Projo Biz Blog

By Paul Edward Parker
Journal Staff Writer

Single-family houses in Rhode Island lost a quarter of their value from February last year to February this year, according to a report by a Boston-based real estate consulting firm.

The median sales price of a single-family house fell 25.8 percent from last year to this, with the number of houses sold dropping 14.9 percent, according to The Warren Group report. The median price last year was $248,000. This year, it hit $184,000. Number of houses sold dropped from 436 last year to 371 this year.

The steepest drop in price came in Bristol County, where they fell 29.3 percent, from $333,000 to $235,500, the report said.

The softest blow was in neighboring Newport County, which has a significant number of luxury houses, whose prices tend to be less subject to recessionary forces. In Newport County, the median price fell 12.8 percent, from $375,000 to $311,500.

The price drop for other counties was: Kent, 28.0 percent; Providence, 27.9 percent, and Washington, 18.7 percent.

The condominium market saw a shallower decline in price statewide, but a much steeper decline in the number of units sold, according to the report.

The median price dropped 13.4 percent, from $219,500 to $190,000. That meant that, unlike last year in February, the median price of a condo was higher than the median price of a single-family house.

But, whatever the price, condos didn't sell well in February. The number sold dropped 39.4 percent, from 90 last year to 61 this year.

Condo sales by county were too few to make statistically significant comparisons by county.

The Warren Group collects sales data from Rhode Island city and town halls, where real estate transactions are recorded.

Read the full report.

This is an update of an entry first posted at posted at 9:33 a.m.

 Tags  condo prices Rhode Island single-family home prices The Warren Group

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