Rhode Island Real Estate

Little known facts about Rhode Island

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:41:18 -0500

Climate

Rhode Island enjoys a moderate climate with four distinct and colorful seasons. Rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year, and the greatest snowfall usually occurs in February. The average January temperature is 30 degrees F, with an average July temperature of 72 degrees F. Annual precipitation averages 44 inches.

Rhode Island Firsts

The first law against slavery in North America (1652)

The nation's oldest tavern building (1673)

The oldest surviving synagogue in North America (1763)

The nation's first circus (1774)

The first polo game played in the U.S. (1876)

The first torpedo boat ever built (1887)

The nation's first auto race (1895)

The nation's first open golf tournament (1895)

The first national lawn tennis championships (1899)

The nation's first discount department store (Ann and Hope)

The nation's first state-owned airport (T.F. Green Airport)

The nation's oldest carousel in Watch Hill

The first American bred horse of the colonial era (Narragansett Pacer)

Have we reached bottom?

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 13:07:19 -0600

The volume of closed transactions has reached a very low point in Newport County but the Pending Index is still strong. Pendings dropped in mid December and we are seeing the results of fewer contracts written in that time period, however, the Pending number increase nicely in January and so far in February indicating an increase in sales for the next 4 to 6 weeks. We very well have bottomed out.

Newport County Real Estate Market

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 07:44:50 -0600

1/26/2008
Newport County
	Active	Sold	Average Sales Per Month	Months of Inventory	Percent of Supply	Percent Sold
Single Family	641	647	54	12	55%	73%
Multi Family	86	43	4	24	7%	5%
Condo	257	149	12	21	22%	17%
Land	190	47	4	49	16%	5%
Total	1,174	886	74	16	100%	100%
Newport
	Active	Sold	Average Sales Per Month	Months of Inventory	Percent of Supply	Percent Sold
Single Family	146	176	15	10	23%	27%
Multi Family	53	33	3	19	62%	77%
Condo	131	95	8	17	51%	64%
Land	8	3	0	32	4%	6%
Middletown
	Active	Sold	Average Sales Per Month	Months of Inventory	Percent of Supply	Percent Sold
Single Family	76	102	9	9	12%	16%
Multi Family	14	7	1	24	16%	16%
Condo	27	19	2	17	11%	13%
Land	14	3	0	56	7%	6%
Portsmouth
	Active	Sold	Average Sales Per Month	Months of Inventory	Percent of Supply	Percent Sold
Single Family	151	166	14	11	24%	26%
Multi Family	9	3	0	36	10%	7%
Condo	69	18	2	46	27%	12%
Land	73	15	1	58	38%	32%
Jamestown
	Active	Sold	Average Sales Per Month	Months of Inventory	Percent of Supply	Percent Sold
Single Family	57	66	6	10	9%	10%
Multi Family	-	-	-	#DIV/0!	0%	0%
Condo	10	4	0	30	4%	3%
Land	13	9	1	17	7%	19%
Tiverton
	Active	Sold	Average Sales Per Month	Months of Inventory	Percent of Supply	Percent Sold
Single Family	173	110	9	19	27%	17%
Multi Family	10	-	-	#DIV/0!	12%	0%
Condo	20	13	1	18	8%	9%
Land	62	14	1	53	33%	30%
Little Compton
	Active	Sold	Average Sales Per Month	Months of Inventory	Percent of Supply	Percent Sold
Single Family	38	27	2	17	6%	4%
Multi Family	-	-	-	-	0%	0%
Condo	-	-	-	-	0%	0%
Land	20	3	0	80	11%	6%
Totals
	Active	Sold	Average Sales Per Month	Months of Inventory	Percent of Supply	Percent Sold
County	1,174	886	74	16	100%	100%
Newport	338	307	26	13	29%	35%
Middletown	131	131	11	12	11%	15%
Portsmouth	302	202	17	18	26%	23%
Jamestown	80	79	7	12	7%	9%
Tiverton	265	137	11	23	23%	15%
Little Compton	58	30	3	23	5%	3%

Come to Newport!

