previous year, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors said.

PROVIDENCE – Sales of single-family homes in Rhode Island rose 14 percent in February, compared with the previous year, with particularly strong increases coming in Kent County, metro Providence and East Bay.
In all, Rhode Island had 480 sales completed in February, compared with 421 closings in February last year.
The median price rose for the month as well, to $194,500, according to data released by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.
The association provides comparisons based on year-to-year sales to account for seasonal differences. In that vein, the association projects that March and April sales may be lower, due to the bitter cold and heavy snow of February 2015, which affected property showings.
An indication of that, the percentage of homes under contract, declined by 3 percent in February, according to a statement from Bruce Lane, president of the association.
In February 2014, sales declined 5 percent compared with February 2013’s numbers, the association had said. The decline that year was due in part to severe weather.
In condominium sales, closings declined in February, to 68 from 74 the prior year. The median price also declined, to $180,500 from $185,000, according to the association.
Multi-family closings remained flat, with 84 sold in February, compared to 83 in 2014.
When single-family home sales were broken down by geographic areas, Newport County had three of six communities post more sales in February, led by Portsmouth, which had 13 houses close in February compared with seven the year before.
Metro and East Bay had five of nine areas with stronger sales, led by North Providence, which had 15 closings compared with five the previous year. Barrington had seven more closings, bringing its total to 13.
Northern Rhode Island had increased sales in only one community, Cumberland, which had 21 closings in February. Most other cities and towns had year-to-year decreases in sales.
In South County, six communities out of nine had increased closings, including South Kingstown, which had 20 completed sales compared with 15 last year.
Kent County had increased sales in four of its five communities, led by Coventry, which had 31 closings, double the number in 2014.

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