BOSTON – The number of single-family homes sold in Rhode Island in July rose compared with the same month a year ago, in the first year-over-year increase in 17 months, even as prices marked their sharpest year-over-year decline on record, according to statistics released today by real estate data publisher The Warren Group.

Statewide, 787 houses were sold this July, a 3.6-percent increase from the 760 sales registered statewide in July 2007 – even as single-family sales in both Connecticut and Massachusetts marked their 11th consecutive month of year-over-year decline – The Warren Group said. Rhode Island’s July increase in followed a June decline of nearly 15.8 percent, to 744 single-family sales from the June 2007 total of 873. (READ MORE)

The median price of Ocean State single-family homes sold in July fell 15.4 percent compared with a year ago – to $234,000 from the July 2007 median of $276,000 – in the sharpest year-over-year decline since The Warren Group started tracking the Rhode Island housing market during 1989. In June, the median price had fallen 13.8 percent year-over-year to $240,000.

“We were surprised to find that home sales increased this July, given the double-digit percentage [year-over-year] declines in sales for 11 months prior to that,” CEO Timothy Warren Jr. said in a statement today. “Still, July was the fifth month this year that single-family homes prices have fallen by double-digit percentages.”

“The price reductions helped improve home sales in July,” he added, “but this year’s sales are still off by more than 10 percent compared to 2007.”

In the first seven months of the year, single-family sales were off 14.2 percent compared with a year ago, with only 4,092 single-family houses sold this year in the January through July period. Their median price was down 11.1 percent, to $240,000 this year from $270,000 for the same seven months of 2007.

“We expect prices to drift lower for the balance of the year, as homeowners continue to make concessions to attract buyers,” Warren said.

Meanwhile, in the condominium market, sales and prices both fell compared with July 2007.

Condo sales statewide plunged 22.9 percent – to 155 this July from 201 in the same month last year – after falling 24.6 percent year-over-year the month before to a June total of 175 sales. The median price of condos sold in Rhode Island fell 9.8 percent – to $203,000 this July from $225,000 a year ago – after falling 6.8 percent in June to $212,000.

Year-to-date condo sales fell even more sharply, to 935 from 1,403 in the first seven months of 2007, for a year-over-year decline of 33.4 percent. Their median price fell only 4.7 percent, however, to $215,000 from the year-ago $225,500.

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.