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 06:59:43 -0600

William Raveis Chapman Enstone is a Real Estate agency located in Newport, RI. We provide innovative marketing approaches to Real Estate with a focus on World Class customer service.

Now, more than ever buyers and sellers need experienced representation. Our agency and its agents encompass a wide range of expertise and knowledge of the local community and bring a fresh perspective to buying and selling property.

Rhode Island Real Estate Listings http://www.raveis.com or http://www.chapmanenstone.com

Looking for a rental? http://www.newportrentalguide.com

Moving to Rhode island? http://www.chapmanenstone.com

City of Newport www.cityofnewport.com/

The entire state holds 135 miles of waterfront and scenic coastline

Quiet rural areas just minutes from an active waterfront.

The History! Newport was founded in 1639.

Boating, surfing, kayaking, windsurfing, fishing, golfing,

Newport is considered America's first resort.

Beaches, Gilded Age mansions, theatre, concerts, festivals.

Newport vacation, student rentals search

http://www.newportrentalguide.com

Planning an event in Newport, RI?

www.newportharbor.com/

Don't miss these spots when visiting.

www.westdeck.com/

http://www.22bowens.com/

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/newport-the-next-generation&page=3

Newport Real Estate

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 06:52:01 -0600

Our market is performing ok, not fantastic but not nearly as bad as the media might indicate. We compile a tremendous amount of statistics over and above the statistics we analyze from outside sources. Our statistics are showing that the Newport County market is still performing well. Our Pending Index has been stable along with our Solds per day. We do have a slightly high inventory of approximately 12 months for single family properties but this has been consistent for several years now.

I'd be happy to share the details upon request.

Keep Hope Alive!

Don't Believe the Hype!

Newport Real Estate and Rentals!

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:40:38 -0600

I'm Back! Been a while but we have been BUSY! Here's what we've done since June:

We've joined William Raveis Real Estate, http://www.raveis.com/. New Englands largest family owned real estate company with #1 market share in CT and #3 in MA.
We've added the rental team, database and website of Newport Rental Guide, http://www.newportrentalguide.com/. The most comprehensive and largest database of available rental properties in our area. Also, #1 on Google when you search for rentals in the area.
We've moved our offices to 49 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI. A significant upgrade in location which helps our clients and agents.

So, I'll be posting more information on our market. In summary - THE MARKET IS FINE! Here in Newport County transacation volume was off by only 5% from 2006 and average price up 12%! Median down only 2% so we are OK.

I'll post the stats asap. Please let me know if you have any questions.

my new email chapmana@raveisre.com.

Thank you.

Newport County Inventory

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:35:04 -0500

Here's an overview of the supply and demand with months of available inventory for Newport County:

5/30/2007
Newport County
	Active	Sold	Average Sales Per Month	Months of Inventory	Percent of Supply	Percent Sold
Single Family	816	634	52.8	15	59%	71%
Multi Family	101	47	3.9	26	7%	5%
Condo	309	174	14.5	21	22%	19%
Land	168	40	3.3	50	12%	4%
Total	1,394	895	74.6	19	100%	100%

Great time to buy, but make sure you have a Buyers Agent who knows the full market and the market trends.

Houses, Condo's EVERYWHERE!

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:28:11 -0500

Too much inventory! Way too much inventory! We have an 18 month supply of properties for sale in Newport County! Great time to buy!!

This 18 month supply should start to reduce as we go throught the summer. Usually, supply increases slow down in the summer months and demand is stronger, so we may get down to around 14 months of supply - which is still wayyy tooo much!!

There are 67 lots for sale in Portsmouth. 67. Only 11 sold in the past 12 months. Here's how it looks:

Portsmouth
	Active	Sold	Average Sales Per Month	Months of Inventory	Percent of Supply	Percent Sold
Single Family	222	162	13.5	16	27%	26%
Multi Family	8	6	0.5	16	8%	13%
Condo	64	30	2.5	26	21%	17%
Land	67	11	0.9	73	40%	28%

We need supply to diminish and demand to increase. Rising interest rates sometimes will stimulate demand. Will that happen in this cycle?

