BOSTON – The median price for single-family homes sold in Rhode Island fell to $236,000 during October, the lowest since at least January 2005, according to numbers released today by The Warren Group.
The October price is a 10-percent drop from the October 2006 price and a 4-percent drop from the $246,000 median price the state registered in September 2007. For the year, Rhode Island median prices are now 4.4 percent below their average for the first 10 months of 2006.
CEO Timothy Warren Jr. said the October numbers are a further effect of the July credit crisis, which started affecting median prices during September. Most real estate deals have a three-month closing, so those deals made during July started showing up in September, according to The Warren Group.
“And we’re not just seeing this trend in Rhode Island; Sales and prices in Massachusetts and Connecticut also started to plummet in September and have continued declining in October, so I think this is part of a bigger trend,” Warren said in a statement today. “Foreclosures also play a part in keeping prices down, even as they flood the market with more homes for sale.”
Following a 27-percent drop during September, single-family home sales were down in October by 18.3 percent year over year, from 787 last year to 643 during October.
Condominium sales followed the downward trend, falling 9.6 percent compared with a year ago to 180 this October. The median condo price was steadier, dropping only 2 percent year over year to $220,500.
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.
