Rhode Island home sales on the rise

WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI/AP) - The Rhode Island Association of Realtors says sales of single-family homes in the state increased 16 percent in January compared with last year.

The association says the rise could be due to prices for homes becoming more affordable.

Four-hundred-and-fifty-four homes were sold last month, the most sales activity in any January since 2007. The median home sales price was $172,750, down 13 percent from the same month last year.

"Buyers are at the enviable position of seeing some of the lowest prices that we've seen in many years and historically the lowest mortgage rates that we've ever seen," realtor Cecile Cohen said.

RIAR Association President, Jamie Moore, says home buyers were more motivated because of lower prices and low interest rates. Moore says the lower prices are partly due to an annual 60 percent increase in the number of foreclosures and short sales.

Condominium sales were up nearly 4 percent since January 2011, as the median price for condos dropped 25 percent to nearly $155,500.