Realtors: March home sales drop on weather, flood insurance concerns

SALES OF SINGLE-FAMILY homes in Rhode Island dropped slightly in March compared with the same month a year earlier, according to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. The median price for a single-family home rose 8 percent year over year. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/TY WRIGHT
SALES OF SINGLE-FAMILY homes in Rhode Island dropped slightly in March compared with the same month a year earlier, according to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. The median price for a single-family home rose 8 percent year over year. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/TY WRIGHT

WARWICK – The median price of Rhode Island single-family homes sold in March rose 8 percent compared with the same period last year, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors said Friday.

The median house price was $205,000 last month, compared with $190,000 in March 2013.

Sales volume dipped slightly in March, with 596 houses sold, two fewer than last March.

Pending sales, agreements that have yet to close, dropped four percent year over year in March.

- Advertisement -

“We’re seeing exactly what we expected to see,” said Realtors Association President Robert Martin. “The harsh winter weather and fears of skyrocketing flood insurance rates put a slight damper on sales activity in the beginning of the year but those problems are behind us for the most part. This is turning out to be the best spring selling season we’ve seen in a long time.”

In other areas of the market, multifamily building sales dropped 14 percent year over year in March, from 98 sold last year to 84 last month.

The multifamily median sales price climbed 19 percent to $149,000 from $125,000 in March 2013.

The condominium market was strong in March with sales rising 5 percent year over year. There were 107 Rhode Island condominiums sold in March compared with 102 last year.

The median condominium sales price climbed 10 percent to $194,900 in March up from $177,750 last March.

No posts to display