The latest news for the Louisville homes market is in from the Greater Louisville Association of REALTORs. In their most recent newsletter, they published the following information:
LISTINGS Residential (Family & Condo)
Feb. 4-10, 2008 646
Last Year 576
SOLDS
Jan. 27-Feb. 2, 2008 218
Last Year 273
Ok, so whats that mean? If you examine the numbers, 2 things immediately jump out at you.
1. Listings are way up.
2. Sales are way down.
But, if you look at the numbers a little more closely, you can see how dramatic the 2 data figures actually means.
First, the homes LISTINGS side:
646 - 576 = 70 homes more were listed this year.
70 homes / 576 homes last year = over 12% increase in listings!
Now, lets look at the homes SOLD side of things:
273 homes last year - 218 = 55 homes NOT sold relative to last year.
55 homes / 273 = 20% decrease in homes sold.
So, 12% increase in people wanting to sell their home. And a 20% decrease in the number of homes sold.
Apply basic Supply & Demand economics 101 for those 2 figures together - and you can easily see, that it continues to remain a buyer’s market out there for the Louisville homes market in the metropolitan area.
[And this doesn’t even take into account the glut of existing Louisville homes for sale that are already over saturating the market.]
So, what does this mean to Sellers? Is it impossible to get your home sold? Absolutely not. Granted, its really not a Seller’s market out there right now. But, if you are considering making a move to a more expensive home sometime within the next 5 years, it is a great time to stretch yourself and pull the trigger on it now. To get your home sold now however, it means that Sellers should price their homes relative to their competition. And whatever competition range that they fall within, that they want to be on the lower end of that price range. They also need to be the nicest home within their relative competition. The neatest, cleanest, and most appealing. And even with all of those things, they also should expect longer market times. Louisville homes are selling, but it is simply just taking longer to get them sold. Buyers are still buying, and homes are still moving - but its taking longer for Buyers to wade through 3256236236 listings of the homes that are currently for sale - unless something really jumps out at them.
What does this mean to Buyers? Its a GREAT time to buy. Market inventory is high. Lots of choices to pick from. Low interest rates are available for most persons that qualify. And public perception is that the real estate market is “horrible”. [In reality, the Louisville real estate market really hasn’t been hurt as bad as some of the other markets across the country.] If you are looking to move up to a more expensive home, or increase your real estate portfolio - smart moves in my opinion!
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