Newport County real estate trends and statistics.

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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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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The Government Shutdown may affect Real Estate over the coming weeks. Perhaps not market values, but existing transactions, and buyers looking to make offers.  Being a Realtor, I’m certainly not furloughed and neither are most other private sector jobs.  But in a community like Newport RI, it may end up affecting us more directly than we’d like.

 

Nearly 900,000 federal employees were told not to come into work on Tuesday.  That’s nearly a third of all persons being paid directly by the US.  These people include members of the DoD, National Parks, Memorial Administration, FHA and IRS.  Since 1975 there have been 17 government shutdowns, averaging nearly a week. Ranging from 1 to 21 days each.

 

How it Affects Newport County:

 

Here in Newport…

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If the Real Estate catchphrase of 2012 was “interest rates” 2013 will be “inventory”.  So far it’s been a fantastic and frustrating 2013 for us realtors here in Newport, and per the media, we’re not alone.  Inventories nationally are at 13 year lows.  As I mentioned in a blog post back in November, inventory levels were continuing to decrease, pointing towards a renewed seller’s market.  Looking at charts here in Newport County the trend doesn’t seem to be changing.  

inventory levelsThese charts make me think back to my Economics Classes at Saint Anselm College with Professor Romps, specifically about supply, demand and the “invisible hand”.  Prof. Romps was a 6’3” 280lb angry 65 year old man.  It was impossible to fall asleep in his class even at 9am on Friday. In…

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