What do you think?

Busy Weekend

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Mon, 21 May 2007 11:30:43 -0500

We had a very busy weekend with our Open Houses! Buyers are out, offers coming in, second showings are being arranged! All of this I expected when we had such a slowdown in the March/April timeframe. I've been doing this for a while now and have developed a "nose" for the business. June will be a very good month and I believe the summer will be good. Fall may be slow as the second home buyers may wait a bit longer before jumping in, however, the high end second home buyer is out in full force.

High end activity is very strong. There are currently 18 Pending contracts in the county with a Listing Price over $1,000,000. This realates to an average of $756 per square foot. Closed transactions versus last year are slightly down from 17 closed to this year of 15. However, the average price per square foot is up to $679 from $640 in 2006.

The bonus money from the record year on Wall Street is heading this way!

Rhode Island Real Estate Market

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Fri, 18 May 2007 15:09:15 -0500

We've reached a very high 18 Months of supply as evidenced below:

Totals
	Active	Sold	Average Sales Per Month	Months of Inventory
County	1,360	908	75.7	18
Newport	399	312	26.0	15
Middletown	169	149	12.4	14
Portsmouth	355	215	17.9	20
Jamestown	93	66	5.5	17
Tiverton	280	141	11.8	24
Little Compton	64	25	2.1	31

HOWEVER, the Pending Index has jumped dramtically to over 5 Pendings per day. That means that 5 properties per day are going under contract. Compare that to 3.2 last year at this time.

Market improving. Not a time to become too aggressive, but positive signs are appearing.

Now, what happened to the nice warm weather? Geez, it was 40 degrees and raining when I got in the car this morning!

So sad that 60 Minutes has lost it....

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:56:08 -0500

I was a huge fan of 60 Minutes. I always thought that they were somewhat above the commercialism of news programming. Well, another sad day.

The recent episode was basically an advertisement for Redfin and contained so many errors and misconceptions!! Very sad.

We should all write a letter to CBS and all of their advertisers. We will no longer use the products of the advertisers.

Hit em in the wallet - that's what they are trying to do to us!

Real estate market showing positive signs!

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:39:21 -0500

Now that the weather has improved, significantly, will the Buyers come out into the sunshine and start to express interest in properties? That was the hope, and yes, I am glad to report that our Pending Index, or total number of contracts written per day, for Newport County has improved! In mid April of this year the index was showing a paltry 3.63 pending per day. Much lower than the 4.83 we saw in 06. Now it is at 4.9 and we are seeing much more activity from Open Houses, sign calls, internet inquiries and showings. This bodes well for a very good June for sales.

Now we must look at current inventory levels to understand where we are in the market. As of today there is a total of 1,337 properties on the market comprised of 775 single family, 92 multi family, 303 condominium and 167 vacant land properties. While this is a relatively high inventory number, it is actually down from the August of 2006 total of 1,355. I compare this number to August as it is the closest high supply month to today. Supply tends to increase in spring and decrease in late summer/fall.

With supply down and demand on the rise how can we not be optimistic!

March Showers did NOT bring April Sales!

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Thu, 03 May 2007 15:51:35 -0500

Well, we HOPE that the recent downturn in demand is a result of the dismal weather in most of February and March. I, for one, believe it is a factor. Not the only factor but mostly the weather dampened sales. (Sorry for the pun... well not really!)

So, let's get to the numbers. From February through April in 2006 we averaged 7.38 New Listings per Day and 2.52 Sales per Day. For the same period in 2007 we averaged 6.36 Listings and 2.39 Sales. So, inventory isn't gaining and demand is nearly as strong as last year. Nearly. Given the fact that the demand was up 10% in early February this is a dissapointing turnaround. However, demand in late April was strong and our Pending index(number of Pending Contracts or the number of properties that go under contract per day) has risen from 3.8 to 4.37 in less than one week. This is what I see from day to day as I check the MLS several times a day. Also, I have been doing this for over 15 years and can sense the activity. While I still can't say that the demand is strong, it feels stronger and I anticipate a very good summer.

