R.I. 1Q condo sales rise as prices fall

First-quarter condominium sales in the Ocean State increased by 4.3 percent to 390 in the first quarter of last year, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors reported last week. The median sale price declined 9.8 percent to $207,500.
The group’s figures, which reflect only sales brokered by its members, contrast with The Warren Group’s report earlier this month of a 4.3-percent drop in sales to 516 this year. But the latter also reported a higher median sale price, $220,500, and a smaller decline in price, 6.2 percent. The average time a condo spent on the market in the first quarter increased 31.8 percent to 112 days, compared with the year-ago 85 days.
“Changes in the median sales price generally reflects a change in the mix of properties being sold at the time,” the Realtors noted in a release. “Median sales prices for condos are particularly susceptible to variations. … A number of sales in a particular development of a specific price range can skew the median higher or lower.”
That said, the drop in price was one reason given for the sales growth by Cecile Cohen, president of the RIAR. With condominiums, it is “always an affordability issue,” she said.
“The last five to six years, it has been a seller’s market,” she said, “and it began adjusting about a year and a half ago … It is turning into a buyer’s market, which means you will always see a reduction in prices.”
Northern Rhode Island had the strongest sales, with volume more than doubling in Lincoln to 35 sales and in Woonsocket to 27. But Robert Martin, president of the Northern Rhode Island Board of Realtors, said the latter figures were due primarily to the completion of three projects in those communities and closings on several months’ worth of pre-sales.
“Condominium sales were primarily led by sales in apartments and mill conversions this year,” he said.
Resale activity, on the other hand, actually declined, just as it did in most of the rest of the state. The median sale price increased in Cumberland, Woonsocket and North Smithfield and declined in Lincoln, Smithfield, Burrillville and Pawtucket. Central Falls saw no condo sales in the quarter.
In Providence, condo sales increased 34.5 percent to 39, the most in any single community. In Warren, sales were level but the median price more than doubled to $550,000 from the year-ago $234,900. Prices rose 24.8 percent in East Providence, 11.7 percent in North Providence and 1.1 percent on the East Side.
Kent County condo sales were led by West Warwick, with 28. Volume was steady in Coventry and declined in East Greenwich and Warwick, though the median price in Warwick rose 6.1 percent to $213,000. Kent-Washington Association of Realtors President Stephen Antoni credited “central location in the state” with driving sales in Warwick and West Warwick.
The South County region saw 33 condo sales, down from 34 in the first quarter of 2006. Volume declined only in South Kingstown and North Kingstown to eight and five sales, respectively. The median condo sales price declined in all South County towns except Narragansett.
“In some of the more southern towns, activity has been brisk,” Antoni said. “In almost every community, except Narragansett, the median prices have stepped down a notch, in most part due to a correction in the market. In areas where the number of sales declined, a slowdown in the speculative construction of newer units could be the cause of the decrease.”
Newport County saw 30 condo sales, compared with 36 in the same period last year. The median price in Portsmouth declined to $390,000 from $534,721, where Newport County Board of Realtors President Jennifer O’Hora Lawrence credited the first-quarter 2006 sales of five condos at Ferry Landing with driving up the median price last year.