By Kevin Shalvey
PBN Staff Writer
WARWICK – Sales of single-family homes and condomiums throughout Rhode Island dropped in the third quarter compared with the same period a year ago, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors said in a report released today. Yet, while the median price of single-family homes sold in the period dropped 2.30 percent compared with the 2006 third quarter, the median condo price rose 4.59 percent.
RIAR figures show that single-family home sales statewide dropped by 8.56 percent, from 2,291 sales in July, August and September last year to 2,095 this year. Condo sales, meanwhile, fell 15.16 percent, from 541 sales during the 2006 third quarter to 459 in the same period this year.
“The Rhode Island market continues to correct itself, but we’re definitely not experiencing a downturn as severe as other parts of the country,” RIAR President Cecile Cohen said in a statement released today.
The average days on the market for Rhode Island homes increased from 74 days in the year-ago period to 84 in the third quarter of this year.
“It’s taking about a week and a half longer [than a year ago] to sell a single-family home, and about three weeks [longer] to sell a condo,” Cohen said, “but overall, we’re not losing the momentum on prices that other areas are.”
The median price of single-family homes sold statewide dropped from $286,500 a year ago to $279,000 in the third quarter of 2007, while the median prices of condos sold statewide rose from $219,900 a year ago to $230,000 in the quarter ended Sept. 30, the RIAR figures show.
But, the Realtors found, the median prices and sales figures for single-family homes varied wildly from one community to another.
The median price of single-family homes sold in the period in Jamestown and Little Compton jumped, respectively, by 37.00 and 46.09 percent, while prices in other towns declined from year-ago levels; the median price in Exeter plummeted 32.10 percent and that in West Greenwich dropped 21.86 percent.
Sales, too, were across the board. Single-family home sales saw a 100-percent surge in West Greenwich and a 41.67-percent increase in East Greenwich, while in Pawtucket, home sales dropped 46.09 percent.
The Rhode Island Association of Realtors has nearly 5,000 member Realtors, who last year were involved in nearly 12,000 transactions totaling $3.95 billion. The RIAR is one of more than 1,800 local boards and associations that comprise the nation’s largest trade association, the National Association of Realtors. To learn more, visit www.riliving.com.
