More Than 130 Price Cuts in Past 7 Days Signifies Major Change in RI Real Estate Market

The Rhode Island real estate market has been in hyper-drive for the past three-plus years, but those days may now be officially over.

Ben Scungio of Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International said for the first time in years, home sellers are now dropping their asking price.

“The number that's interesting to me is 139 price reductions across the board (in just the past seven days),” said Scungio.

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He said a year ago, the number might have been one or two.

“We have a term that we like to throw around here, which is 'aspirational pricing' -- a number that is a 'pie in the sky' number for sellers, and you could do that probably six months ago -- just throw a number out there -- and you'd probably have a buyer pool of 5 to 10 or 15 to 20 people,” said Scungio on GoLocal LIVE on Wednesday.

“But right now, based on how interest rates have gone up, which has eliminated a pool of buyers...price reductions are going to start to have to happen as the market starts to normalize,” said Scungio.

 

Rhode Island Housing Prices Have Doubled in 7 Years

According to the July numbers, the median price of a single-family home is $410,000.

In 2015, the median price of a Rhode Island single-family home was just $202,500 — more than a 100% increase in just seven years.

“A lot of people are saying that we're going to again see another increase in prices in 2024 and 2025. So if we do see a small decline, it's going to be made right back up, but I do see a leveling in the market where buyers are going to have more options. It's not going to be as heated with bidding wars and multiple offer situations,” said Scungio.

 

Still a Sellers’ Market

Scungio says despite the price reductions on about 15 to 20% of the homes now on the market, it is still a seller’s market.

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