As you may already know, we hold a seasonal photo contest where our agents and staff grab their cameras and unleash their creativity! The winning photos are displayed on the home page slide show. This Fall we have four AMAZING photographs!

Winning Photo – Dawne Nordstrom: Photo – South Water Street Providence

2. Sandy Soares: Photo – Cotoneaster sitting beside a cultivator
3. Ian Barnacle: Photo – West view of Providence
4. Dawne Nordstrom: Photo – Temple to Music at Roger Williams Park

Here’s a slide show of the winning photos:

Tomorrow morning, Sally Lapides will join in a panel discussion hosted by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors reviewing the myths and facts about the Luxury Market here in Rhode Island. This is the 10th part of their series on surviving tough times in the Real Estate market.

The event is free to members of the association and costs $20 for non-members. It will be held at RIAR’s office in Warwick. Space is limited, the event starts at 10:00 am. Call 401.785.9380 and choose option 1 for more information.

The National Association of Realtors reported a 9.4 percent increase in sales of existing homes from August to September, the largest increase in more than two years. Total housing inventory at the end of September fell 7.5 percent to a 7.8 month supply at current sales pace, down from a 9.3-month supply in August. The median existing-home price fell 8.5 percent in September from a year ago to $174,900. Distressed properties accounted for 29 percent of sales and continued to downwardly distort  the median price. Single-family home sales rose 7.7 percent  more than  a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $174,900, down 8.1 percent from a year ago.

Condominium and co-op sales were up 9.7 percent from August to September, a 21.2 percent increase from a year ago. The median existing condo price was $175,100 in September, down 11.7 percent from a year ago. Sales in the Northeast increased 4.4 percent from August to September, an 11.8 percent increase from a year ago.

The median price in the Northeast was down 7 percent from a year ago, to $234,700. And according to data released by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors today, Rhode Island existing single family home sales rose 27.9 percent in September and days on the market dropped to 87 from a high of 109 earlier this year.  There is currently a 6.8 month supply of single family homes for sale, down from a 14-month supply in January.

This Week’s Real Estate Insight:

Early information from an annual NAR consumer study to be released Nov. 13 shows first-time home buyers accounting for more than 45 percent of home sales in the past year. The National Association of Realtors is lobbying for an extension of the first time homebuyer credit. We Realtors believe that the extension is critical to continued recovery of the housing market.

In the October 22nd edition of Providence City Newsletter blast, there was an article about the emergency notification systems Providence has in place. The lead item in the article talked about the Port of Providence Emergency Siren Warning System (PPESWS), but two items in the article caught my eye – FLASHbrief and Reverse911. Here is what the article said about these services , which are available to the public for free.

“The PPESWS will be used in conjunction with other emergency warning systems in the City of Providence, including a Reverse 911 notification system and FLASHbrief.  Reverse911, a land-line phone based system, can call residents and provide them with accurate and timely information about the threat and provide possible further instructions.  To sign-up your cell phone please visit: http://www.providenceri.com/pema/About_RV911.php

FLASHbrief is an instantaneous, Internet-based, mass alert notification system. It is specifically designed for municipal areas to relay both ADVISORY and EMERGENCY alerts to citizens’ computers in a matter of seconds. FLASHbrief’s state-of-the-art software securely harnesses the power of the Internet to bring a new level of emergency communication capability to residents of entire metropolitan areas. To sign up please visit: http://www.readyprov.com/alert_center.php”

I checked out FLASHbrief and found that Providence seems to be the only town or city in Rhode Island using the service. A Youtube video on FLASHbrief indicated that all fifty capitals in the US have the system in place. One note – the software can only be used on Windows based systems.

Reports are still mixed in the Real Estate market, but the National Association of Realtors is reporting that the statistics are starting to show some encouraging signs. In a recent article sent to Realtors NAR stated, “Existing-home sales [nationwide] – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – jumped 9.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million units in September from a level of 5.09 million in August, and are 9.2 percent higher than the 5.10 million-unit pace in September 2008. Sales activity is at the highest level in over two years, since it hit 5.73 million in July 2007.”

Here in the Northeast, “existing-home sales increased 4.4 percent to an annual level of 950,000 in September, and are 11.8 percent higher than September 2008. The median price in the Northeast was $234,700, down 7.0 percent from a year ago.”

We have done some local analysis for Rhode Island and have also seen the rise in homes sold. Our results took a look at Single Family Homes solely, which attributed for the increase. In September RI sales were 27.6% over September of 2008, but the median price was down 8.2% to $201,050. Our Q3/09 Market Report, which reports quarterly data, is posted on our web page.