Home Buying

Rhode Island home prices rose in October

Sales slowed but not at the breakneck speed seen this year.

In a sign of hope, the supply of homes for sale increased to 1.8 months, up just slightly from July’s 1.7-month supply. Adobe Stock

By Boston.com Staff

November 17, 2023

1 minute to read

Home sales data from the Rhode Island Association of Realtors released Thursday show a market still in much demand.

The median sales price for a single-family home in the state was $435,000 in October, a 7.4% increase, according to the report, but that’s not the market seeing the biggest jumps in cost. The median sales price for a condo increased 18.8% last month to $380,000, while the cost of a multifamily home rose 10.3% to $482,500.

“Most people are shocked by the amount prices have risen, particularly in the past five years, but it’s simply supply and demand economics,” Bryant Da Cruz, association president, said in a press release. “There just aren’t enough properties on the market to meet demand, and with homeowners reluctant to sell and lose their low mortgage rates, listings are hard to come by.”

Condos

	Sales	Median Sales Price	Listings	Pending sales	Days on market	Distressed
CONDOS	159	$380,000	260	225	35	2
% change year over year	-7.6%	18.8%	-9.1%	-2.6%	-12.5%	-50%

Source: Rhode Island Association of Realtors
Numbers are rounded up to one decimal point.

Single-family homes

	Sales	Median Sales Price	Listings	Pending sales	Days on market	Distressed
SINGLE-FAMILY	645	$435,000	1,260	840	33	9
% change year over year	-17%	7.4%	-14.2%	-7.1%	-2.9%	28.6%

Source: Rhode Island Association of Realtors
Numbers are rounded up to one decimal point.

Multifamily homes

	Sales	Median Sales Price	Listings	Pending sales	Days on market	Distressed
MULTI	122	$482,500	232	264	23	2
% change year over year	-6.2%	10.3%	-13.8%	-3.7%	-28.1%	200%

Source: Rhode Island Association of Realtors
Numbers are rounded up to one decimal point.

Last month, the association noted the impact the influx of new residents from out of state was having on the market. Prospective home buyers in Massachusetts have been heading south in search of better deals. Out-of-state buyers made up more than a quarter of all residential property sales in September, the Rhode Island association reported last month.

Da Cruz is hopeful that mortgage rates will ease in 2024, prompting more people to list their properties.

“Thankfully we’ve seen rates drop recently, and thanks to cooling inflation, many economists are forecasting that they will continue to drop further in 2024,” he said. “That’s critical to help the housing market start moving again.”