PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Home prices in Rhode Island continued to climb in the third quarter of 2017, as the median house price hit $265,000, "the highest quarterly median price in a decade," according to the state Realtors' association.

The state's median house price in July, August and September was 8 percent higher than it was in the same three-month period in 2016, according to statistics released Thursday by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. Sales were down by 2 percent, slowed by low inventory, and the average days on market fell by nearly 26 percent, to 52.

Looking at median price by city or town, only five communities (Burrillville, Hopkinton, Newport, North Kingstown and Scituate) experienced median price drops in the third quarter. Every other community had increases, including Providence, up 10 percent, to $170,000, and the East Side of Providence, up 16 percent, to $669,000.

The East Side market has been very active in 2016 and 2017, and low inventory seems to be the only curb on sales, according to James V. DeRentis, an agent with Residential Properties Ltd.

"This is basically the second year of this," DeRentis said. Even the higher end of the pricey East Side housing market has seen gains this year, he added. Typically, the annual number of $1-million-plus residential sales in the East Side is in the high teens, but it will be in the 20s in 2017, he said.

From July through September, there were 3,257 single-family homes sold in Rhode Island, down from 3,331 in 2016.



"Overall, the local housing market is still extremely strong despite a shortage of inventory that is holding sales back," said Joseph Luca, 2018 association president.

The market is especially brisk for houses priced at $250,000 or under, or condos priced from $175,000 to $225,000, if the location is right, said Richard Zompa, broker/owner of ReMax Preferred in North Providence.

"There are people standing in line for them," he said, and multiple offers are not unusual.

In the condo market, sales and median price both increased in the third quarter. The median condo sales price jumped by 15 percent, to $224,400 from $195,000 in 2016, while sales activity was up by nearly 13 percent. There were 603 condos sold in Rhode Island during the third quarter.



The smaller multifamily home market also fared well. The median sales price rose by 17 percent, to $220,000, and sales activity was up by 9 percent. There were 474 multifamily homes sold during the quarter.

Luca used the third-quarter report to sound the alarm about "the impact of pending tax reform," in Washington, which "could have a substantial impact on the housing market next year, depending on whether or not changes to mortgage interest and property tax deductions are enacted."

He added that "rising prices, along with high levels of student loan debt ... are already keeping homeownership levels low. We don’t need anything else that could be detrimental to our housing market."

cdunn@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7913

On Twitter @ChristineMDunn

