The big news in Louisville these days is the shutdown of the Sherman Minton Bridge, or what a creative mind termed Shermageddon. You see, because the politicians have feuded with East End money for literally decades about building the obviously logical East End bridge, the importance of the currently overburdened bridges has gone up. Way up!
Repairing the bridge is going to take some time. (“Some” is a nicely ambiguous word, right?) Engineers still haven’t completed the evaluation yet, even though the defects were identified back on September 8th. What does mean for real estate in Louisville? Here are my thoughts.
Kentucky and Indiana are once again rivals
First, in every situation, there are winners and losers. The degree to which certain people or groups win or lose is impossible to predict accurately. But in this case, one thing is easy to identify: Anyone currently working in Louisville, Kentucky will not want to purchase a home in Southern Indiana with all questions surrounding the Sherman Minton Bridge. (Officials say that 17% of the Louisville workforce is from southern Indiana.)
Homeowners trying to sell in New Albany, and out towards Floyds Knobs, are going to have a difficult time. Real estate professionals serving these areas are on record saying call volume is down.
On the flip side, home sellers on the Kentucky side of the river, especially near the downtown area will now receive more interested parties. Areas like Clifton, Crescent Hill, Audubon Park, and the always-popular Highlands, will likely see a small bump in home sales.
The end to the real estate recession is not in sight
Second, it’s important to note that we won’t be able to evaluate the extent to which this bridge failure truly affects both property values and transaction volumes until months after things are “back to normal.” Forecasting is wildly speculative and almost always inaccurate, just ask the government watchdog organizations who routinely poke holes in every government prediction.
We can all learn something from behavioral psychologists who say that when presented with a time of uncertainty, most human beings stand pat. More time will be spent observing before taking action.
With the already uncertain National economic future, having Shermageddon descend upon us only exacerbates a troubled housing market.
If you would like specific answers to your real estate questions, I would love to be your trusted advisor. Please feel free to contact Tre Pryor at any time.
