Lindsay
Pettinelli,
a
Providence-based
agent
for

Churchill
&
Banks,
added:
“As
an
agent,
you
are
constantly
having
to
come
up
with
creative
ways
to
make
your
offer
stand
out
because
sometimes
just
being
the
highest
price
isn’t
going
to
be
enough
to
get
it
done.”

With
the
lowest
level
of

inventory
among
all
states,
according
to


Altos
Research,
it
isn’t
surprising
that
some
Rhode
Island

homebuyers
are
willing
to
do
almost
anything
to
get
into
a
house.

Statewide,
as
of
May
17,
the
90-day
average
number
of
active
single-family
listings
was
just
647,
slightly
above
the
all-time
low
of
568
active
listings
recorded
a
year
ago
but
well
below
the
2,400
active
listings
recorded
in
May
2019,
according
to

data
from
Altos
Research. 

Although
there
were
almost
2,000
more
listings
back
in
2019,
local
real
estate
professionals
say
the
inventory
crunch
was
an
issue
even
then.

“We
had
a
shortage
of
inventory
two
or
three
years
before
COVID
came
around
and
then,
of
course,
things
went
into
a
whole
other
stratosphere
altogether
and
it
feels
like
it
has
remained
there
since
then,”
said

Kevin
Fox,
an
East
Providence-based

Compass
agent. 

For
buyers,
the
tight
inventory
has
meant
frequent
compromises
to
their
search
parameters. 

“What
is
nice
about
Rhode
Island
is
that
you
can
still
be
within
20
minutes
of
your
office
but
look
in
four
different
towns,”
Dotson
said.
“We
have
this
really
nice
density,
which
creates
open
searches.
They
may
be
able
to
see
four
or
five
houses
in
four
or
five
different
towns
at
their
price
point,
but
there
is
no
way
they
are
going
to
see
five
houses
in
their
preferred
town,
let
alone
neighborhood.”

While
local
real
estate
professionals
are
seeing
a
lot
of
local
first-time
buyers,
as
well
as
move-up
and
downsizing
buyers,
they
said
there
is
also
strong
demand
coming
from
outside
the
state.
Agents
in
Providence
noted
that
they
are
seeing
a
lot
of
buyers
coming
in
from

Boston.

“I’ve
seen
a
lot
of
folks
come
down
from
the
Boston
area
because
they
have
been
priced
out
of
the
market
and
they
realized,
as
many
people
have,
that
they
can
work
from
home,”
Fox
said.
“I’ve
also
seen
some
from
New
York
and
a
good
few
even
from
California.
And
when
they
come
from
markets
like
those,
everything
here
seems
cheap,
so
they
just
scoop
up
properties.”

In
a
state
with
the
second-highest

population
density
in
the
nation,
these
out-of-town
buyers
are
adding
extra
stress
to
Rhode
Island’s
already
constrained
housing
inventory.
And
even
though
many
of
these
out-of-town
buyers
feel
that
housing
prices
are
a
bargain
compared
to
some
of
the
pricier
areas
they
are
coming
from,
the
tight
inventory
and
strong
level
of
demand
has
meant
prices
in
Rhode
Island
have
risen
significantly
over
the
past
few
years. 

In
May
2019,
the
90-day
average
median
list
price
in
the
state
was
$399,000,
according
to
Altos
Research.
As
of
May
17,
2024,
that
number
had
risen
to
$550,000.

In
Providence,
the
median
list
price
has
risen
from
$215,592
in
May
2019
to
$388,638
in
May
2024.

“There
was
never
a
lull
in
the
Providence
market,”
Pettinelli
said.
“There
has
not
been
a
decrease
or
a
lack
of
an
increase,
month
over
month,
since
2020.
So,
our
buyers
are
still
looking
at
prices
that
have
continued
to
rise.”

On
top
of
the
rising
list
prices,
Dotson
said
that
buyers
know
they
are
most
likely
going
to
pay
well
over
list
price
in
order
to
successfully
purchase
a
property. 

Adding
to
the
challenges
for
buyers
is
that
the
state’s
tight
inventory
and
high
level
of
demand
have
combined
to
create
a
very
fast-paced
market.
Data
from
Altos
Research
ranks
the
Providence
metro
area
as
the
region
with
the
lowest
median
time
on
the
market
in
the
nation,
with
its
seven-day
average
median
at
only
14
days.

“In
the
really
desirable
neighborhoods,
it
is
even
less
than
that,”
Dotson
said.
“It
you
are
not
here
for
the
weekend
to
look
at
the
new
crop
of
houses
that
pop
on
the
market,
you
are
going
to
have
to
wait
for
the
next
round
of
houses
to
come
up
if
you
want
to
look
at
something.
Right
now,
I
am
telling
my
buyers
that
they
can’t
go
away
for
the
weekend
—
they
have
to
be
here
if
they
want
to
buy
something.” 

Although
agents
have
started
to
see
a
few
more
listings
on
the
market
each
week,
they
expect
the
next
few
months
to
be
much
of
the
same.

“It
is
going
to
be
a
competitive
market,”
Fox
said.
“For
buyers,
it
is
going
to
be
tough.
We
are
still
going
to
be
crying
out
for
inventory
—
it
is
probably
the
slimmest
inventory
I
have
ever
seen
and
I
anticipate
that
staying
that
way.
I’ve
got
a
roster
of
buyers
chomping
at
the
bit
and
I
really
feel
for
them
right
now.”