According to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors®, the median price of single family home sales rose 14.3% in Rhode Island from January 2009 to January 2010.   The median price rose from $175,000 to $200,000.  This marked the THIRD consecutive month of increasing prices.

The increase has a lot to do with a lower amount of distressed sales (foreclosures & short sales).  32% of all sales last month were distressed sales compared with 47.8% this time last year.  When you take distressed sales out of the mix, the median price jumps even higher to $227,500.

The total number of transactions has also increased for the TENTH month in a row and is up 8.5%.  New data released by the National Association of Realtors has shown the State of Rhode Island among the leaders in sales volume throughout our country.

Condominium sales have also shown signs of improvement as of late.  The median price on Condo Sales is the same now as it was this time last year ($166,000) but sales volume is up 28%.  Condominium sales have risen each month since September of 2009.  The number of distressed condo sales (foreclosures & short sales) has also decreased, down to 23.4% of all sales compared with 30% from this time last year.  When distressed condo sales are taken out of the mix, the median price rises to $185,000.

Multi-family home sales have also increased over the past year.  The median price in January of ’09 was $91,000 and has climbed to $110,000 this year.  However, the total number of multi-family sales has decreased down 21.3%.  Distressed sales are prevalent in the multi-family market accounting for 66.7% of all sales but that number has also improved from this time last year when the total number of distressed sales accounted for $81.7% of all sales in January of 09.

All of this recent information bodes well for the continued recovery of the Rhode Island real estate market.  The time to buy is now with near historic low interest rates, fair prices and the opportunity to take advantage of the federal tax credit which is set to expire at the end of  April.  As always, don’t hesitate to contact me to get the process started on finding your next home.

To see a review of the exact statistics broken down by town, click here.

To find out if you qualify for the federal tax credit, click here.

Thanks for reading,

Nick Slocum

Source: Rhode Island Association of Realtors®, Inc.

Press Release