Both of these Louisville homes are from the same part of town and are currently for sale in the same price range. Which selection makes the tax assessment news story sound more dire? Leave it to the news folks to make everything sound negative. Ugh. WDRB published a story on Friday with the title, How much is Jefferson County real estate worth? Not too bad. At least the title isn't misleading, or worse, leading in the wrong direction. The reason I'm highlighting this story is because once you arrive at the Web page you're greeted with a large photo of a boarded up home. Then the o

Below you'll find our monthly reports for the following Louisville housing markets. These charts display Louisville home sales and Louisville median home values with a trend line. Each chart relates directly to an "area" as defined by the Louisville MLS. 3/6/2011 - A variety of factors go into both home values and home sales here in Louisville, KY. As I chart these monthly market reports, it's occurred to me that one factor I had not considered is something that effects the entire housing market—the number and average costs of new construction. New home builders build what the mar

Looking for those hard to find items? How about a 20-foot concrete giraffe? The Home and Garden Show has one! Still thinking about the Home & Garden Show and how great it was to learn about some of the good things Louisville area businesses are doing. I love our unique, local options! And did you know that for every $100 you spend at a local business, $45 stays here in our community! So you're not only supporting what makes Louisville one of a kind, but also keeping jobs and conserving energy and resources. For example, Tre and I had a fun chat with Andrew from Shine Contracting a

The Home & Garden Show just started today and runs through Sunday! If you go, here are a few things you don't want to miss! Make sure to visit PPG Porter Paints and see the new Louisville Color Collection! Color Consultant Tracy Burbrink says "These colors are in honor of our 90th anniversary, and are exclusive to Louisville only!" I was also fascinated with the colors and styles of Cambria stone counter tops. You have to see these! They are all natural, food safe and American made! And don't forget the freebies - I got a yardstick, had my rings cleaned, and was given

The Kentucky Fairgrounds and Exposition Center is home to the Louisville Home Garden and Remodeling Show, March 11-13. Amid the dozens of bathtup overlay companies, tool shed builders and assorted specialty sales companies (need a new cell phone case?) you'll find some intriguing booths at this year's Louisville Home Garden and Remodeling show which starts today. I'll have more in-depth stories in the next several weeks but a few companies that caught my eye might be interest to you as well. Classic Metal Roofing Systems of Kentuckian: If you're planning to stay in your current ho

In Kiplinger's recent 10 Best Cities for Commuters Louisville, Kentucky came in at #9. Shorter commutes and less congestion top the sought-after qualities for any city. The piece also highlights all the parking garages and lots that are situated in Downtown Louisville. Lastly, some new tech plays into the equation as well with "prepaid parking meter smart cards, which refund the minutes you don’t use." Nothing wrong with that! Here is Kiplingers 10 Best Cities for Commuters: 1. Rochester, N.Y. 2. Columbus, Ohio 3. Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, R.I.-Mass. 4. Richmond, Va. 5.

Not sure if this poll shows that Louisville is the Southern City that has "the most exciting drinks culture right now" or if our Social Media is burning it up. In either event, it's good to be winning.

Just posted yesterday how home improvement projects have taken center stage. (Queue the lights and music!) So, with great pleasure I present the annual Home, Garden & Remodeling Show! Inside, outside, makes no difference, there will companies on hand to help you with your Louisville home improvement projects. This year, the event is March 11-13, 2011 at the Kentucky Expo Center. Hope to see you there!

If you are like my wife and I, you watch more than your share of HGTV. How cool would it be to on one of their TV shows? Well, now is your chance Louisville! Louisville Homes Blog received an email from a Producer at Bang for Your Buck, a show that looks at three different remodels, comparing the homeowners' choices and determining which renovation did the best job getting a big return on investment. They are asking for renovated Master Bathrooms in Louisville. Here are the requirements: All price points are desired and the deadline for interested homeowners is Monday, February 21

Wow. Yeah... just "Wow!" As cool as this looks, I bet it's a bear to clean, right? Daniel Arsham must have a cleaning lady to take care of it all. The 25,000 ping pong balls used to create this impressive interior design aren't cleaning themselves. Am I right? The only limit on your home's design is your imagination.

