Newport County real estate trends and statistics.

If you’re buying a new home in Newport County, it’s important to know how much energy it will consume. After a winter like this it’s nice to see the housing industry offering a Home Energy Rating (HER) for new construction homes. The HER certificate estimates the annual energy cost for new construction homes, and buyers are wise to ask their builder how homes stack up.

HER ratings range from 0 to 500. Zero is the best rating meaning “off the grid” or not using any energy at all.  500 means, well, let’s just say it could be very expensive to heat and cool a property with such a high rating.

WHAT’S NORMAL? 

Most older homes on Aquidneck Island fall into the higher end of the HER range.  New homes with more modern materials and mechanicals are…

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2014 was another great year in real estate, not only in the US but here in Newport Rhode Island too.  A booming economy, stock market appreciation and a surprise in the mortgage industry with interest rates returning to low levels instead of rising, were just a few highlights of 2014. Here’s a quick recap of 2014’s Real Estate Market;

US Real Estate Market Conditions

The Case/Shiller Housing Index increased 4.5% Year over Year from October 2013 through October 2014. That’s a drastic slow down compared to the 13.6% increase a year earlier. As anticipated (see last year's recap) the price appreciation slowed down. The slowdown in price appreciation had more to do with the market equalizing, than with rising rates as previously predicted.  2014 was the…

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HOME SELLER ADVANTAGE: NEWPORT

Low inventory and strong demand gave Newport home sellers an advantage in November.  Other Newport County markets remain in "Buyer Advantage" territory but less dramatically than in previous months.  Foreclosure activity continues at a steady pace. The total number of homes sold was up 12% over last year, but average and median sale prices declined.

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How's Newport, RI's Real Estate market?  

Well, it was pritt-tee impressive this past June.  Though all 6 Newport County towns are favoring buyers ever so slightly, the market's much closer to parity than it's been in years.  Inventory is on the rise, but homes are moving when they're priced competitively.  Do you know what your home is worth?  We do, and we would love to taik to you about it!

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Investing in Real Estate? Lets ask Warren Buffett, the infamous investor worth billions who is commonly known as “The Oracle of Omaha”.  His insight in investing I’ve always found to be a very simple, easy and straight forward. This article delves into two real estate investments he’s made. Here’s a few points I walked away with;

-Ignore the outside noise and chatter

When we were in the depths of the Great Recession Mr. Buffett was buying up companies left and right, while the rest of the market went running for the hills. His Berkshire Hathaway holding company bought Prudential Real Estate as his method of jumping into the real estate market. But years ago, he made a few real estate plays himself, ignoring the noise around him, he focused on the…

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We write a lot about RI waterfront homes, but sometimes it's nice to hear from people who actually live in them.  Here's one owner's take on the pleasures of living at 1601 Main Road in Tiverton - a pretty enticing deal at $895,000.

 “My husband and I bought the property at 1601 Main Road (then a summer cottage) in 1996 when two of our three children were still in high school – both avid sailors. We fell in love with its immediacy to so many things:  water play of all kinds right off our own dock – swimming, sailing, kayaking; early morning light climbing the houses and boat yard across the Basin, at night the lights of the Mt. Hope Bridge in the distance, and the Sakonnet River Bridge to the North; spectacular sunsets; and, the ability to watch the…

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Newport County's Single Family Home Stats for March 2014  

One quick note:  While the market is favoring Buyers in the aggregate (Newport, Jamestown, Middletown, Portsmouth, Tiverton & Little Compton), Middletown moved into Seller territory this month providing a slight advantage to Sellers.  Low inventory and high demand are pushing this metric up in Middletown.  That's a first since the market started  recovering.

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BEFORE

 

Here’s a happy house-flipping story to start your weekend off right. 

Fixer-uppers are not for everyone, but this little gem in Middletown is a Cinderella story worth sharing:

It started with a closing on a sad little house in need of major TLC. It ended 2 months later with a 7-day listing, a full price offer and an exhausted, but happy Seller.

Time and Effort are the life blood of flips. They must look brand new. When they do, people buy them. It’s that simple. If you plan to do it yourself, get ready for some aches and pains. If you do it right, however, the rewards can be great.

Location is key for a successful flip. This one was on the Middletown Newport line near parks, restaurants and coffee shops. Once the location checked…

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Real Estate in Newport RI, much like the rest of the country, had a great year.  But how did Newport fare alongside the rest of the nation?  Here’s where we stand on 2013.  

Nationally and in Rhode Island:

The Case/Shiller National Index, an index of national home prices, experienced a 10.06% increase year over year through September 2013.  That’s the largest 12-month gain since March of 2006!  Rhode Island median home prices appreciated 10.48% with an 18.9% increase in volume! The increase in volume is a strong sign of a strengthening market.   

 Single Families – Newport, RI

 Newport’s median price appreciation lagged behind the national and state average with a price increase of only 2.1%.  That said, Newport dwarfed the rest of the state…

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