REMAX realtor, Jeanne Smith, resets the for-sale sign in front of a Cranston house as she gets ready for an open house last Sunday. The Garden Street home is on the market for $239,000.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

Across the board, homebuyers in Rhode Island last year were less likely to be married and have children living at home, compared to the national average, according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors.

The difference was most pointed in the group of first-time buyers — only 41 percent of this Rhode Island group was married, compared to 51 percent in the United States. Among all homebuyers, 55 percent were married in Rhode Island, versus 62 percent nationwide.

Rhode Island may be on the leading edge of a trend: the number of married-couple buyers has declined nationwide in the past 12 years, from 70 percent of the buyer pool in 1995 to 62 percent last year. However, home sellers in Rhode Island were more likely to be married (77 percent) than the national average (75 percent).

Cecile Cohen, former president of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors, was at a loss to explain the “marriage gap” in Rhode Island. “I’m not going to go there with you,” she said with a laugh. “Give me something simple. I’m not getting into marriage.”

NAR does an annual survey on the demographic characteristics of homebuyers and sellers. But in last year’s survey, for the first time, additional sampling was done in Rhode Island to provide specific breakout information on the Ocean State.

First-time buyers were involved in 43 percent of home sales in Rhode Island last year, compared to 39 percent nationwide. But for Tirrell Realty in East Providence, first-time buyers accounted for close to 80 percent of business last year, agency owner Phil Tirrell said.

The relatively affordable cost of real estate in East Providence, where the agency does most of its business, is probably a factor, he said. Also, in a slower market, first-time buyers have the advantage of not having to sell another property to complete a transaction. Tirrell said his agency sold 102 houses last year, versus 101 in 2006, but the overall dollar volume was down.

“In East Providence, the average price is 220, 230, 240 ….” Tirrell said. “Eighty percent of our inventory is that. Less than 20 percent of our inventory is over 300.” Statistics from the Rhode Island Association of Realtors confirm that East Providence’s median house price last year, $233,000, was below the statewide median of $275,000.

Cohen, who is a Realtor based in Charlestown, where there is a large second-home market, and a higher median house price ($400,000) said she works with fewer first-time buyers, “but we do have them.”

First-time buyers “are a big chunk of my business,” said Joe Tucker, an agent with Remax Preferred who works with many clients in Providence. “One thing I like about them is that they’re pretty easy to work with. They are pretty willing to listen to advice.”

National Association of Realtors spokesman Walter Molony said that nationally, the proportion of first-time buyers hovers around 40 percent. Usually, in periods of recession, the percentage of single buyers drops, he said.

There were 7,600 single-family house sales assisted by real estate agents in Rhode Island last year, down from 8,313 in 2006, according to the Rhode Island Realtors’ group. The NAR survey unveiled other findings about homebuyers and sellers in the Ocean State last year:

•The median age of a seller is 48.

•The median age of a buyer is 39.

•Rhode Island owners, on average, own their home for seven years, one year longer than the national average.

•Single women were 27 percent of the first-time buyer pool; single men were 16 percent and unmarried couples were 14 percent.

•The median (2006) household income of all homebuyers in Rhode Island is $78,000, slightly above the national average ($73,960). The median household income of Rhode Island’s first-time buyers was $62,400, and it was $99,500 for repeat buyers.

•Homes purchased in Rhode Island last year had a median size of 1,680 square feet, smaller than the national average (1,810 square feet.)

•91 percent of Rhode Island buyers were white, compared to 83 percent nationally. One percent of Rhode Island homebuyers were black, compared to 7 percent nationally.

•As a first step in the homebuying process, more Rhode Islanders turned to the Internet (39 percent) than the national average (32 percent). And 86 percent of Rhode Island buyers used the Internet at some point in the search, compared to 84 percent nationally.

•When asked how they found the home they purchased, 40 percent of Rhode Island buyers said the Internet, compared to 29 percent in the U.S.

•When they sell one home and buy another, Rhode Islanders don’t travel that far: their new home is a median 12 miles from their old one; nationally, the median distance is 18 miles.

•67 percent of Rhode Island buyers had no children under 18 residing in the household, compared to 60 percent nationally.

•Rhode Island buyers were more likely to use a real estate agent or broker (87 percent) than the national average (79 percent).

cdunn@projo.com