Providence once again is ranked among the hottest housing markets in the country. What to know.
PROVIDENCE – No matter who does the study, Rhode Island is considered one of the hottest housing markets in the country.
According to Realtor.com's February hottest housing markets report, the Providence metro area was the 11th hottest market in the country, down two slots from where it was in January, and a lot cooler than it was in 2024, topping the Realtor.com charts.
What the market looks like: The conditions that people are buying houses under are a lot closer to what they were when their parents, or their parents' parents, might have bought. Interest rates, between 6% and 7%, are the highest they've been in 20 years but low compared with historic highs of the 1980s, when they were topping out at nearly 17% for the highest average.
What the Realtor.com report found: The median listing price for homes in the Providence metro area (covering all of Rhode Island and into some of Massachusetts, including the South Coast) is at $535,000, up slightly from its January report at $521,000.
For Realtor.com reports, a hot market means "high buyer demand and quick home sales."
Time on the market: One of the main metrics for both is days on the market. Per the Realtor.com report, homes in the Providence metro area are staying on the market a median of 39 days. In the hottest market – Hartford, Connecticut – the median price was $434,000 and the median days on the market was 38.
"The West and the South have seen the biggest annual increase in inventory compared with the other regions, with for-sale home options increasing 37.4% and 29.9% year over year, respectively," Realtor.com's Hannah Jones wrote. "More homes on the market means a slower market pace and less buyer attention per property, cooling the two metrics that measure hotness."
While Realtor.com puts out its hotness report for the Providence metro area, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors puts out its own monthly reports on house sales, using its data from the Multiple Listing Service, or MLS, system.
Here's what single-family home sales looked like in January:
Median price: $465,000 ($470,000 in December 2024)
Days on market: 39 (34 in December 2024)
Listings: 929 (979 in December 2024)
Properties sold: 429 (693 in December 2024)
Supply and demand: The shortage of home listings continues to drive up the median price of homes as buyers compete for limited inventory. That pool of buyers is smaller than it has been in years because of interest rates between 6% and 7% and the skyrocketing price of houses.
The number of listings in Rhode Island remains woefully slim, with the R.I. Realtor Association reporting that those 929 listings represented 1.5 months worth of inventory. That means if no new homes came on the market, the rate of sales stayed the same and no new houses were listed, the whole state would be out of houses to sell in 1.5 months.
What's that cost? The monthly mortgage payment, excluding everything but the mortgage itself, for a $400,000 mortgage at 6.75% is $2,594. For a $450,000 mortgage, it is $2,919.
In much of the country, the main markets are the condo and single family, but in Rhode Island, especially in the state's urban centers, multifamily housing is a big component of the housing being sold.
More time on the market: Multifamily homes in January spent 40 days on the market, compared with 27 in December and 26 in October and November.
Staying pricey: The median price was $550,000, up $5,000 from December but right in line with past months. While that is expensive, assuming two units per multifamily building, that's $275,000 a unit, compared with the single-family home price of $465,000. Assuming a triple decker (which comes with its own set of lead-paint liabilities), that price drops to $183,333 per unit.
What's that cost? The monthly mortgage payment, excluding everything but the mortgage itself, for a $400,000 mortgage at 6.75% is $2,594. For a $450,000 mortgage, it is $2,919.
Supply and demand: The number of listings was lower than last summer, at 210, but around the average for the post-pandemic market. Pre-pandemic, the number of listings hovered between 386 and 486.
Condos are up in price but below the highest median price they've hit, and they are spending longer on the market, slightly increasing the number of listings in January:
Median price: $403,000
Days on the market: 47
Listings: 301
Sold: 120
Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Providence Journal subscription. .
Follow Wheeler Cowperthwaite on X, @WheelerReporter, or reach him by email at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Realtor.com says Providence has one of the hottest real estate markets
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