Home prices, sales rise in R.I. in February

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island single-family home prices rose 11 percent in February compared with the same period last year, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors said Thursday.
The median sale price of houses sold last month was $189,500, up from $170,000 in February 2012, representing the fifth consecutive month of price increases. Prices last February were at their lowest point since the recession in Rhode Island.
The number of houses sold last month rose 2 percent year over year, the 20th consecutive month of increased sales, but the smallest increase since volume started picking up in July 2011.
There were 442 houses sold in February, up from 434 last February.
Pending sales, agreements to sell that have yet to close, dropped 2 percent compared with February 2012.
“We’ve definitely turned the corner in terms of price,” said Rhode Island Association of Realtors President Victoria Doran. “The flip side of that is that sales are slowing down. It appears that many of the people that wanted to take advantage of low prices have already done so. We may need to wait until the typical factors that influence people to buy – job changes or the need for a larger or smaller home for example – motivate buyers before activity picks up.”
In other areas of the market, condominium prices climbed 55 percent in February to a median of $193,400. The median condominium price last February was $125,000.
There were 131 condominiums sold in February, a 29 percent increase from last February.
However, multifamily-building sale prices fell 8 percent last month to $96,000, down from $104,000 last February.
Multifamily sales volume rose 3 percent last month, with 79 buildings sold compared to 77 in February 2012.

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