Projo Biz Blog

Housing foreclosures in Rhode Island continued to fuel a surge in multi-family homes sold during the third quarter, but the median price of those sales was almost half of last year's median price.

There were 449 multi-family homes sold from July through September, compared with 295 sales in the same quarter in 2008, an increase of 52.2 percent, according to a report released today by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.

However, the median price of those sales was $135,000, a drop of 46 percent from last year's median price of $250,000. The median price for the quarter was the lowest it has been in at least five years, according to the association's data.

The median price is the threshold at which half the sales prices fall above and half fall below.

The association said a vast majority of multi-family home sales -- about 71 percent -- were considered "distressed" sales, which occur as a result of a foreclosure, or a "short sale" designed to avoid a foreclosure.

The majority of multi-family sales occurred in urban markets, the Realtors' said.

Of the communities that had more than one multifamily house sold, the median sale price dropped most dramatically in West Warwick (down 52.5 percent), Providence (down 52.2 percent), Warren (down 52 percent), Central Falls (down 48.3 percent) and Cranston (down 46.5 percent), according to data provided by the association.

Sales in those communities accounted for 61 percent of all multifamily sales.

Only one community -- Bristol -- had an increase in the median price, which was $350,750, up 4.5 percent from $335,660.

Those with the smallest declines in median price were Johnston (down 1.33 percent), North Smithfield (down 2.8 percent), Providence East Side (down 3 percent), Warwick (down 18 percent) and East Providence (down 19.5 percent).

Condos held their value better than both multifamily homes and single famly homes in the third quarter.

The median price of the condominium sales was $219,950, a decline of 4.4 percent from last year's median price of $230,000.

(The Journal reported today that the median price of single family home sales fell 17.8 percent to $230,000, down from $279,900 in the third quarter of 2007.)

The number of condominiums sold was 337, a decline of 27 percent from 459 sales in the third quarter of 2007. About 11 percent of the condo sales were the result of a foreclosure or a short sale, the association said.

The biggest declines in the median price (where more than one condo was sold) were recorded in Westerly (down 44.2 percent), Coventry (down 33.4 percent), Portsmouth (down 31.2 percent), Charlestown (down 28.6 percent) and Woonsocket (down 28 percent).

There were nine communities in which the median price of condo sales increased. They were Tiverton (up 111 percent), South Kingstown (up 31.5 percent), East Providence (up 29.6 percent), Burrillville (up 28.2 percent), Middletown (up 15 percent), Providence (up 12.9 percent), Lincoln (up 4.2 percent), Cumberland (up 4.1 percent) and Bristol (up 1.1 percent).

 Tags  Condominiums mulifamily realtors sales third quarter

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