PROVIDENCE – With the supply of homes for sale continuing to drop, the median sale price of a single-family home in Rhode Island in December increased 8.1 percent year over year to $255,000 from $235,900, according to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors Wednesday. There were 918 home sales in December, a 1 percent decline from the 927 one year prior.
The rise in home sale prices accompanies an extremely tight inventory, with just 2,619 single-family homes on the market, which the RIAR says is the lowest number in almost 13 years.
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However, despite rising home price sales and a stable supply, the RIAR expects the market to moderate in the coming months.
“We could see sales starting to temper this year, though we still expect strong activity. When comparing 2017 sales to the record-breaking sales we saw in 2016, a dip from year to year doesn’t spell disaster. It just means our market is coming back into balance,” said Joseph Luca, president of the RIAR, in a statement.
Condominium sales in December totaled 160, a 6.4 percent decline from the 171 sales in December 2016. The median condo sale price was $231,000, a 12.5 percent increase year over year from the median sale price of $205,400 a year earlier.
RIAR said that multifamily home sale activity in December was “robust,” rising 39 percent year over year to 197 sales, heavily driven by investors. The median sale price of a multifamily home in Rhode Island was $225,000 in December, an 11 percent increase from the median sale price of $201,950 one year prior.
Distressed single-family home sales declined 40 percent year over year.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