According to a National Association of Realtors survey, the following are the top remodeling trends for 2011. These aren't specific home improvement projects but more like mindsets and attitudes towards a homeowner improving their property. Save Money: Remodel Your Bathroom Must-Do Remodeling Projects Warming Up The House Getting Decked Out Hiring A Great Contractor Paying in Cash Opening Up Rooms Bronze Age Going Green Industrial Flair Creating Relaxation Space Planning Ahead As this relates to Louisville real estate, I've seen several of these in action. If I

Getting an accepted contact is a very important step in the entire process of buying a new home. It is also one of the data points that is tracked by analysts. November saw an increase, albeit a small one, is still a positive note nonetheless. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday its index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes increased 3.5 percent last month from a downwardly revised reading in October. Contract signings were up in the West and Northeast, but down in the South and Midwest. Louisville is included in the South region by some organizations and in

Because this Business First article had a couple of Louisville real estate data points, I thought I'd share it with you. Employment was down 1.7 percent, compared with up 0.7 percent nationwide. Building permits were up 10.7 percent, compared with 5.8 percent nationally. Housing prices were up 0.5 percent, compared with a 1.2 percent decline nationally. The annual growth of personal income was 2.5 percent in Kentucky, compared with 2.1 percent nationally.

Not your typical Louisville home, the National City Tower is home to a lot of commercial space! It now has a new owner. A California REIT called KBS Realty Advisors just paid $115 million for one of the city's largest buildings. Read more at Business First.

Technische Universitat in Darmstadt, Germany won the Solar Decathlon competition with a Passive House-certified building design. (Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET ) We've written about energy efficient home building in the past. Most recently with our review of last year's Homearama and also with a post entitled Is Your Next Louisville Home ‘Green’? I just finished reading this cnet piece about Passive House and how their efforts have raised the bar in energy efficiency and building eco-friendly structures. The process hasn't caught on in the United States like it has in Europe with th

Business First is reporting that the International Festivals & Events Association will award the inaugural World Festival & Event City Award to Louisville on Friday. Louisville is being honored as the top city in North America for supporting festivals and special events, in the over 1 million population category. The Kentucky Derby Festival people are big contributors but other events, and there a lot of them, all factor into our great city winning this award. Be proud Louisville!

Just finished reading this data-packed AP story: Optimism for '11 pushes consumer confidence higher. It leads with "Americans' confidence in the economy rose to a five-month high in November, showing increased optimism for the first half of next year." Well, that's a start but remember, consumer confidence was at an all-time low not that long ago in February of 2009. Improvement is good but is the recession over? Some believe, in particular the U.N., that a double-dip recession could still occur. While not the case in Louisville real estate, national home prices are falling. This leads

Rather than write my own piece on this topic, I thought I'd share Tara-Nicholle Nelson's well-written article called 5 MORE Foreclosure Myths - BUSTED!. Here are the key points. Myth #1: Foreclosure happens fast. Myth #2: Buyers can’t get clear title or title insurance on foreclosed homes. Myth #3: Buyers should wait for the shadow inventory to be released. Myth #4: If you’re looking for a deal, you’re looking for a foreclosure. Myth #5: Having a foreclosure on your credit history means it'll take years and years before you can buy again. All are completely valid poi

Here at Louisville Homes Blog, we love to sing the praises of our city. So it's great to see that Bellarmine (in addition to beating Division 1 school, Xavier in basketball) was ranked in Kiplinger's Top 100 Best Values in Private Colleges for 2010-11. Go Knights! It should be noted that Bellarmine was the only Louisville school to make this list. They came in at #90. Here is how they ranked the schools. For liberal arts schools, the following Kentucky schools made their list for 2010-11. #31 Centre College, Danville KY #76 Transylvania University, Lexington KY #82 Berea College, Be

The National Association of Home Builders charts its members' outlook towards business in the future. This index is something they use to make decisions on behalf of their membership. News out this month that this index has moved up for the first time in five months. The index is still very low but improvement could be a sign that while deals may be had in foreclosures (which are dominating the market just not to a great degree in Louisville real estate) buyers are aware of the uncertainty and extra hurdles involved in buying distressed properties and are, therefore, more inclined to p