FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Editorial Contact:
Aglaia Pikounis
The Warren Group
(617) 896-5370
apikounis@thewarrengroup.com
Rhode Island Home Prices Drop 25.8 Percent in February
Home Sales Fall 15 Percent from 2008; Condo Sales Hit 12-Year Low
BOSTON, March 26, 2009 – Home prices in Rhode Island plunged 25.8 percent in February from a year earlier, making it the fourth consecutive month that prices have dropped by 20 percent or more, according to the latest report from The Warren Group.
The median selling price for a single-family home was $64,000 lower, falling to $184,000 from $248,000 in February 2008. Year-to-date the median home price is down 24.3 percent to $184,000 from $243,000 last year.
“Single-family median home prices have been off by double-digit percentages for nine straight months. These sharp price declines are much worse than the price drops Rhode Island experienced during the last housing downturn in the early 90s,” said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group.
Warren added, “Foreclosures are certainly one factor weighing down prices. Prices won’t begin to level off unless there are strong sales gains for several months straight.”
Single-family home sales fell 14.9 percent to 371 from 436 in February 2008. It was the slowest sales pace for the month of February in 12 years. A total of 742 single-family homes sold during the first two months of the year, a 12 percent decline from 843 a year earlier.
Sales of bank-owned single-family homes accounted for 14 percent of single-family home sale transactions in the first two months of 2009. Of the 742 homes sold in January and February, 104 were bank-owned properties.
“Without the bank-owned home sales, the median home price would have been $15,000 higher,” Warren said.
Meanwhile, condominium sales in Rhode Island fell to the lowest level in almost 12 years. Condo sales retreated 32.2 percent to 61 in February from 90 during the same month last year. Year-to-date condo sales are down 39.4 percent to 131 from 216.
The median condo price fell 13.4 percent to $190,000 from $219,500 in February 2008. The median selling price for condos sold in January and February is down 11.5 percent to $188,000 from $212,421.
About The Warren Group
The Warren Group, based in Boston, is the publisher of Banker & Tradesman, The Commercial Record and a series of association publications. As the premier provider of real estate data in New England, The Warren Group offers a range of real estate products and services for professionals and consumers searching for real estate and financial information. For more information about The Warren Group, please visit www.thewarrengroup.com or call 617-428-5100.
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