So, what happened? I have no idea. Well, that's not true, I have several ideas. Weather, Weather, Weather. We had an awful stretch of weather from February through March which results in less closings six weeks later. Also, I think the negative national news on real estate had a depressive effect in our area. I don't think our market is heading for major correction(20% reduction of value). There are just too many jobs in the area and virtually no land left to build upon. (Personally, I think this is a good thing as Aquidneck Island is becoming way too congested. Check out http://www.ailt.org/!)

So, no new supply of available land, demand is not great but steady. Overall, this is a normal market and well priced well appointed properties will always sell. If you are a buyer, good time to get in and if your a seller, good time to upgrade. BUT you should seek professional advice from a realtor and a financial planner. Please let me know your thoughts.

Boston Real Estate

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:13:23 -0500

Boston Office Market to Break Sales Record
Boston's office market is on pace to break last year's sales record of $6.3 billion, says Jones Lang LaSalle. The brokerage's Q1 2007 report finds that $5.6 billion worth of Boston office sales took place in Q1. Jones Lang LaSalle said that investors are being attracted by the market's strong fundamentals, which include a dwindling supply and rents as high as $70/sf, a rate not seen since before the dot-com crash a few years ago.

Provided by Commercial Real Estate Direct

RI real estate and the weather

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 16:00:03 -0500

When will this weather improve so that our market can finally get into spring gear? I have been selling real estate for over 13 years in RI and know that weather can dramatically effect a market. This year is a perfect case in point. Demand was up nearly 15% in mid March and now it is on par with last year. What happened? Look back 6 weeks and you see the weather was AWFUL!! And it hasn't improved much so far this spring. As I write here in Portsmouth we are experiencing heavy rain and 40 degree weather. And the forecast is for more of the same for another 4 days!!!!

Does weather effect other markets like here in New England? Please let me know your thoughts.

Target misses the Target in Portsmouth?

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 15:32:30 -0500

Is Portsmouth, RI ready for a big box Target store? I'm not sure that we need or want this store, espceially in the proposed location. Check out http://www.preserveportsmouth.org/ to get the whole story. And also check out www.torvex.com/jmcdaid/ for a very good blog about the local happenings.

Please let me know what you are all thinking. Is a big box store good for a small town??

Little Rhody!!

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:13:16 -0500

Hats off to Rhody's Firsts:

WE were the first to renounce the crown, establish religious freedom and create an action figure. That would be G.I.Joe. We're home to the first industrial mill, Jewish Temple, roller-skating rink, and not just the first Baptist church - in 1638 - but the First Baptist Church in America. Apparently, we're big on indoor shopping here, since the Arcade was America's first enclosed mall, and in 1768, Gladdings became the first department store on U.S. soil. Though I guess it wasn't the U.S. yet.

We have the longest name of any state: State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Arlene Violet was the nation's first female state Attorney General. Usquepaugh hosts the country's only Johnny cake festival. And our state troopers were not only voted the best dressed, but once did a fashion show on David Letterman.

Beat that, Connecticut.

All this from my favorite new local book. It's by Roberta Mudge Humble, a professor of English at the Community College of Rhode Island, and is called The Right to Crow - A Look at Rhode Island's Firsts, Bests, and Uniques.

Perhaps it's our small size, but there's something about living here that makes people embrace ways that make Rhode Island stand out.

When I first came here in the mid-1970's, I actually felt proud that the New England mob was based in Providence instead of Boston; maybe Detroit had cars but at least we had that industry. We also had the biggest maker of fake flowers anywhere. I'm still proud that we have the world's biggest termite overlooking Route 95. It's 58 feet long.

