WARWICK – In the first three months of 2009, Rhode Island’s multi-family home sales more than doubled, fueled by dropping prices and “distressed” sales, according to data released today by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.
Sales jumped to 538 multi-family properties, a 106.1-percent rise over the 261 sold in the same 2008 period. But the majority of sales – 81.4 percent – were either short sales or foreclosures, RIAR reported.
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The median price dropped to $80,000, half the $160,000 median price in the same period of 2008.
“First-time homebuyers and investors are seeing clearance sale prices,” RIAR President Paul A. Leys said in a statement, adding that many “distressed” properties need maintenance. “Median price statistics for most multi-family homes today don’t represent the true cost of an inhabitable property.”
More than half the quarter’s multi-family sales happened in Providence, where sales jumped from 131 to 281, representing a 114.5-percent increase.
Condominium prices, meanwhile, fell 15.05 percent in the first quarter. The median price was $174,950, down from $205,950.
Sales fell from 246 to 184 and RIAR pointed to the affordability of single-family homes making “stiff competition for the condo market, helping to drive condominium sales down 25.2 percent in the first quarter.” The median price of single-family homes sold in the first quarter of 2009 was $180,000, $5,050 more than the media condo price.
About 30 percent of condo sales in the first quarter were either short sales or foreclosures.
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.
