Did Rhode Island's real estate market cool off in 2022? Here's what the numbers show.

As 2022 came to a close, the real estate market saw a continued decline in the overall number of sales, while the median selling prices remained very high despite lower demand and interest rates that doubled over the course of the year.

Sales of all types of houses, including condos, single-family and multifamily, fell in 2022, as the median sales price in all three categories continued to rise, up roughly 30% since the pandemic started, according to data from the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.

"The stars aligned to keep inventory low and housing costs high," Rhode Island Association of Realtors President Bryant Da Cruz wrote in a news release.

The number of single-family homes sold in Rhode Island saw an initial drop in January 2022. Then, sales increased through the summer, but started to fall off again in September. In December, 634 homes were sold, compared with 1,082 in December 2021.

In all, there was a 17% decrease in the number of single-family houses sold in 2022, compared with 2021.

The trend of fewer sales in Rhode Island — in all of 2022, in the fourth quarter, and in December — were all part of a national trend. Across the country, December marked the 11th consecutive month of decreasing homes sales.

Pandemic price increases continued in 2022

Although real estate agents say prices should start to come down, they continued to move up in 2022, albeit at a much slower pace than earlier in the pandemic. In 2022, there was a 10% increase in the median price of a single-family home, compared with a 14% increase in 2021.

Between 2019 and 2022, the median price of a single-family home rose by 29%, from $285,000 to $402,000.

The median price increase has been steepest for multifamily homes, which jumped 36%, from $270,000 in 2019 to $420,000 in 2022.

The median price for the most affordable option for new homebuyers, condos, increased 27% since 2019, when it was $235,000, to $320,000 in 2022.

Will prices come down?$400K is the new median selling price of houses in RI. What does it actually buy?

Real estate agents say prices should come down with increased interest rates, but many sellers base their expectations on the market as it was a year ago, with fierce demand and houses selling well above asking price.

Mortgage rates started to rise in December 2021, up from historic lows near 2%, doubling to 4% in March 2022, and hitting 7% in November 2022 before going down to 6%, where they stand now, according to national mortgage data from lender Freddie Mac.

Houses spent fewer days on the market on average in 2022

While the median price has been going up, the amount of time units stay on the market has been falling. For single-family homes in 2018 and 2019, an average time on the market was about two months. In 2021 and 2022, that shrank to about one month, according to the data.

For condos, the pre-pandemic average was about two months on the market. In 2021, it was down to 43 days, and in 2022, just 31 days.

For multifamily homes, the average time on the market has come down from 49 days in 2019 to 30 days in 2022.

Looking to buy?The state may give first-time homebuyers $17,500 for their down payment

The number of listings, especially for condos and single-family homes, is still well below the rates of early 2020 and before the pandemic. A total of 2,389 single-family homes were listed in January 2020, a number that shrank to 1,214 in January 2021 and to 805 in January 2022.

Across the state, Warwick continued a trend of accounting for the most single-family home sales in 2022, with 1,102. Cranston had 846, while Providence had 763.

Providence had the highest number of residential units sold, including 692 multifamily houses, with total sales of 1,892, down from 2,313 in 2021.

Interested in reading more about the real estate market?

So what does $400,000, near the median selling price, get you in this market? It depends on location and amenities, but real estate agents said that one of the biggest things they are doing is trying to convince their sellers to lower their prices to match decreased demand and higher mortgage rates.

For a more in-depth look at the current state of the housing market, read our premium story about what $400,000 can buy in this market.

If you're looking to buy, read our story about the $17,500 grants the state is giving to "first-time homebuyers" or our guide on what to know if you're thinking about buying a house in this market.

If you're looking to sell your house, read our story on what agents want you to know about selling in this market.

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Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island real estate market: Prices rise in 2022 but sales decline