Before we get into the August 2008 numbers, I wanted to recap all of the numbers for this year.  So, lets take a look at the data and see what we can make of it:

January 1 – August 31 2007

Homes Sold 10513

Average Sales Price $174,428

Median Sales Price $140,000

January 1 – August 31 2008

Homes Sold 8021

Average Sales Price $170,711

Median Sales Price $137,000

So, as you can see – theres been a fairly stiff decrease in the number of the Homes Sold in Louisville this year of nearly 24%.  Interestingly enough though, theres only been a slightly over 2% decrease in the Average Sales Price, and Median Sales Price.

This would indicate that while the total number of homes that are selling has dropped – the prices for which they are selling haven’t been affected too much overall.

So, now lets take a closer look at the August numbers.

August 2007

Homes Sold 1521

Average Selling Price $179,715

Median Selling Price $141,750

Average Days on Market (DOM) 74

August 2008

Homes Sold 965

Average Selling Price $181,472

Median Selling Price $140,000

Average Days on Market (DOM) 90

The total number of sales is down significantly (965 vs. 1521, which equates to an almost 37% decrease in the number of sales) .  And the average days on market has increased from 2.5 months to approximately 3 months.  But, probably more interesting is that the average selling price actually went up.  This would indicate that the higher end properties ($1,000,000+) while being fewer in number for the overall sales, are actually increasing the overall average value for Louisville homes sold.

So, what does this mean for a person looking to buy or sell Louisville real estate?  It means that homes are selling, albeit at a slower rate than in the past – BUT it does not mean they are selling for substantially less than they were previously.  (Sorry to those out there looking for a slam dunk deal in buying a Louisville home for 20 or 30 cents on the dollar.  It just isn’t commonplace here at this point in time.)

For Buyers: Theres lots of inventory to select from.  Currently there are over 10,000 homes for sale in the Louisville market.  There are homes that represent a good value out there.  You just have to dig through them and find the one you want.  But – don’t expect to steal it.  Prices are holding fairly firm for those houses that are selling.

For Sellers:  Lots of inventory (read: competition) and longer market times are the norm.  If you want to get your home sold, you need to price it appropriately AND be the nicest within whatever price point you are currently competing.  No matter the price range, you will want to be at the lower end of that price range to get your home sold.

August 2008: Louisville Real Estate Market Softens is a post from: Louisville Kentucky Real Estate

For those persons wanting to view new properties currently on the market, please visit this page of our site:

Louisville New Homes For Sale

Its spring – and that means that the Louisville new homes celebration is going to be underway this weekend May 10-11, and next weekend May 17-18, 2008.  Over 150 Louisville new homes (single family & patio homes) are going to be featured from the metropolitan Louisville real estate market.  According to The Sentinel News, some of the developments that are participating in this year’s tour include:

Norton Commons

Locust Creek

Beech Spring Farm

Rock Springs

Saratoga Springs

Longwood

Heather Green

Sycamore Run

Summerfield by the Lake

Notting Hill

Ballard Woods

Flatrock Ridge

Williamsgate

Cedar Glen

Waterstone

Chatham Park at Polo Fields

Nachand Springs

Landis Lakes

Cardinal Oaks

The Villas at Pinnacle Place

The new Louisville homes will be open during the hours of 1:00 – 5:00 pm May 10-11, and May 17-18, 2008.  Louisville real estate agents, as well as builders will be available to answer questions.

Price ranges for the Louisville homes participating in the showcase range in value from $130,000 all the way to $1.1 million.

So, be sure and come out this weekend or the next and check out whats available in the new Louisville homes market today!

Louisville New Homes is a post from: Louisville Kentucky Real Estate

The drop came in the 3rd quarter of 2007 when the median value of a home in the United States decreased by approximately 1%.  Approximately half of all metropolitan areas saw a decline.

This is an interesting point to note – because until this most recent study, the stronger real estate markets in the US have helped buoy up the other markets that were bringing the overall numbers down.  This is an indication that the other markets that have been fairing well even in a softer real estate market, may be slowing down and are not able to carry the rest of the other markets across the country.

