01:00 AM EST on Saturday, November 20, 2010
NARRAGANSETT –– When an estate at 580 Ocean Rd. sold Monday for $6.4 million, a record for Narragansett, it was another late-season shot in the arm for Rhode Island’s high-end real estate market.
Five of the top 10 house sales in the state so far this year have occurred in October and November, according to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.
The biggest sale of the year to date –– $7.8 million, for 333 Beavertail Rd. in Jamestown, a record for that town — closed on Nov. 1, and the 580 Ocean Rd. sale is number two on the list.
These were not the only records set recently. The highest price for the Bonnet Shores section of Narragansett was paid on Oct. 26, when an oceanfront residence at 90 Colonel John Gardner Rd. sold for $3.4 million.
But no sale in 2010 even approaches the state’s record, $17.15 million, set in November 2006 for Miramar, a Newport mansion.
Although the sales pace has picked up, it’s hardly boom times in the luxury sector. There are still plenty of mansions lingering on the market in some of the state’s most exclusive locations, including Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Ocean Road in Narragansett and Rumstick Road in Barrington. One of the unsold mansions, Gray Craig in Middletown, bought by actor Nicolas Cage in 2007 for $15.7 million, remains on the market for $9.95 million.
“There’s an oversupply of inventory in this market,” acknowledged Paul A. Leys, a broker in the Newport office of Gustave White Sotheby’s International Realty. But Leys said this fall’s high-profile high-end sales have injected a much-needed sense of confidence into the market.
“It’s like someone turned the switch back on,” he said.
John Hodnett, principal broker of Lila Delman Real Estate — a Rhode Island-based realty firm specializing in waterfront property, beachfront homes and luxury properties — noted that 2010 has been a particularly good year for Narragansett’s high-end market. In particular, Ocean Road — a historic district along the Atlantic coast known for its Victorian mansions — emerged from a years-long drought, he said.
Hodnett said every sale in a particular market helps build confidence for the next buyer.
Ginny Prichett is an owner of Island Realty, which specializes in Jamestown properties. The agency brokered the year’s top sale, the 19-acre waterfront estate on Beavertail Road.
Prichett agreed that wealthy buyers are feeling “more confident” about the economy this year, but she said high-end sales aren’t just about the economy.
A second-home purchase “is not a necessity,” Prichett said. “…You’re talking about a purchase that is made because it works specifically for this family, couple or person.”
Many wealthy second-home buyers “take their time,” she said, and they may wait for years for the right house to come on the market.
Hodnett, of Lila Delman, said some 2010 sales can be attributed to the fact that unique historic properties that have not been available for several generations came on to the market.
For example, Berry Hill, a Newport mansion on more than 23 acres off Hammersmith Road, had been owned by the same family since it was built in 1887. The mansion, designed by the noted architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, sold Oct. 8 for $5 million.
And Indian Rock, a 3.5-acre oceanfront property at 4 Hazard Ave., just off Ocean Road in Narragansett, had been in the family of the previous owners, Margaret and Robert Leeson, for generations. It sold in July for $5.7 million.
In the 580 Ocean Rd. sale, brokered by Lila Delman, the buyers were former Hasbro CEO Alfred Verrecchia and Geraldine Verrecchia.
Hodnett said Rhode Islanders tend to buy second homes in Narragansett, while the Jamestown and Newport markets attract more regional buyers. Lila Delman has represented a buyer or seller in 7 of the 10 top sales recorded so far this year. In 3 of the top 10 sales, they represented both sides in the transaction.
There is still time for someone to top the 2010 sales record, if they can close a deal on a mansion priced over $7.8 million by Dec. 31. If price is no object, try Fairholme, a 24-room oceanfront mansion in the Ochre Point section of Newport, near Salve Regina University.
Asking price: $18 million.
BY THE NUMBERSTop sales to date in 2010
Realtor-assisted residential sales in R.I. closed by Nov. 15
$7.8 million
333 Beavertail Rd.,
Jamestown, Nov. 1
$6.4 million
580 Ocean Rd.,
Narragansett, Nov. 15
$6 million
50 Narragansett Ave.,
Newport, April 20
$5.7 million
1088 East Shore Rd.,
Jamestown, May 17
$5.7 million
4 Hazard Ave.,
Narragansett, July 15
cdunn@projo.com
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