Realtors: Condo sales cool in 2008

WARWICK – With nearly 600 fewer Rhode Island condominium sales than in 2007, the 2008 year-end total of 1,210 sales represented a decline of 33 percent, according to statistics released today by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.
Also today, the RIAR reported that fourth-quarter sales fell 43.1 percent to 222, in the largest year-over-year decline of 2008.
“The condo market held its own for much of the changing market until recently,” RIAR President Paul A. Leys said in statement accompanying the data. “Now we’re seeing fewer sales and lower prices as foreclosures and short sales become more prevalent in this market.”
Such “distress” sales accounted for about 12.7 percent of condo sales last year, with 154 condos selling through either short sales or foreclosures. Of the 222 condos that sold in year’s final quarter, 47 units, or 21.2 percent, were distressed sales.
Still, the median price of condos sold statewide in 2008 dipped only 3.8 percent to $212,700. And excluding the distressed sales, the full-year median price would have been $223,500, a 1.1-percent increase from the state’s median condo price in 2007.
And the number of condos for sale statewide fell 5.9 percent compared with the year before, to 1,542 units on the market at year’s end.
“Though sales have slowed, inventory is down from a year ago,” Leys said. “That’s a key to moving through this market cycle.
“Forty-five percent of Rhode Island buyers are first-time home buyers, many of whom are interested in condos,” he added. “There are a lot of incentives now for first-time buyers – like the low interest rates and the $7,500 tax credit – that should be particularly helpful in decreasing inventory in the condo market.”
The Rhode Island Association of Realtors has more than 4,700 member Realtors, who in 2008 were involved in 10,000-some transactions with a total value of $2.8 billion. The RIAR is one of more than 1,800 local boards and associations comprising the nation’s largest trade association, the National Association of Realtors. To learn more, visit www.RILiving.com.