R.I. single-family home prices have jumped ‘higher and faster than anywhere else’ in the US, report finds

There is no municipality in the state where a household earning the median homeowner income of $112,858 can affordably buy a house, according to the the 2025 Housing Fact Book

A home for sale in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington in August. Al Drago/Bloomberg

PROVIDENCE – A new report shines a light on alarming trends in Rhode Island’s housing crisis, outlining how single family home prices in the Ocean State have jumped “higher and faster than anywhere else in the country,” and how rent increases here “are currently the steepest in New England.”

Overall, there is no municipality in the state where a household earning the median homeowner income of $112,858 can affordably buy a house, nor where a household with the median renter income of $48,434 can afford the average two-bedroom apartment, according to the 2025 Housing Fact Book, the annual report released Friday by HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University.

More than a third of Rhode Island households, or 142,920 of them, are considered “cost burdened,” meaning they spend over a third of their income on housing costs, and of that total, 44 percent are “severely cost burdened,” paying more than 50 percent of their income on housing, the 84-page report states.

The data also show disparities by race and ethnicity: 39 percent of Hispanic homeowners and 35 percent of Black homeowners are cost burdened, compared to 24 percent and 19 percent of white and Asian homeowners, respectively.

A third of the state’s households face housing insecurity, or an elevated risk of losing their homes, according to the report.

“Since 2018, wages have grown by less than 30 percent but housing costs in the Ocean State have increased by over 60 percent,” the report states. “More recently, Rhode Island’s single family home prices have jumped higher and faster than anywhere else in the country and rental increases are currently the steepest in New England.”

Data for the first quarter of 2025 published in reports by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development “rang two alarm bells: an 11 percent increase in single-family home prices — the highest in the United States — and a less than two-month supply of homes for sale,” according to the report.

The state’s median single-family home price in 2024 was $475,000, requiring an estimated monthly payment of $3,957, and an annual income of $158,263.

“Rent increases across the region exceeded the 1 percent national average; Rhode Island’s and Connecticut’s increases of 4 percent are the highest, alongside their corresponding metropolitan areas,” the Fact Book states.

The report placed emphasis on creating a “substantial and diverse inventory of new homes” to relieve demand, and noted building permits in the state increased 15 percent last year over the prior year.

“Much of this is due to a 25 percent uptick in single-family home permits; multifamily permits only increased by 3 percent,” the report states.

A recent poll from the University of Rhode Island found housing costs weigh heavily on residents: Of the 500 people surveyed, 93 percent said they see the cost of housing as a problem, with about a quarter reporting falling behind on rent or mortgage payments in the last three years.

Data from the US Census Bureau shows that last year, Rhode Island ranked among states where new housing construction was the slowest.

Here’s a breakdown of the annual income needed to affordably purchase a median-priced home in each city or town in Rhode Island, per the 2025 Housing Fact Book. The list is from highest to lowest.

New Shoreham: $521,723

Jamestown: $357,068

Newport: $307,638

Little Compton: $277,754

Narragansett: $265,655

East Greenwich: $264,823

Barrington: $249,379

Middletown: $226,456

Portsmouth: $219,420

North Kingstown: $208,277

West Greenwich: $205,191

South Kingstown: $203,920

Scituate: $195,514

Charlestown: $192,703

Bristol: $191,440

Lincoln: $184,485

Westerly: $179,238

Exeter: $176,994

Smithfield: $175,692

Warren: $174,943

Cumberland: $174,864

Foster: $172,320

North Smithfield: $167,628

Hopkinton: $154,177

Johnston: $151,711

Glocester: $151,230

Richmond: $150,477

Providence: $150,153

Tiverton: $149,159

Burrillville: $147,618

Cranston: $145,849

North Providence: $144,483

East Providence: $143,048

Coventry: $140,262

Warwick: $138,786

Central Falls: $138,153

West Warwick: $137,878

Woonsocket: $131,652

Pawtucket: $128,635