Rhode Island’s Housing Market Faces a Turning Point as Median Prices Near $600K

Written by:

Rudi Davis

Date:

25 Nov 2025

Share

Share via Facebook

Share via Linkedin

Share via X

Copy to clipboard

Rhode Island’s real estate boom may be setting the stage for a market correction, according to leading coastal broker Matthew Antonio, broker/owner at Corcoran Chart House Realty, who warns that rapid price growth is increasingly shutting local residents out of homeownership.

Antonio says the affordability crisis is already evident, noting that it has become increasingly difficult to find a “decent home for under $500,000.” For many first-time buyers – such as couples in their late twenties with full-time jobs, student debt, and higher interest rates – a $500,000 purchase now translates into a mortgage payment they simply can’t manage.

The Math of Exclusion

With projections placing Rhode Island’s median sale price closer to $600,000 by 2027, Antonio says pressure is mounting in the state’s higher-end markets as well. In towns like Barrington and East Greenwich, he expects median prices to push into the high $700,000s.

He argues that this trajectory has widened the gap between what homes cost and what local wages can support. Although he finds the trend “concerning,” Antonio believes the market will eventually self-correct.

The Self-Correction Mechanism

Antonio predicts that market forces will eventually curb further price growth, particularly around the state’s median price point. If local buyers can’t afford the payments, he says, “the house isn’t going to sell.” Antonio’s view is rooted in his sense that the market has already started to shift. During the pandemic, many buyers came from New York and Boston seeking less densely populated areas, he says, but now “we’re starting to see people move back to the cities.”

The COVID-era migration that fueled much of Rhode Island’s price growth now appears to be tapering off. Antonio notes that pandemic conditions – high apartment vacancies and declining markets in major cities – pushed many urban residents toward Rhode Island, driving rapid appreciation. But that trend has reversed, he says, with “people moving back to those cities.”

Market Momentum Slowing

Antonio says the effects of this shift are beginning to show. While Rhode Island’s market remains stable, the rapid appreciation seen from 2020 through 2023 has eased noticeably. The market is “technically still growing,” he notes, but at a far slower pace than during the pandemic surge.

This moderation is already influencing behavior on the ground. Antonio reports a sharp drop in both the number of offers and the pool of active buyers on each listing, prompting sellers to be more cautious about pricing.

The Broader Question

Antonio’s observations raise fundamental questions about the sustainability of markets that price out their own workforce. While Rhode Island attracted significant out-of-state capital during the pandemic, the long-term viability of price levels that exclude local residents remains uncertain.

The self-correction Antonio predicts would represent a return to market fundamentals based on local economic capacity rather than external capital flows. Whether this correction occurs gradually through slower appreciation or more dramatically through price declines may depend on broader economic conditions and the continued flow of out-of-state buyers.