Real Estate Information Archive

Have you heard some of these so-called business experts on cable TV who say the $8000 first time home buyers tax credit has done nothing to help home sales or the economy? To them I simply ask what rock are you living under?

New Louisville Kentucky home sales figures for the month October tell a very positive story. The number of homes sold in October 2009 was up 21 % over same time in 2008. Homes going under contract in October 2009 were up 37 % over the year before.  Now you cable-TV business experts, please read the following sentence carefully, the majority of the homes that are selling are in the price range of first time buyers. Get it? No? Read the raw data below, the numbers tell the story.

For the rest of us tracking home sales, it’s pretty obvious that the $8000 tax rebate has helped home sales and the economy. Especially when you consider that many of the home buyers spend the tax credit money on fixing up the new house, buying new furniture and TV’s and more. Now the government is about to expand the credit. That could go a long way to helping our economy over the slower winter home sales months. The numbers for October 2009 also show that the average selling price of homes in our area was up about ten thousand dollars from the year before. The bad news is that the time it takes to sell a home was up.

Still the overall trend is good and may continue if our lawmakers read the numbers and keep their TV’s tuned to anything other than those self proclaimed Cable TV business experts!

 October 2009

October 2008

Home sales are heating up in Louisville Kentucky. Many of the homes selling are in the 100,000-200,000 price range. We can thank the $8000.00 first time home buyers tax credit. We’re keeping a close eye on our more than 45 listings and the number of showings each week. We send out market updates to all our sellers to keep them up on Louisville home sales. Below is the video I sent to our sellers today.

Interest in the Louisville Kentucky Home buying market for February 2008 is up from January 2008 by 13%, but a new problem is putting the brakes on buying a home, FINANCING!  New numbers just released by the Greater Louisville Association of Realtors show the number of homes that went under contract in February 2008 was 1165 compared to 1015 in January 2008. But, the number of homes that actually closed in February 2008 was down 13 % from the January 2008 under contract numbers. All indications are that mortgage companies are taking longer to finance or are refusing to finance loans.  So some homes that go under contract are taking longer to close or don’t close because of financing issues.

For months now, we’ve been watching mortgage companies tighten requirements to get a loan. Now we’re seeing hard proof that even lower interest rates won’t help buyers if the mortgage companies won’t grant those potential buyers home loans. The problem stems from several years of home loans being granted to people who did not have the credit history to support those loans. The mortgage industry was looking for the profit without considering the consequences. With so many home loans ending up in foreclosure and the government cracking down on mortgage companies who made those loans, home buyers in 2008 are paying the price for the past mistakes of the mortgage industry.  I actually saw an underwriter reject a loan because the potential buyer signed his name a little differently than the signature they had on record.  The closing attorney had the proper identification of the buyers but that wasn’t enough for the underwriters. The closing process was delayed because of it. We should point out that not all mortgage companies are responsible for the bad loans but all mortgage companies and buyers are now suffering from the crackdown by underwriters.

The number of homes going under contract in February 2008 compared to February 2007 is still down by 3%, but that’s a marked improvement from double digit negative numbers from months before.  As of today homes were averaging 88 days on the market and there are 9976 properties currently for sale in the greater Louisville area.

With the potential of another drop in interest rates coming in March 2008 and a positive feeling in the Louisville Kentucky housing market, Louisville may end up leading the country in a home sales recovery.  Now all we need are those mortgage companies to loosen lending guidelines so that people who are legitimately qualified to get a loan can by a home.

It’s no surprise that interest rates have been coming down in the past few weeks; after all it’s an election year! As of February 3, 2008 the average interest rate was hovering at about 5.75, but in the past 2 weeks we’ve seen interest rates dip well below that mark, only to bounce back. This week, because of the .50 fed reduction last week, we should see rates drop again.

The lower rates should help the Louisville Kentucky home sales numbers which in January 2008 were down some 16 percent from January 2007.  Interestingly enough, the number of homes on the market is down below the 10,000 mark and the days on the market dropped by 1 to 88 (see charts below).

But as we approach the spring home sales market, the number of homes coming onto the market is expected to rise as people who have been waiting to put their homes on the market make the jump. 

If you’re among those planning to put your home up for sale remember it needs to be the in the top one third of the listings on the market to have a chance at selling quickly. That means in top condition and priced at, or just below market value.  Need advice, drop us an e-mail and we’ll be glad to help

 Jan 2008

 Jan 2007

This report was based on data provided by the GLAR Kentucky Home Sales Report for December 2007. Have questions? Call Louisville Kentucky Realtor Bob Sokoler at (502) 376-5483.