The Crossroads Condominium complex, in Cranston. Statewide, the median price of a condo sold in the third quarter was $219,950, a decline of 4.4 percent from last year’s $230,000.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

Foreclosures in Rhode Island continued to fuel a surge in multifamily houses being sold during the third quarter, but the median price of those sales was almost half of last year’s.

There were 449 multifamily houses sold from July through September, compared with 295 sales in the same quarter last year, an increase of 52.2 percent, according to a report released yesterday by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.

However, the median price of those sales was $135,000, a drop of 46 percent from last year’s $250,000.

The median price is the point at which half the sale prices are above and half below.

The association said about 71 percent of multifamily house sales were considered “distressed” sales, which occur as a result of a foreclosure, or a “short sale” designed to avoid a foreclosure, in which the sale price is below the amount of the purchase loan.

The majority of multifamily sales occurred in urban markets, the Realtors said.

Of the communities that had more than one multifamily house sold, the median sale price dropped most dramatically in West Warwick (down 52.5 percent), Providence (down 52.2 percent), Warren (down 52 percent), Central Falls (down 48.3 percent) and Cranston (down 46.5 percent), according to data provided by the association.

Sales in those communities accounted for 61 percent of all multifamily sales.

Only one community –– Bristol –– had an increase in the median price, which was $350,750, up 4.5 percent from $335,660.

Those with the smallest declines in median price were Johnston (down 1.33 percent), North Smithfield (down 2.8 percent), Providence East Side (down 3 percent), Warwick (down 18 percent) and East Providence (down 19.5 percent).

Condominiums held their value better than both multifamily and single-family houses in the third quarter.

The median price of condo sales was $219,950, a decline of 4.4 percent from last year’s $230,000.

(The Journal reported yesterday that the median price of single-family house sales fell 17.8 percent to $230,000, down from $279,900 in the third quarter of last year.)

There were 337 condos sold, a decline of 27 percent from 459 sales in the third quarter of last year. About 11 percent of the condo sales were the result of a foreclosure or short sale, the association said.

The biggest declines in the median price (where more than one condo was sold) were recorded in Westerly (down 44.2 percent), Coventry (down 33.4 percent), Portsmouth (down 31.2 percent), Charlestown (down 28.6 percent) and Woonsocket (down 28 percent).

There were nine communities in which the median price of condo sales increased. They were Tiverton (up 111 percent), South Kingstown (up 31.5 percent), East Providence (up 29.6 percent), Burrillville (up 28.2 percent), Middletown (up 15 percent), Providence (up 12.9 percent), Lincoln (up 4.2 percent), Cumberland (up 4.1 percent) and Bristol (up 1.1 percent).RI Sales/Prices – 3rd Quarter

Source: RI Assoc. of Realtors

tbarmann@projo.com