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July 19, 2011
Rhode Island Housing Market Shows Signs of Recovery
Warwick, RI, July 19, 2011… June home sales data released today by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors show sales of single family homes up 16 percent from May to June but down 22 percent from June 2010. Six hundred and ninety-nine (699) single family homes sold in last month. The number of sales has more than doubled since February when 340 single family homes sold.
The median price of single family homes rose two percent from the month prior to $215,000, and was two percent lower than a year ago. Median price has trended up each month since November 2009 with relatively few exceptions. June’s median price was 15 percent higher than the 2011 low in March of $186,250. Foreclosure and short sales decreased by 17 percent continuing a trend that began in late 2009. Pending sales, homes under contract but not yet sold, rose 16 percent from a year ago. Pending sales are typically viewed as a predictor of the strength of the future housing market.
Condo sales followed suit with sales rising 18 percent from May to June but declining 21 percent from June 2010. The June median sales price rose 11 percent from the previous month to $200,000 and nine percent from the prior year when the median price was $183,000. Distressed sales fell ten percent while pending sales rose three percent.
“Sales and median price have been rising steadily throughout the spring. That, combined with a rise in pending sales, bodes well for Rhode Island’s traditional housing market. We’ve seen prices going up for more than a year and a half and now we’re starting to see some upward movement in sales activity as well. It’s a slow but steady recovery,” commented Stephen Antoni, President of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.
The multi-family market, which tends to attract investors, slowed month to month and year to year, down 20 percent from May and 44 percent from June 2010. The median price of $120,000 held steady from May to June but was down six percent lower than a year ago. Slower sales are attributed to fewer foreclosure and short sales, which decreased 58 percent from June 2010 – another sign of a strengthening market.
Statistics from the Rhode Island Association of Realtors relay actual sales data collected through the State-Wide Multiple Listing Service only. They do not include sales transacted through non-Realtor members or properties sold by owner. The data is not seasonally adjusted or benchmarked in any way. Statistics represent Rhode Island sales only, not the RI Metropolitan Statistical Area of Rhode Island, Fall River and New Bedford.
Source: http://www.riliving.com/PressReleases/Archives/2011/July/2011-07-19.asp
September 24, 2010
August Sales Continue Drop
Though single family home sales rose slightly from July to August of this year - up four percent - sales volume fell 29 percent in August from the same period a year earlier. The drop marks the second consecutive month of declining year over year sales. The statistics released today by the Rhode Island Association of REALTORS® (RIAR) also showed that the median price of single family home sales remained stable from a year earlier, up .1 percent to $220,250. Median price has not decreased since October, 2009. The median price represents the midpoint of sales, with half of the homes selling for more and half selling for less. It does not represent a change in value of the same home over time.
Rhode Island's decreasing number of distressed sales continued last month with the number of short sales and foreclosures decreasing 47 percent from August 2009. August distressed sales totaled 117, or 21 percent of the total 548 total single family sales. The percentage of single family distressed sales had been as high as 48 percent in January, 2009. The median price of non-distressed single family home sales was $257,250.
"The steady price gains that we've sustained most of this year leveled off last month as sales decreased. We've seen a lull in sales following the tax credit but we expect to see the market return to a more normal pace this fall," commented Karl Martone, RIAR President.
Condo sales also decreased, down 15 percent in August. The median price however, rose ten percent from a year ago to $205,000 from $187,000. The number of distressed sales fell 47 percent and the median price of non-distressed sales was $218,500.
The median price of multi-family sales saw the largest increase in price, up 61 percent to $129,000 but the number of sales fell 35 percent. The number of distressed sales dropped 61 percent from August, 2009 and the non-distressed median price was $166,500.
"Many of the consumers out there moved through the market prior to the tax credit expiration. It will take a few months to build up the ranks of home buyers again. There's still a lot of uncertainty in the market right now but home affordability hasn't been this good since the seventies. Interest rates are unbelievably low, lending is loosening up - especially in the higher price brackets, prices are realistic, and choices are abundant. If you're thinking about buying a house, you're in the driver's seat right now. Make no mistake, you can still sell if you price realistically and if you're selling to move elsewhere, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised what you can find to buy in your price range," said Martone.
Fannie Mae to Impose Fines on Foreclosure Delays
Fines will be assessed when loan servicers can't provide a reasonable explanation for failing to meet timelines for completing routine foreclosures that vary from state to state, Fannie Mae announced recently. It will not impose fines, or compensatory fees, for delays beyond the control of the servicer, such as unavoidable mediation or court delays, or sales delays by sheriffs or other selling officers.
The time allotted to complete a foreclosure, starting from the referral of a loan file to an attorney or trustee until the date of a foreclosure sale, varies from state to state, from as little as 60 days to 300 days or more. Fannie Mae said the foreclosure schedules it's established for each state represent the time "typically required for routine, uncontested foreclosure proceedings, given the legal requirements of the applicable jurisdiction." The allowable time period in Rhode Island will be 90 days. Fines will be based on the outstanding principal balance of the mortgage loan, the rate of return paid to investors in mortgage-backed securities backed by the loan, the length of the delay, and any additional costs directly attributable to the delay.
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