The big 3 states for the worst real estate markets continues to be California, Michigan, and Florida.  Those 3 states have all but one of the Top 30 WORST performing metropolitan areas for real estate currently.

Analysts and experts say more corrections may be needed to bring home values more in line with what they are reasonably worth – and that the decrease in home values is a good thing long term for the real estate and housing market.

Some additional pressures bearing down on the real estate market include:

Uncertain and unstable financial markets

Mortgage industry become more firm in its lending

Excess real estate on the market continuing to put pressure and increased sales time for a home

Kentucky overall was listed as being fairly valued according to the report.  This includes both Louisville and Lexington Kentucky metropolitan areas.

Home Prices Decrease Across United States is a post from: Louisville Kentucky Real Estate

This is significant in that this is the first time there has been a double digit percent decrease in foreclosures since April 2006 – some 20 months ago.

But, we aren’t out of the woods yet so to speak.  There are predictions for a very strong foreclosure rate in the 1st quarter of 2008 – a primary cause being the seasonal influx of persons that are filing before various deadlines, as well as those that may file due to an increase of adjustable mortgage rate persons having their mortgages reset and the current home owner not being able to address the debt service of the higher payment for their property.

Still, theres no reason to look a gift horse in the mouth.  There are hopes now that perhaps things are starting to come together for home sales and real estate on a national level – and that the current soft market is starting to become a little more solid – once we get past the 1st quarter 2008 surge that is expected to occur.

Overall, the Kentucky real estate market remains relatively solid.  Kentucky was placed 35th out of the United States for foreclosure filings in November (we had 758 filings which equates to 1 per 2461 homes in the state).  For reference, the state with the lowest foreclosure rate was Vermont which had 1 per 51224 homes, and the state with the highest foreclosure rate was Nevada with 1 per 152 homes being foreclosed upon.

Foreclosed Real Estate decreases by 10 percent in the United States is a post from: Louisville Kentucky Real Estate

Prospect Kentucky then “snuck in under the radar” so to speak, and acquired 50 acres located between Highway 42, and Riber Road in between Ken Carla Drive and Timber Ridge Drive close to Harrods Creek, just before the metro Louisville KY came into existence, and with it, the rules prohibiting such acquisitions.

Louisville KY has since been in litigation with Prospect Kentucky saying that Prospect acted illegally by knowingly grabbing the property into its city just before the law went into effect that would have prohibited this action in the first place – and that Louisville put all smaller cities that they would be sued if they tried to get in under the wire by grabbing additional property before the law went into effect.

Prospect has claimed that it did nothing wrong – as the law wasn’t into effect when the land was acquired and therefore Louisville Kentucky has no claim as you can’t go back retroactively from a legal perspective.  Additionally the property owner asked Prospect KY to annex their property in order to get various Prospect city services.

So far, the courts have sided with Prospect KY.

Additionally, new information has come to light, with one of the property owners stating that it wasn’t their idea to get annexed by Prospect, but rather George Martin, a real estate developer, that had an option to purchase the approximately 50 acres tract.

The land has remained mostly undeveloped due to a lack of sewers for this real estate, but there have been some businesses constructing facilities on the property including a bank and some offices and is being developed by Willard Bryant, another real estate developer.

Louisville KY takes Prospect Kentucky to Supreme Court over Land Dispute is a post from: Louisville Kentucky Real Estate

Many construction companies fired employees in an effort to reduce costs during this slower real estate market.  Mortgage companies, real estate companies, and banks followed suit.

Still, unemployment overall remains at 4.7%.  Kentucky’s unemployment rate was 5.6%.

There were modest employment gains overall – primarily as a result of the services industry.

These modest job gains will likely stimulate the Federal Reserve to make interest rate cuts to help ensure that the economy remains moving forward.

Some more detailed information is as follows:

Non-farms payroll increased by 94000 for November.

