Rhode Island Condo Market Report: Decreased Mortgage Activity

As Rhode Island home prices are lowered in order to boost sales activity, Realtors must also spend time figuring out the region’s condo market.

As reported by The Providence Journal, the statewide median condo price during October, November and December fell 7.4 percent, but the median for the year was $225,000, up 2.8 percent from 2005, based on a report released this week by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.

Prices of condos in the state held up better, overall, than those of single-family houses, which last year saw a $7,500 decline in the statewide median home price, to $282,500.

Rhode Island’s condo sales last year declined 16.3 percent, as demand for home loans remained quiet in the face of such increased values. 2006 also marked the first decline in condo sales since 1993, when the median price of a condo in the state was $83,000.

Condo prices rose last year in 17 of the 35 communities reporting condo sales, and fell in 14 communities. The association reported no condo sales data for 5 communities: West Greenwich, Little Compton, Glocester, Foster and Scituate.

(The association only reports sales made through real-estate agents to the state Multiple Listing Service, so sales by owners do not show up.)

The market’s cooling is being felt in Providence, where hundreds of new luxury condos are coming on line during the next few years.

Generally, if the supply runs ahead of Rhode Island mortgage demand, prices tend to fall. Last year, the median price of the 142 condos sold in Providence fell 5.6 percent or $12,000, to $201,000, the association’s information shows.