BOSTON – The median price of single-family homes sold in Rhode Island fell in January to $184,000, the lowest price in almost seven years, according to statistics released this morning by real estate data tracker The Warren Group.
The last month when the state had a median price of $184,000 was May 2002. That January price represented a 23.3 percent decline from Rhode Island’s January 2008 median house price of $240,000. And it followed a December year-over-year decline of 21 percent.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
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Single-family home sales fell 8.8 percent to 371 – a 17-year low for the month of January – from the 407 houses sold in January 2008.
“January didn’t deliver better news for Rhode Island’s housing market,” CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr. said in a statement this morning. “In fact, this is a pretty weak start for the 2009 housing market. The state’s housing market is being battered by rising unemployment and anemic consumer confidence.”
The Warren Group pointed out that the year-over-year decline in sales of single-family homes seen in January was “modest” compared with the 44.4-percent drop in condominium sales.
Condo sales statewide fell to 70 units in the first month of 2009 from 126 condos sold in January 2008. Condo sales have now posted year-over-year declines of more than 30 percent in eight of the last 12 months.
The median price of condos sold in January fell to $180,000, a 12.5-percent decline from the January 2008 median price of $205,700.
The Warren Group Inc. is a provider of New England real estate data and the publisher of Banker & Tradesman and other journals. Additional information is available at www.TheWarrenGroup.com.
