BOSTON – Despite improving spring weather, sales of single-family homes in Rhode Island fell to 688 in May, a decline of 13.89 percent compared with the same month in 2007. It was the 10th consecutive month in which sales have fallen more than 10 percent compared with a year earlier.

“There’s still a long way to go until we see the market climb out of this long decline,” said Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, which published the sales figures. “Prices are still falling dramatically every month. At this rate, we could see a price decline of nearly 10 percent during the first half of the year.”

Prices of houses sold in May across the Ocean State fell 8.24 percent to a median level of $245,000. Year to date, the median price of a single-family home stood at $240,750, a decline of 9.83 percent compared with the first five months of 2007.

Among Rhode Island’s five counties, Bristol and Newport showed May sales increases, of 17.86 percent and 1.54 percent, respectively. The largest year-over-year decline came in Providence County, which registered a drop of 16.97 percent. Sales also fell sharply in Kent (-16.67 percent) and Washington (-15.08 percent) counties.

The median prices of single-family homes sold last month fell in every county, compared with a year ago.

Sales of condominiums fell 38.08 percent year over year, to 161 this May, led by drops of 56.41 percent in Newport County and 45.33 percent in Providence County.

The median sales price for condos held relatively steady, however, with the statewide median price falling 1.72 percent compared with May 2007 to $228,000, while the year-to-date price fell 2.22 percent to $220,000.

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.