Posted May. 6, 2008
By Kevin Shalvey
PBN Staff Writer
BOSTON – Sales of single-family homes and condominiums in Rhode Island fell for the eighth consecutive month in March, registering double-digit decreases, as weakness in the housing sector showed now sign of slowing, according to statistics released today by The Warren Group.
Condominium sales fell the most sharply in March, dropping 50.8 percent from the same month the year before, the report showed.
During the month, 98 condos were sold in the Ocean State, not quite half the 199 sold during March 2007.
Rhode Island single-family home sales dropped 17.8-percent year-over-year in March to 531. The median price also fell, dropping 10.3 percent to $240,000 from $267,500 – the largest decline of any March since 1989, according to The Warren Group.
Statistics from March rounded out a slumping first quarter, with single-family home sales down 20.5 percent and the median price down 9.4 percent.
“It’s been a tough quarter for Rhode Island’s housing market,” CEO Timothy Warren Jr. said in a statement today. “But that’s not unique. We’re seeing similar numbers in both Massachusetts and Connecticut.”
During the first quarter, condos sales fell 37 percent. But the quarter’s median price was down only 2.8 percent to $215,000. The March median price held steady compared with a year ago at $215,000.
Warren said that it is not clear when the residential real estate slump will end, adding: “We do know that, in Rhode Island, this decline in the housing market is showing more dramatic numbers than the early-’90s slump. … The rest of 2008 looks rocky, with the number of foreclosures rising and the economy in uncertain waters, but it’s possible 2009 might bring more of a turnaround.”
The Warren Group Inc. is a provider of New England real estate data and publisher of Banker & Tradesman and other journals. Additional information is available at www.thewarrengroup.com.
