Steven Miller is the team leader and global luxury specialist for the Steven Miller Group at Coldwell Banker Realty. He is also vice president for the Kent-Washington Association of Realtors.
Prior to joining Coldwell Banker in 2009, Miller worked in business development and marketing for nonprofits and technology companies, working for Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Conn., and for a British company called Richmond Events in New York, brokering face-to-face meetings with C-suite executives on a retired British passenger ship known as the QE2.
PBN: What are some of the biggest challenges for you and fellow Realtors right now?
MILLER: Lack of good solid inventory across the board is still the No. 1 challenge to help have a balanced market for buyers and sellers in the state, and more broadly in New England. We’re finding that homeowners are still reluctant to sell if they are locked in at extremely low mortgage rates – for example, 4% or lower – that they secured during the pandemic years and don’t have a second home to move into, which is limiting the number of overall homes available for sale in Rhode Island.
In this current market, sellers who are guided by the expertise and experience of their Realtors have to be more price sensitive when positioning a home in the market correctly right out of the gate. Our team will typically contact the seller agent who just had their listing go under agreement. We dig in more to find out what the activity was on the competing home to truly have real-time data to price effectively for our sellers, leveraging our relationships with Realtors to help each other.
Bottom line, in 2025, buyers are more financially cautious, more discerning and are more attracted to more move-in-condition homes. Accurate pricing or even undercutting the neighborhood competition is now more crucial in 2025 than before to attract strong offers with good terms to alleviate prolonged market time and days on market. Price reductions will be more prevalent across all market segments in the state since the economic conditions are more uncertain than last year.
PBN: What are your best tips for prospective home sellers in this market in the Rhode Island area for 2025?
MILLER: First, get familiar with the current market conditions in Rhode Island. According to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors, the median sales price reached $465,000 – up from $457,000, a 5.7% increase – for Q1 2025. What this means for home sellers is there is still buyer demand, which, despite the current economic conditions, is not impacting overall pricing.
May, June, July are optimal months to list your home, getting 12%-13% more above market value than any other time of the year based on buyer demand lining up with summer vacations and the new school year at the end of August. Staging is critical now and can help buyers envision themselves in the space, potentially leading to quicker sales and a higher sales price. According to the National Association of Realtors, staged homes can sell for 5%-10% more than un-staged homes.
Our team, in the past month, has helped stage properties and has also been very cost-effective for sellers with our virtual stager, which shows buyers a vision of what a room(s) can look like. The first part of the sale of property is online with professional photos/floor plans/videos. The second part of the sale is getting the buyers in the door to fall in love and get emotionally connected and invested to make an offer.
PBN: How have politics in Washington, D.C., impacted the real estate industry this year?
MILLER: The biggest impact we’ve seen so far in 2025 from Washington politics is overall business and consumer uncertainty across all industries and sectors. For real estate, buyers tend to be wary of job security, which, in turn, [makes them] hesitant to commit to purchases. … The luxury market still is holding steady both in coastal areas like Newport, Narragansett and Charlestown, as well as in more urban and historic areas of Providence [such as the East Side] for homes over $1.5 million.
We’re also seeing many local corporations change their remote work status and have employees come into work, which is now changing where people live and work, putting a premium on housing availability closer to workplaces and commuter transit, especially when child care is involved in those decisions.
The increase of our federal deficit, with adding trillions of dollars with possible spending bills – and making tax cuts permanent, which is being deliberated now in Washington – will increase the chances that inflation doesn’t come down, therefore putting pressure on continued higher interest rates.
PBN: Why is it so important that a home seller uses a reputable real estate agent to list their property? How big of a difference can it make?
MILLER: Hiring a reputable real estate professional to list your property is the most important and critical decision a home seller can make since the impacts are financially substantive. Do your research and interview multiple agents. The difference of not hiring an experienced and reputable agent that matches your goals and objectives can literally cost sellers thousands and tens of thousands of dollars due to a variety of circumstances.
Also, without proper training or experience, inexperienced agents may not have their sellers disclose accurately, which opens the seller and brokerage up to potential lawsuits and legal risks. Homes priced correctly from the start sell 5%-10% more on average than those that stay on the market and suffer through multiple price reductions.
Also, according to the [National Association of Realtors], homes marketed with high-quality visuals sell 32% faster and can receive over 40% more per square foot than poorly marketed homes. Lastly, an experienced agent can increase your final sales price by 5%-15% through expert negotiations.
PBN: How does the current year in real estate compare to five years ago? And how does it compare to 10 years ago?
MILLER: Different challenges existed when we were in 2020 at the beginning of COVID, unable to show properties for the first month or two, then having to enact heavy safety protocols for several years well into 2021-2022. The industry evolved, which enabled technologies like Zoom and Matterport 3D videos to come into play, which are now in more normal use for listing agents to market properties and connect with consumers and clients.
In 2015, we were experiencing the beginning of a long seller’s market, which continues today. Buyers are drawn to Rhode Island from other parts of the country for our coastal charm and small-town urban lifestyle, world-class restaurant and culture scene, and with so many diverse communities representing many ethnicities.
Now in 2025, there is more demand than supply, and experienced agents and teams continue to evolve and pivot with the changes in our industry, therefore they tend to dominate in the market, as there are overall less sales with more competition for a smaller real estate piece of the pie.
Marc Larocque is a PBN contributing writer. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X @Marc_La_Rock.
