By Kevin Shalvey
PBN Staff Writer
BOSTON – Sales of single-family homes in Rhode Island continued to fall in August compared with a year ago, according to figures released today by The Warren Group.
The 851 houses sold statewide in August represented an 11.7-percent drop from the 964 in the same month in 2006.
In addition, year-to-date single-family home sales were down 6.9 percent compared with those in the same eight-month period of 2006, dropping to 6,106.
“It’s likely that people who don’t need to sell their homes are staying put,” Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, said in a news release. “That’s a change from recent years, when homeowners looking to upgrade helped fuel the market.”
The median price of single-family homes sold in the Ocean State last month dropped 5.6 percent to $255,000 from $270,000 in August last year.
“Foreclosures in Rhode Island are also up more than 100 percent this year, and that could be contributing to lower median prices,” Warren said. “People at risk of losing their homes may decide to sell quickly and accept a lower price to avoid foreclosure.”
But the median condominium price statewide rose to $225,000 in August, an increase of 2.3 percent compared with the same month a year ago, although the year-to-date median price was still down 2.6 percent compared with the same period last year, at $225,000.
The number of condos sold in Rhode Island also fell in August, plunging 14.5 percent to 230 from the 296 condo sales in the same month last year. Year-to-date condo sales decreased only 0.9 percent, however, to 1,677 statewide in the first eight months of the year.
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 www.thewarrengroup.com.