And to think outsiders thought this wasn't a major league place.

But there are a lot of firsts I barely knew, or didn't know. Such as that the Newport Reading Room has the world's oldest flush toilets.

So, I love this book.

It further tells me that the first world series ever, anywhere, was held here. And the Providence Grays won. They beat the New York Mets. To me, that's right up there with inventing religious freedom. So is the fact that Babe Ruth once played for the Providence Grays.

I'm even glad that in 1976, a state rep named Bernard Gladstone proposed a $2 tax on sex to increase revenues. At least it was a first. It didn't pass.

The nation's first ever speeding ticket was given in 1904 in Newport. The guy deserved it. He was going 20 miles per hour.

The most expensive piece of furniture ever sold was an 18th century desk by Rhode Island carpenter John Goddard. In 1989, someone paid $12.1 million dollars for it. But ounce for ounce, that's probably not as valuable as the $25,000 paid here for license plate number 7. That means plate number 1 is worth six figures.

Plus, I'm guessing that no other place has as much collective interest in such foods as doughboys, dynamites, grinders, New York system weiners, clamcakes and stuffies.

I'm also guessing that no other successful politician legally added an "a" to the beginning of his name, as Ralph aRusso did, to be the first on a ballot. After winning, he went to serve as mayor of Johnston for 24 years, a state record for that office.

Oh, and show me another state where the landfill is the second highest point. It gives you a shiver of pride.

Mr. Potato Head was born here. So was Furby, My Little Pony, and the Easy Bake Oven, which I still am prone to give as a gift to my 18-year-old daughter because, as a dad, I refuse to accept that she is no longer nine.

Maybe the reason that we need books like Humble's is that the rest of the world doesn't give us enough credit for these things. I'm still angry that Boston gets acclaim for sparking the Revolution by dumping some tea in the harbor in December 1773 when, a whole year and a half before that, Rhode Islanders burned an entire Bristish tax ship. But who, besides us, remembers that?

Now we have a reminder.

I think I'll celebrate with some stuffies and coffee milk.

**** Article by Mark Patankin, Providence Journal Staff Writer****

Oyster Gardening in Narragansett Bay

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 11:24:01 -0500

My very good friend Steve Patterson is working to clean up our bay! Please support this vital project. If you have a waterfront property, Steve can show you how we can all work together to clean up the bay and re-establish the shellfish industry to Narragansett Bay!

RI-OGRE Update

Oyster Gardening has arrived in Rhode Island! In the spring of 2006,

Roger Williams University and the Rhode Island Aquaculture Initiative, administered through the RI-CRMC, proposed to develop, implement and evaluate a Rhode Island Oyster Gardening Program to test the merit of utilizing public participation in statewide oyster restoration efforts. The Rhode Island Oyster Gardening for Restoration and Enhancement (RI-OGRE) Program provides a multitude of benefits to the state and to the mission of the Rhode Island Aquaculture Initiative. These include assisting in the oyster restoration program currently underway in Narragansett Bay, expanding an awareness of the role that shellfish play in coastal marine systems to enhance the environmental understanding in an important sector of our state residents, and developing a deeper appreciation of the role that shellfish aquaculture might play in the maintenance and improvement of our coastal ecosystems.

Oyster gardening is a popular tool to aid in local oyster restoration efforts while simultaneously educating the public about the benefits of a healthy oyster population in local waters. Having originated in the Chesapeake Bay region in the early 1990's, the concept of oyster gardening is centered on the volunteer efforts of coastal landowners in rearing juvenile oysters to be utilized in endeavors to restore oysters to their former level of production in the bays. The RI program is designed to raise juvenile oysters in waters adjacent to volunteer coastal landowners along the shores of Narragansett Bay and the Rhode Island coastal ponds. The oysters will be used in an ongoing and expanded oyster restoration program.

