Rhode Island rental market data

In Providence, RI, measured rent was $2,172 and the home value was $532,191. Rent increased 3.6% while the home value increased 3.3%, a supplied difference of 0.33 percentage points. That is a modest income-side advantage, not a wide separation between rent and price momentum.

The corresponding gross yield is 4.9%. It is useful for initial comparisons but does not account for vacancy, taxes, insurance, repairs, management or financing. Because the packet contains only one metro record, this trend cannot establish that every Rhode Island locality followed the same path.

Employment declined 0.3% in Providence, RI. Across the 5 counties with migration data, measured inflows were 26,761 and outflows were 26,890, producing net migration of negative 129, or negative 0.12 per 1,000 residents.

This is the clearest counter-signal to rising rents and values. It argues against treating price and rent momentum alone as proof of strengthening demand. It also cannot establish that rental demand fell: the measures do not directly capture household formation, renter tenure changes or demand at a particular property.

The supplied county percentile band runs from about $453,669 to $758,160 for home values, $2,174 to $2,887 for rents and 4.2% to 5.9% for gross yields. In the named examples, Kent County has a $449,155 value, $2,289 rent and 6.1% gross yield; Newport County has an $800,321 value, $3,135 rent and 4.7% yield. The calculated entry-price difference is $351,166, and the calculated yield difference is 1.42 percentage points.

Newport County supplies the counterweight: its FHFA index increased 6.8% over one year and 67.4% over five years, compared with 5.3% and 65.8% in Kent County. Resale indicators also differ. Washington County shows a 0.75 pending ratio and 32 days on market, versus 1.23 and 31 days in Kent County and 1.10 and 29 days in Providence County. The evidence supports separate income, appreciation and resale screens rather than one county ranking.

Across the 5 measured counties, the median renter share is 28.2%, and the median share of renters spending at least 30% of income on rent is 49.5%. The supplied burden band is narrow at 46.4% to 50.7%, but overall housing vacancy is much more dispersed, from 5.6% to 18.7% around a 7.0% median.

Washington County combines 20.8% vacancy, a 22.5% renter share and 51.3% renter burden; 80.3% of its stock is single-family. Newport County has 15.6% vacancy and a 32.1% renter share, while Kent County has 4.8% vacancy and 49.5% renter burden. These ACS vacancy rates cover housing generally and do not show how many units are available for long-term rent. With a county median year built of 1963, property condition also remains an asset-level diligence question.

The data record 866 investor purchases among 10,214 measured purchases, a calculated aggregate share of 8.5%. The county median is 9.2%, with a supplied percentile band of 6.9% to 12.1%.

Among the named examples, Newport County has 102 investor purchases out of 746, a 13.7% share, alongside a 4.7% gross yield. Washington County has 115 out of 1,185, a 9.7% share and 4.3% yield; Bristol County has 40 out of 437, a 9.2% share and 4.1% yield. Participation can indicate acquisition competition, but HMDA originations do not establish all-cash activity, current ownership concentration or realized operating performance.

Inland flood is the mutually exclusive leading-hazard label for all 5 counties. County climate-loss ratios span about 0.07% to 0.11%. That classification identifies the leading hazard in each county; it does not show that every parcel has inland-flood exposure.

Effective property-tax rates span 0.93% to 1.33%, while the supplied median-tax band runs from about $4,793 to $6,154. Providence County records a 1.3% rate and $4,683 median tax, Kent County 1.4% and $4,957, and Bristol County 1.3% and $6,648. These figures belong in an operating-cost screen, but they cannot substitute for a parcel tax bill, flood determination or insurance quote.