RI Single-Family Home Sales Drop 15.6% in December
GoLocalProv Business Team
RI Single-Family Home Sales Drop 15.6% in December
According to RI Realtors, market inventory rose 8.3% while the median sales price increased to $265,000.
Higher interest rates and changes in tax policy are two of the factors that may have cooled the industry.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“The increase in supply of properties for sale is timely, as we will soon be entering the spring market. Hopefully, the inventory constraints that we have witnessed in the housing market in recent years will continue to subside,” said Dean deTonnancourt, 2019 President of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.
Sales activity remained the same in Rhode Island’s condominium market with 160 condos sold in both December of 2017 and 2018.
Inventory increased year-over-year by 12.6 percent, though the median sales price of December decreased by 6.7 percent.
One hundred and seventy (170) multifamily properties sold last month compared to 197 in December of 2017 which facilitated a growth in inventory of 19.1 percent.
“The decrease in sales could be caused by low inventory, adjusting interest rates, tax reform influence, or some combination of the three. The government shutdown which began within the last 10 days of the year could have also had a small impact,” said deTonnancourt.
The median sales price of multifamily home sales rose 15.3 percent from a year earlier.
RI Realtors are expected to release their fourth quarter and year-end sales data for 2018 on January 31.
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