Volunteer OGRE's received several thousand young oysters to grow from their docks or shoreline in wire cages or floating bags. With local community members raising juvenile oysters bred in the RWU Shellfish Hatchery from native broodstock, state shellfish specialists involved with this program hope to raise community awareness on the importance of utilizing oyster beds as a means of filtering large quantities of seawater while supplying oysters for restoration in local waters. Oyster feeding behavior leads to decreased nitrogen levels in the state's waters and increased water clarity necessary for aquatic vegetation to thrive. In addition, once the restored oysters have matured within designed restoration areas, the Rhode Island shellfishing community can anticipate increased oyster availability as they reproduce naturally.

During the summer of 2006, the RI-OGRE Program accepted 18 volunteer landowners to participate, all of whom have land adjacent to waters classified as open for shellfish harvesting. Each landowner received a floating cage for holding the oysters and, in July, six bags of oyster cultch with attached oyster spat produced in the RWU shellfish hatchery. In total, each gardener received about 1,500 small (1-2mm) oysters to rear. Following a summer of good growth, the OGRE oysters returned to the restoration program from the landowners had grown to about 25mm (1-inch) or more and were planted at two oyster restoration sites in Narragansett Bay. In total, about 25,000 OGRE oysters were planted in the pilot year for this program.

What does the future hold for RI-OGRE's? For 2007, plans are underway to expand the program to 50 or more landowners, to increase the number of oysters being reared to one-half million and to expand into a third oyster restoration area in Narragansett Bay. In the meantime, our currently restored bay oysters are being watched carefully to determine the best strategies for planting in order to assure that oysters will once again flourish in Narragansett Bay and the coastal ponds.

RI real estate

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:50:15 -0500

The first quarter of 2007 is in the books. The real estate "meltdown" as some would call it DID NOT materialize in the area, in fact demand is up in certain areas and types of products and overall supply is down. So, let's go to the numbers:

Newport County overall supply is down 9% since August 30, 2006. Demand for single family properties are up; 32% in Newport, 60% in Middletown(Last year was awful - any ideas why?). Portsmouth single family is up 7%, Tiverton, Little Compton and Jamestown demand is all down around 20% but there are very few transactions.

Prices - Newport median sales price UP 17%, Middletown down 17%, Portsmouth down 1%, Tiverton down 9%. Please note that the AVERAGE sales price is up 69% in Newport and 67% in Middletown, up 8% in Portsmouth, up 12% in Tiverton, up 31% in Jamestown and down a whopping 53% in Little Compton!

Condominiums are having a tough time right now with demand and prices down across the board. I do think there will be more activity and price stabilization as the warmer weather will stimulate demand and remove some supply from the table. Currently there are 311 condo's on the market in the county with 50% of that supply in Newport. Newport's condo market is very seasonal and as the weather warms and the summer visitors come back, so will the demand for condo's.

The overall state picture for single family properties shows much the same picture although demand is slightly down from 2006, 1,616 sales versus 1,624 or down .49%. the average sales price came in at $350, 147 up from $347,990 - up .62% and the median sales price was down 2.86% $272,000 this year and $280,000 in 2006.

Ok, so now I've filled your head with lots of numbers and percentages and your wondering what does this all mean. What it means is that we are in a normal market and that the sky is not falling. What it DOESN'T mean is that your home or condo devalued. Each property is unique and distinct and a full market comparison report is required to see what your properties value is in todays market. Please let me know your thoughts and call/email with questions.

www.chapmanenstone.com

arthur@chapmanenstone.com

Real estate perceptions

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 18:19:57 -0500

It happened again. Just the other day I was on a listing appointment when the prospective clients said, "Well I know this is a really bad time to try to sell. The market is awful". Why is it that people who have no idea on a market like real estate think they know exactly what's going on in their neighborhood or town from reading national news items? Real estate is very, very local. Sure, national and international events can influence all markets, but the local employment strength and the local consumer confidence is what drives the individual property values.

