With only a few exceptions, single family, 2-4 family and condominium prices in the East Bay real estate market continued to climb in 2023 vs. 2022, a continuation of a multiyear trend.

Bristol and Warren showed surprising strength in price increases. Bristol led all East Bay towns with a whopping 28 percent increase, with a median single-family price of more than $628,000. Bristol also broke into the top 10 cities and towns with the highest single-family home values in the state of Rhode Island.

Warren followed closely behind, with a 16 percent increase and a median of $474,500.

Increases in the rest of the East Bay cities and towns, including state median price leaders like Newport, Little Compton and Jamestown, were all less than 11 percent. So, what is happening in Bristol and Warren that would make them lead the pack?

Location appeal is my guess, based on their natural waterfront locations, which have been greatly enhanced over the past 50 years by their towns encouraging the preservation of their historic buildings’ character. Interestingly, Bristol has done so with a regulatory process of a Historic District Commission. However, Warren has done so with no regulatory process – buyers have voluntarily renovated and improved their exteriors to historic standards. Their downtowns are so very quintessential New England, they reek of historic and waterfront location appeal.

These changes have now been going on for decades, street by street, house by house. Besides the historic building improvements, the towns and state have contributed to this appeal with new sidewalks, curbing, and decorative street lighting, all of which have contributed to the escalation of appeal and therefore residential values.

As a residential real estate appraiser now going on 30 years, one of the most difficult things I must prove to an underwriter in the mortgage lending process is “appeal” and what the market is willing to pay for that intangible amenity.

Another factor I believe is the lack of buildable land in Bristol and in Warren, to a lesser degree, as there is still a significant number of buildable parcels in the northeast Warren area of Birch Swamp and Serpentine Roads, and the Touisset neighborhood. Although all these areas have significant wetlands, mitigating buildability.   

Regarding units sold in the East Bay, all cities and towns in all three residential categories (single family, 2-4 family, and condominiums) showed a sharp decline in units sold. Owners who would have otherwise gone back into the real estate market are frozen into place with a low mortgage rate of 2.5% to 3.5%, a widely reported phenomenon. Therefore, homes that would normally be contributing to the real estate market inventory are sidelined.

The real estate market is like any other market and is based on the supply/demand ratio. Low inventory means higher prices, exactly what happened in the East Bay real estate market in 2023. 

Douglas Gablinske owns AppraiseRI, a 28-year-old statewide real estate company located in Bristol, R.I. He is Chairman of the Warren Taxpayer Appeal Board, is a member of the RI Real Estate Appraisal Board, licensed Real Estate Appraiser and Broker, and is a consultant to the new RI Department of Housing. He can be reached at Doug@AppraiseRI.biz.

As the chart above shows, single-family home prices increased in every East Bay community last year, typically by 10% or more. However, the highest increases were in Bristol (28%) and Warren (16%). And in every community, in every type of property, the number of sales declined, often sharply.