Warwick Realtor Robert DeGregorio knew things were busy, but he didn’t have any idea that statewide single-family home sales for June produced the most active month in the past 16 …
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Warwick Realtor Robert DeGregorio knew things were busy, but he didn’t have any idea that statewide single-family home sales for June produced the most active month in the past 16 years – surpassing even the busiest month during the pre-recession housing boom, according to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.
“It’s been crazy,” said DeGregorio, who is with the Slocum Agency. He said he’s seeing things that haven’t happened for years.
“There are bidding wars, the whole bit,” he said.
DeGregorio doesn’t want to see a return of the easy mortgages that sent the housing market into a boom and then a bust in 2008.
Kerry Park, spokeswoman for the realtors, doesn’t believe the market is headed for another wild ride. Looking at pending sales data, she said sales are starting to taper off. Sales pending at this point are up 10 percent from where they were last year, as compared to 30 and 20 percent, respectively, for May and June.
Park attributes the June spike – in which 1,094 single-family homes were sold statewide, compared to the last highest total of 1,099 in June 1999 – to a “delayed spring” and interest rates creeping up.
“I think that’s what threw everything into overdrive,” she said.
As is usually the case, Warwick led the state in single-family home sales, with a total of 140 homes for this June as compared to 99 a year ago. That’s an increase of 41.4 percent in sales.
Dean deTonnancourt, broker-owner of HomeSmart Professionals, which has 87 agents statewide, agrees a late spring had a lot to do with the June surge.
“When the weather did break, we saw multiple offers [on properties],” he said. He noted that properties that had been on the market for an extended period suddenly had multiple buyers, an occurrence he hadn’t seen for some time.
deTonnancourt said HomeSmart Professionals closed on 57 properties for June. He said they were predominantly single-family homes. deTonnancourt sees a number of first-time homebuyers in the market. Also facilitating sales, he said, is the variety of programs available to buyers with good credit, some that don’t require money down.
“The financing is there,” he said.
DeGregorio is in agreement. He said interest rates remain good and there are programs through Rhode Island Housing that make home ownership available. In particular, he pointed to the mortgage credit certificate program that enables buyers to apply interest costs to a tax credit.
Both DeGregorio and deTonnancourt identified buyer confidence as a driving force to the market.
That is also the read of Bruce Lane, president of the RI Association of Realtors.
“Clearly, consumer confidence is back and people are once again seeing real estate as a solid investment,” he said in a release. He said prices are also slowly going up and that “finally, the market appears to have opened up.”
In a telephone interview, Lang said the events of the last months were “like a perfect storm in the positive sense.” He said those in the housing market could see after a long winter that sales would improve.
“I take this as positive news for Rhode Island. It’s not just the housing market, it’s the economy,” he said.
According to data gleaned from the State-Wide Multiple Listing Service, the median price for a single-family home in Rhode Island was $236,500 in June of this year, as compared to $230,000 last June.
That hasn’t been the story in Warwick, however, with more than 10 percent of all Rhode Island sales. For the month of June, the median price in Warwick dropped from $185,000 to $180,150. DeGregorio finds that tough to believe.
“I see prices going up,” he said. He thought some foreclosures and distressed sales could be affecting the Warwick sales.
There were 17 distressed sales in Warwick for the month, identical to 2014.
Also an indicator of the market is the days a property is on the market. Statewide, the average days on market dropped from 80 last June to 71 this year. In Warwick, the number dropped from 68 to 51 days, a 25 percent decline.
Reviewing the June data and trends, City Planner William DePasquale concludes the “housing recovery is in full swing.” He sees Warwick sales as always being strong because of the convenience of the city’s location and its assets. He also points to the diversity of the city’s housing stock, from properties that appeal and are affordable, to couples just starting a family in established neighborhoods, to properties where people are looking to downsize and for the elderly looking for housing on a single floor.
Also indicative of a recovery, DePasquale said 150 new units, some of them in conventional housing developments, are slated to come on the market this year. Additional housing projects are in the pipeline, including units with extended family housing.
“As long as we have diversity in style, we’ll always be strong in the market,” he said.
Lane is hesitant to call the June results an indicator of a “full-blown recovery.” He expects fixed 30-year mortgage rates of 4 percent will be replaced by variable rates and that will have people reacting sooner than later.
But especially encouraging, he said, is that with rising prices, people who were once in a distressed position will see the value of their home increase, giving them the ability and confidence to enter the market again.
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Notbornyesterday
Wait, I thought Stacia said everyone was leaving the city in droves..... You mean she doesn't tell the truth? OH MY
Tuesday, July 28, 2015 Report this
davebarry109
Notbornyesterday....your hatred of Stacia is showing. The 150 new homes won't keep up with the hundreds taken by the airport. Warwick is still losing population.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015 Report this
Notbornyesterday
I hope it shows... She uses multiple screen names deceives the public, accuses an elderly couple of breaking the law when they weren't (story was on Warwick Watch but has since been deleted). She is too extreme for this city. What has she accomplished. Nothing. More and more are starting to see her for what she is.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015 Report this
CameronClueless
notbornyesterday, you've been a hater since day 1 , you're also a liar . What's too extreme is the city of Warwick is deteriorating before our very eyes because it has no leadership with any integrity. You most likely have voted for that for the past 15 years. Yes, more are starting to see, the numbers grow every single day. At least Stacia has the guts to admit it when she is wrong. Not the mayor you so admire who blames everyone else for all the wrong.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015 Report this
CameronClueless
how many of the homes that were sold in Warwick were the result of the all of the properties that were auctioned off at tax sale? How many more vacant properties does Warwick have left over from tax sales and foreclosures? Is it still at around 500? Sure , properties are more affordable because they keep decreasing in value! The city tax revenue numbers at the end of the year will reveal reality.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015 Report this
Notbornyesterday
Cameron, why do you use Stacia in third person. We all know it's you. Am I lying now?
Thursday, July 30, 2015 Report this