Warwick, R.I.  - April 18, 2024 - Though February brought a brief year-over-year hike in single-family home sales in Rhode Island, March resumed the trend of declining activity which has become the norm since 2021. The available supply of homes on the market remains critically low going into the spring selling season.  

While single-family home sales saw an annual drop of 4.9% last month, sales in process but not completed by the end of March fell by 7.2%, an indication that market activity will remain slow through April. Due to the scarcity of homes for sale, the median price of $440,000 represented an 11.4% increase compared to March 2023.

Multifamily home sales followed suit, though more significantly, with March sales falling 19% from one year earlier and the median price rising by 18.9% to $535,000. Pending sales however, rose 5.6% as multifamily homes remain attractive due to their ability to mitigate mortgage payments with rental income for owner-occupied properties and generate strong rental income for investors.

Condominium sales have been the outlier recently, with both sales activity and median price elevated from 12 months earlier for the past two months. As a more affordable entry point to homeownership, condominium sales were up significantly in February and remained stable in March with a .8% increase from 12 months earlier. An increase in pending sales of 7.6% indicates increased sales activity ahead. The median price of condominium sales was $370,000 last month, a 15.6% gain from the prior year.

“Sales could remain hampered through the spring market thanks to the recent news that the Federal Reserve reported an uptick in inflation in March, which means no immediate cuts to mortgage rates. On the positive side, a recent rise in mortgage rates may help increase inventory, which is desperately needed,” said Sally Hersey, President of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.

First Quarter Sales

When looking at the first quarter of 2024 compared to last year, the median price of single-family home sales rose 12.8% to $440,000. Sales activity remained relatively stable year-over- year, falling just .91% owing to a short-lived surge in sales in February sparked by falling mortgage rates in the previous months.

Newport County had the highest median quarterly price for single-family homes at $672,450 and Providence County saw the largest median price hike with a 14.2% increase.

The median sales price of condominiums increased 6.8% to $341,500 and the number of closed transactions rose 7.1% from the first quarter of last year. The lower price point of condominiums helped spark sales in every county but Kent in the first quarter.

At $506,000, the median sales price of multifamily homes in the first quarter was 13.7% higher than that seen during January through March of last year. Sales activity in the multifamily home market increased in both Newport and Washington counties, fell in Bristol County and Northern Rhode Island, and remained the same in Kent County.

Originally reported 4/18/24, correction to SF Home inventory: 4/22/24