Rhode Island’s residential real estate market has a most unusual imbalance: there are exactly 10 times the number of active brokers and salespersons within the Ocean State as there are properties for sale.
GoLocalProv.com analyzed new data from the Rhode Island’s Division of Business Regulation and determined the state currently has a total of 9,972 registered active brokers and salespersons. But as of the beginning of this month, there were only 917 properties for sale – 653 houses, 171 condos, and a near-record low of 93 multifamily properties.
“While multifamily homes have always been attractive to investors, with today’s high rental prices, they have become an extremely hot commodity,” said Bryant Da Cruz, president of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. “With inventory this low, we won’t see much relief in price.”
Complicating matters is the influx of buyers from outside of the state: non-residents accounted for 23.7% of residential home sales in the first quarter, up from 22.4% of all sales in the first quarter of last year. Massachusetts alone accounted for 14.1% of sales from buyers residing outside of Rhode Island.
And don’t expect this situation to change dramatically anytime soon – Rhode Island builds the fewest new homes per capita of any state.
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