Attention brokers and licensees - Are your real estate web sites and social media in compliance with the Department of Business Regulations new advertising regulations?
Warwick, R.I. – February 17, 2022 – Single-family home sales in Rhode Island increased 5.4% year-over-year in January, after falling in the last six months of 2021. Though the strong start in this year’s housing market appears to be a reversal in the moderating sales trend that started last summer, pending sales - those homes put under contract in January but not closed within the month - fell by 4%.
A new pilot program is aiming to open the door to homeownership for first-time buyers by offering $25K in down payment and/or closing cost assistance.
Rhode Island real estate licensees -- read up on legisation enacted in 2022 and new rules from the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation. New mandates apply in a variety of areas, including new Fair Housing continuing education requirements, team regulations, mandatory insurance requirements for landlords, and more.
Warwick, R.I. – February 3, 2022 – Rhode Island’s housing market continued to break records in 2021, fueled by high buyer demand which was intensified by buyers from other states. Last year, Rhode Island Realtors transacted nearly $7.9 billion in residential sales through State-Wide Multiple Listing Service, the listing data exchange owned by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.
A new law went into effect on January 1, 2022, that requires owners of rental property to have a general liability insurance policy in place with minimum coverage of $100,000 to cover people who are injured in or on the rental property as a result of the landlord’s negligence. The law states that the landlord “shall provide a copy of the declaration page showing the policy” with the written lease to the tenant along with the rental at the start of the tenancy and each time that the insurance policy is renewed.
On January 11th the Rhode Island Association of REALTORS® Executive Committee approved revisions to a number of forms including the Sales Disclosure for Multi-Unit Properties and Buyer’s Request for Repairs form. The revised forms will be sent to the forms vendors in early February.
Each quarter, the Realtor Foundation: Rhode Island accepts applications for grants from local non-profit organizations that share its mission to provide resources to help create more productive and enriched communities. Recently, it awarded $10,000 in grants to four applicants who applied for funds during the Foundation’s fourth-quarter grant cycle.
Warwick, R.I. – January 20, 2022 -- Data from State-Wide Multiple Listing Service, a subsidiary of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors, shows that there was less than a one-month supply of homes available for sale at the end of December, far below the six-month supply that typically characterizes a market balanced between supply and demand. December was the second month this year that inventory levels fell below the one-month mark.
A new law requires all rental properties, units, or rooms that will be listed on a hosting platform, such as Airbnb, Vacation Rental by Owner, etc., and rented for not less than thirty (30) nights, to register with the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation by a date in 2022, not yet determined.