Home Buying

The median cost of a condo in R.I. is 17.5% higher than last June

The increase was only about 3% for single-family homes, but prices are still shattering records.

The median sales price for a condo in Rhode Island was $376,450 in June. Lane Turner/Boston Globe/File

July 21, 2023

The cost of condominiums, viewed as a foot-in-the-door to homeownership and urban living, is skyrocketing in Rhode Island, according to a report the state realtor association released Thursday.

The median sales price for a condo in the state jumped nearly 20% year-over-year in May and 17.46% in June, according to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. The good news is that the median sales price dropped from $392,500 in May to $376,450 last month. Listings are spending 36 days on the market before selling, and the number of condos available to buy is down about 18%.

Turns out, like Massachusetts, Rhode Island is bucking the national trend on home prices.

“Though the median home sales price nationwide has been declining, the opposite is happening in Rhode Island,” Bryant Da Cruz, association president, said in a news release. “The rate of increase began to taper off in the past year however, so Rhode Island’s trends are most likely just running a bit behind the rest of the country. Even if the price appreciation continues to moderate, with just 1.4 months of inventory on the market, prices aren’t likely to decline significantly barring a significant economic shift.”

More on the R.I. Housing Market:

In the single-family market, the median home price of $442,750 set a record for the month of June and reflects a nearly 3% year-over-year increase. Homes were spending about the same amount of time on the market that they were last year: 26 days. The number of single-family homes you could buy last month was down a whopping 38.15%, which is helping to push prices up.

Drilling down into the Providence numbers, the numbers offer hope. Single-family homes in the capital commanded a median sales price of $375,000 last month, which is about $20,000 less than what people were paying in June 2022.

If you’re looking to buy a multifamily home — and offset your mortgage by renting out a unit or two — prices have climbed in that market, too. The median sales price of $500,000 last month reflects more than a 16% increase year over year, and the listings spent just 18 days on the market, on average. Back in June 2021, the median sales price was $365,000. Sales, however, slowed by 42.25% last month, and pending sales dropped by 26.17%.