Projo Biz Blog

The price of a single-family house in Rhode Island dropped markedly in June compared with the same month in 2008, but showed the smallest decline for the first six months of 2009, according to figures compiled by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.

The median sales price of a house in June 2009 was $210,000, according to the Realtors. That's down 16 percent from June 2008, when the median stood at $250,500. For the first five months of the year, the drop was about 25 percent each month, according to the association.

Though prices are still down sharply, the market showed some hopeful signs.

The number of houses sold climbed 12 percent, from 716 in June 2008 to 805 in June 2009.

Also, the June median price was 11 percent higher than the May median price, which was $190,000. While prices generally rise in the summer, that didn't happen in 2008, when the June price was 1 percent lower than May's. Although it's too soon to identify a trend, the uptick from May to June could signal the Rhode Island housing market is beginning to return to normal.

Similar signs were apparent in the condominium market for June, which saw an 8 percent decline in prices from 2008, roughly a quarter of May's 31 percent decline from 2008. The June 2009 median price was $195,000, after a price of $212,000 in June 2008.

Also, condo prices increased 23 percent from May to June in 2009. That compares to an 8 percent decline from May to June in 2008.

For multi-unit houses, the news remained grim. The median price fell 45 percent, from $149,900 in June 2008 to $83,200 in June 2009.

 Tags  housing prices Realtors

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