WARWICK – Rhode Island single-family home sales rose 12.4 percent year over year in June and there’s now about a six-month supply of homes on the market – data that the Rhode Island Association of Realtors says indicate that a housing recovery is underway.
There were 805 single-family home sales in Rhode Island last month, up from 716 sales in June 2008, according to information released today by RIAR.
“All of the signs point to a healthy recovery in the single-family homes market,” RIAR President Paul A. Leys said in a statement this morning. “We won’t be completely back to normal until we move the excess foreclosures and short sales through the market, but it appears as though we’re almost there.”
The median price of those single-family home sales was $210,000, down 16.7 percent from $250,500 last year.
Multi-family home sales last month jumped year over year by 64.6 percent, rising to 242 sales from 147 sales in June 2008. But the median price fell to $83,200, down 44.5 percent from the $149,900 median price in the same year-ago month. RIAR reported that 80.2 percent of last month’s multi-family home sales were “distressed,” meaning they were foreclosures or short sales.
Condominium sales were down 4.3 percent, with 133 sales last month and 139 sales in June 2008. And the median price last month was $195,000, representing an 8.0 percent drop from the $212,000 median price in the same year-ago month.
June was the third consecutive month that saw rising single-family home sales in Rhode Island. RIAR this morning pointed toward the last few months as a sign that the signs of a housing recovery are “strong.”
In May, single-family sales had increased year over year by 2.2 percent. In April, they were up 3.1 percent. And in March, sales fell just 1 percent.
“The statistics from recent months are solid,” Leys said. “We’re definitely moving toward a more traditional market.”
The average number of days that a single-family home sold last month had been on the market was 102, still well above the 88-day average last year, according to RIAR. Distressed sales accounted for 31.7 percent of single-family homes in Rhode Island last month.
The Rhode Island Association of Realtors has more than 4,700 member Realtors, who in 2008 were involved in more than 10,000 transactions totaling $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.
