« 430 W Oak Street - Old Louisville Living with a country feel! | Main | Louisville Named The Most Livable City In America! »
Looking For A Ray Of Sunshine On A Cloudy Day
By Bob | June 3, 2008
Spurred on by news reports of gloom, doom and rising gas prices. Generally, the news is not good for Louisville Kentucky area home sales. Anyway you slice or dice it there’s no getting around the fact that home sales have slowed down from May of 2007.
The number of homes that were actually sold in May 2008 compared to the same time last year was down 21% (see raw number below from The Greater Louisville Association of Realtors). The number of homes that went under contract in May 2008 compared to a year ago was down 23.5%.
Up until recently home prices have been slowly climbing in the Louisville area. But May 2008 compared to May 2007, the Median Sales Price of Louisville area homes was down 2 %, the average sales price down 3.3%. One more bit of bad news, Homes, on average, are sitting on the market 9 % longer than a year ago, from 77 to 84 days.
The number of homes on the market was 10, 669, that’s within a hundred of the past few months.
So what’s the problem? Well there are several from where I sit:
1) At the top of the list the News Media! Journalists lump what was a positive Louisville home sales market in with the rest of the country. Their reports act like a self profiling prophecy. Shout that she sky is falling loud and long enough and people actually start to believe that the sky is falling.
2) Gas Prices. We’re all thinking about the cost of gas, Fewer and fewer people are thinking about making a major purchase like a home.
3) Banks and Mortgage Companies have slowed down the loan process in two ways. They are delaying approvals of short sales and foreclosures hoping they’ll get a bigger and better offer from someone. The same lenders are requiring legitimate borrowers to jump through hoops to get approved for a loan.
4) People still think the bottom of the market hasn’t been reached yet.
5) Consumer confidence in our current administration is falling.
What’s the answer? Simple, NOW is the best time to buy. There is only one way to tell when the market bottoms out… that’s when it has already gone up and you’ve missed the boat by standing on the shore.
Interest rates are low, and may not go much lower. If you waited 2 months and the price of homes go down another 1 percent but interest rates go up 1 % you’ve actually lost money over the life of the loan. Call us, let us update your search criteria and let us help you, your family or friends find a home or sell your current home.
|
THE MONTH OF: May, 2008 |
|
Number of Houses Under ContractThis month: 1185 Last month: 1290
This month last year: 0
|
Number of Houses Sold & ClosedThis month: 1150 Last month: 1006
This month last year: 0
|
|
Average Selling PriceThis month: $166,324 Last month: $170,244
This month last year: $0
|
Average Days on MarketThis month: 84 Last month: 89
This month last year: 0
|
135,500 |
|
THE MONTH OF: May, 2007 |
|
Number of Houses Under ContractThis month: 1549 Last month: 1581
This month last year: 0
|
Number of Houses Sold & ClosedThis month: 1453 Last month: 1320
This month last year: 0
|
|
Average Selling PriceThis month: $171,993 Last month: $168,673
This month last year: $0
|
Average Days on MarketThis month: 77 Last month: 85
This month last year: 0
|
138,000 |
Topics: For Buyers, For Sellers, Trends |
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.