Strong enough to at least calm some nerves about a possible recession – but still weak enough that there are going to be concerns about what may happen.

With the Fed likely to be intervening with an interest rate reduction next week, should help some home owners that are in a tough financial situation with adjustable rates mortgages, increases oil/fuel prices, and the holiday shopping season.

It is hard to predict how much of a reduction the Fed may make.  Some believe that 1/4 of a point would be a good place for the Fed to reduce the current rate to - while others feel it may be even stronger than that.

United States Real Estate Market affects Job Hiring is a post from: Louisville Kentucky Real Estate

Only 18 Counties in Kentucky saw the rate decrease – while 8 Counties made no change within the past 12 months.

The dubious highest unemployment rate honor goes to:

Jackson County @ 10.2%

The 2 lowest Counties were:

Fayette County and Warren County @ 3.7%

It is important to note that these numbers represent a trend for employment, rather than noting how many persons may actually be working. Persons that are not currently seeking employment over the course of the past month are not included in these figures.

Various reasons can be attributed to the increase – including a softening economy and real estate industry. It must be noted that Kentucky does not have anywhere the worst of it relative to many other parts of the United States. In some states, our worst figure would be considered fairly decent to them.

Hopefully things will improve soon.

There is talk of a possible interest rate reduction to be discussed at the meeting of the Fed in December 2007. If they cut the interest rate a little, that may help stimulate the economy to see some improvement. At the very least, it would help some families get through winter and the holidays a little easier. It will be interesting to see if they come through with the interest rate reduction.

Unemployment Rate Increases for 94 Counties in Kentucky is a post from: Louisville Kentucky Real Estate

This is the lowest rate that they’ve been since the week of May 10 2007 where they were at 6.15%.

15 year mortgages also dropped to 5.83%.  The prior week, the 15 year fixed rate mortgage was at 5.88%.

5 year adjustable rate mortgages were down to 5.88%.  The prior week, they were 5.96%.

1 year adjustable rate mortgages were 5.42%.  The previous week, they were 5.50%.

Its a great time to buy real estate in Louisville Kentucky.  Search for homes for sale in Louisville Kentucky now – and see if you can lock in a good deal today!

30 Year Mortgage Rates Lowest in 6 months is a post from: Louisville Kentucky Real Estate

The unemployment rate for Kentucky was 6.1% in September.  In October, the unemployment rate was 5.6%.

Across the United States, the jobless rate has been fairly constant recently maintaining at 4.7% through September & October 2007.

Of the 11 major non-farm job classifications, 4 of them saw employment increases for the month of October.

6 of the major non-farm job classifications saw decreases for employment.

1 remained unchanged.

A net change of 100 jobs decrease was seen in October 2007 for Kentucky’s non-farm employment.  The total is currently: 1856500 jobs.

Kentucky Employment Rate Increases in October is a post from: Louisville Kentucky Real Estate

Most of the persons that donate to charities and help them through the winter months, are also the persons most likely to be feeling some of the fallout from the real estate markets and mortgage industries.  Add in rising food and energy costs, and many persons with disposable incomes to help out others, may start feeling the pressure that they need to help themselves first.

And then add in more persons in need of charitable assistance this year – many charities are reporting up to a 25% increase in persons in need this year.

Then add in the recent drop in the stock market (the S&P 500 is currently at 1416.77, which is less than where it began this year at 1418.30).

Add those 3 things together – and its going to be hard on a lot of people.  There are more people in need – and less persons able or willing to donate to charity to help them in the first place.

Even if things are tight for you this year – try to help out others.  There are canned food drives – make sure you dig in your old pantries and get the food to persons that will truly benefit from it.  Its not going to cost you anything additional, as the food is already paid for and sitting in your cupboard.

Try to get in the holiday spirit, and help others if you are able.  After all, that IS what the holidays are all about in the first place.

Soft Real Estate and Housing Market May Affect Charities is a post from: Louisville Kentucky Real Estate