So, I explained that supply was down and demand was up. And her property is perfectly situated for a summer resident buyer with lots of disposable income, so there will be good demand. I compile a great deal of stats on my own as well as provided by our state MLS. So after reviewing these stats, my marketing plan and "checking me out on the web and with some of her friends" she selected me to sell her property over 3 other agents. As always, I dug deeper in asking why I was selected. (After thanking her of course). She thought I had a handle on the market because of the stats, that I was aggressive and the I was "a straight shooter". Full time professional realtors stand apart.

Newport County Spring Market 2007

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 09:47:56 -0500

The function of any market is supply and demand. The real estate market is a function of supply - number of available properties on the market and demand - a function of consumer confidence, employment and cost of money or interest rates. So, here we are on the first day of Spring 2007. What's up with the supply/demand here in Newport County?

Inventory is down 12% in the county since August of 2006. This is for all residential properties throughout the area. Some property types in some towns are more or less than 12%, but nearly every type and town is down.

We are currently running at 7 listings per day, 4.68 pendings per day and 2.47 sales per day.

Supply is dropping and demand is rising!! Good news! I don't think we'll see dramatic appreciation this year, if any at all, but the market is stabilizing.

Every property is unique and distinct. I have sold over $60,000,000 and know the local and regional market very well. Please call/email with your specific questions. Thank you.

RI real estate

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 13:18:24 -0500

The local market continues to improve. Supply down 30% since August 30, 2006 and demand up over 10% versus 2006. We anticipate a very active spring and already have seen several multiple bid scenarios. Demand is BACK!!!

Newport Market

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 09:42:44 -0600

So we are coming down to the end of the year and just as we have been saying all year, the sky is NOT falling. Neither are prices! But inventory is!!!! We track the markets very closely. Here's some interesting facts:

12/21/2006
Newport
Single Family
	Active	Sold	Average Sales Per Month	Months of Inventory	Percent of Supply	Percent Sold
$0 to $200,000	2	-	-	-	1%	0%
$200,001 to $300,000	5	15	1	4	4%	9%
$300,001 to $400,000	28	33	3	10	20%	21%
$400,001 to $500,000	25	48	4	6	18%	30%
$500,001 to $600,000	18	19	2	11	13%	12%
$600,001 to $700,000	9	12	1	9	6%	8%
$700,001 to $800,000	12	8	1	18	9%	5%
$800,000 & up	42	24	2	20	30%	15%
Total	141	159	14	10	100%	100%

Please let me know your thoughts.

Rhode Island Market

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:38:56 -0600

As we have been saying for some time now, the market may have hit bottom. Overall transaction volume is off by an average of 25% but median and average prices are holding steady with some markets seeing rises in property values. One market that is way up on transaction volume is Lincoln RI as evidenced below:

Lincoln
	2005	2006	% Change
Number of Sales	262	322	22.90%
Average List Price	$355,668	$334,045	-6.08%
Average Sales Price	$340,920	$322,175	-5.50%
Median List Price	$299,900	$259,900	-13.34%
Median Sale Price	$294,000	$255,000	-13.27%
DOM	65	68	4.62%
Average SP/LP Ratio	95.85%	96.44%	0.62%

As you can see the prices have declined and transaction volume is up. This is a result of a few large condominium projects on the low end that sold very well. this DOES NOT mean that your property in Lincoln was worth less this year than last year. When markets change, as it has here in the area, the basic premise of real estate becomes more and more important. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

We track the area markets closely to provide the most detailed information to our clients in order to make a fully informed decision on real estate assets.

Newport Market

William Raveis Chapman Enstone — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 08:54:12 -0600

Once again the numbers tell the story. The average and median prices for homes have NOT dropped, in fact some communities are still seeing double digit appreciation. The overall activity has dropped between 7% to 30% in our area but the prices have remained stable. What does this mean? What will the future hold? Well, I've always felt that the high end will start and stop a market. Right now the high end is very active. 2006 has had more high end sales than 2005, therefore, if supply and interest rates remain low, we could very well see a very good winter and spring. Keep hope alive!

Your thoughts?