We’re getting mixed results in February compared to January. Most areas saw total sales drop but home values increase. For the entire market, average home prices moved up approximately $2700 (not seasonally adjusted).

As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

February 2010

AREA	SALES	AVERAGE	DoM
0 Central Downtown District	10	$134,550	102
1 Downtwn/Old&WestLouisville/Shively	59	$42,211	35
2 Butchertown/Highlands/Germantwn	53	$202,696	88
3 Brownsboro/StMatthews	38	$257,989	106
4 Pleasure Rdg/Valley Station	42	$89,560	86
5 Auburndale/Fairdale/Iroquois Park	34	$116,618	114
6 Buechel/Highview/Okolona/FernCreek	75	$124,810	77
7 FernCrk/Hikes Point/Jeffersontown	60	$190,029	71
8 Hurstbourne/Middletwn/Anchrg	44	$260,789	102
9 Anchrg/Lyndn/Prospct/UpRvrRd	45	$212,863	105
11 Bullitt Co.	48	$135,864	81
19 Spencer Co.	12	$160,986	116
20 Oldham Co. – North	16	$281,576	92
21 Oldham Co. – South	16	$187,825	91
30 Shelby Co.	20	$195,555	123

Source: MetroSearch, Inc. Values are not warranted by LHB.

Other regional metros in the top 15 include Louisville, ranking second with a 19.7 percent quarter-over-quarter gain; and Columbus, at No. 5, up 17 percent.

It appears that the Midwest is leading the housing recovery and Louisville KY near the top of it. Great news for Louisville home sellers!

Alia is a small but unique subdivision in Louisville’s East End. These high-end single family homes and condos are truly luxurious. Located just off Highway 22, near Northfield and the Woods of St. Thomas, Alia is in a great location, near shopping, restaurants and the expressways. This neighborhood began in the last 90s and is nearing completion now. Read More »

The rate of national price declines peaked at -11.9 percent in January 2009 and has since been trending down: April’s rate is the lowest year to date and the May preview data suggests further improvements in the rate of decline, perhaps back to the single digits. [source]

LoanPerformance HPI Largest CBSAs Ranking:

Source: First American CoreLogic, LoanPerformance HPI, Single-Family Detached as of April, 2009.

The Wall St. Journal is now talking about positive news regarding the housing market. There’s a change! But even this news, while positive, isn’t especially noteworthy.

In another sign that the housing market may have begun to recover, the number of people who signed contracts to purchase homes increased for the third month in a row.

The reason that this isn’t a big deal is that this data is seasonal—home sales increase from January to February; from February to March; and from March to April most every year, good market or bad.

But here’s the good part.

Year over year, the index was up 3.2%. The 6.7% monthly increase was much larger than the 0.5% gain analysts had projected.

The national year-over-year increase was far greater than analysts had projected. This is great news for home sellers in Louisville. But for buyers sitting on the fence, they should be seriously thinking about making their move now before home prices readjust upward, interest rates climb or they miss out on the government incentives.

Mixed again this month as East End areas are up and those to the South are down. If you didn’t see, here is last month. This is the last time I’ll post about this but if you haven’t read Louisville Kentucky Real Estate Review of 2008, here’s your chance.

Like always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

May 2009

AREA	SALES	AVERAGE	DoM
0 Central Downtown District	2	$109,000	69
1 Downtwn/Old&WestLouisville/Shively	78	$44,204	66
2 Butchertown/Highlands/Germantwn	75	$158,728	70
3 Brownsboro/StMatthews	65	$205,909	60
4 Pleasure Rdg/Valley Station	48	$80,877	69
5 Auburndale/Fairdale/Iroquois Park	47	$115,526	77
6 Buechel/Highview/Okolona/FernCreek	107	$127,435	85
7 FernCrk/Hikes Point/Jeffersontown	97	$159,955	80
8 Hurstbourne/Middletwn/Anchrg	71	$225,074	111
9 Anchrg/Lyndn/Prospct/UpRvrRd	81	$237,845	97
11 Bullitt Co.	53	$144,169	99
19 Spencer Co.	12	$187,585	177
20 Oldham Co. – North	22	$215,236	121
21 Oldham Co. – South	27	$219,656	114
30 Shelby Co.	29	$145,524	60

Source: MetroSearch, Inc. Values are not warranted by LHB.

Location in Louisville

Area 9 in Greater Louisville’s MLS consists of such areas as Anchorage, Glenview, Lyndon, Prospect, Springhurst and many others within Jefferson County.

Winner of Best Bargain

Now I know it might be tough to swallow that a $697,300 property could possibly be a best bargain. But you have to understand that this house is on almost 3 acres in Anchorage, one of Louisville’s most affluent neighborhoods. Add to that, this is a unique, custom-built home is actually in great shape. One would expect that by updating a few things this home could appreciate significantly as we come out of the housing depression.

1800 STONE GATE RD – $697,300
57 Years Old, 3 Bedrooms, 4 Baths, 3,968 AG Finished Sq. Ft.

Other Good Deals

• 4342 ACCOMACK DR – $165,300
• 10407 SANDBOURNE WAY – $179,900
• 5801 WAVELAND CIR – $208,000
• 7005 FOXCROFT PL – $249,900
• 13203 SYCAMORE FOREST CT – $289,900
• 6101 HUNTING RD – $339,950
• 10413 WORTHINGTON LN – $465,000 (Rick Shaw Realtors)
• 2901 DOTSON DR – $759,000

Glen Lakes is new neighborhood in the popular Eastwood area of eastern Louisville, Kentucky. Just east of Middletown and Lake Forest, Glen Lakes is building new, single-family homes with Elite Homes and McBride Homes.

Close to the Polo Fields, the Flat Rock Road area is really booming with several new developments all getting started recently. New homes start in the low $300s and go up from there. This is a lower price point than Locust Creek just a bit down the road. If you’re looking for homes less than three years old in this price range, head to Glen Lakes to see what options are available for you, or give me a call and I’ll help you. Read More »

In today’s market, the play of the day is finding a real estate bargain. You can’t walk out your front door without hearing about Foreclosures, Short Sales or any number of distressed properties. Most of this is coming from people trying to sell you their “special” list of properties.

Louisville is no different than any other city in the U.S. except that we don’t have nearly the number of these homes as do places like Las Vegas, California and Florida. (I’ve linked to this before, but I love colored maps. Here’s MSN’s Interactive Foreclosure Map.) But that doesn’t mean Louisville has no bargain buys. So for that reason, I’ve written Top 10 Ways to Find a Louisville Real Estate Bargain.

10. Above Normal Appreciation

What if you can’t purchase a home below it’s current market value but… can purchase a home that will appreciate at a faster rate than everyone else once you own it? Then that’s a deal too! Like any task that includes predicting the future, this is a tough job. Having a wealth of experience and a long-term view can make this possible but it’s often easier said than done.

9. Property Infringement

There are times when the government comes in and requires a property owner to sell a portion of their land via eminent domain. Usually this is for a road, highway or airport expansion of some sort. These sellers are anxious to sell before the work crews come and buyers can usually get quite a bargain. Just remember to do all of your due diligence beforehand, so that you fully understand the extent of the government work and are happy with that outcome before purchasing one of these homes.

8. City to City

Most people do not have the luxury to choose where they live due to job requirements. But if you are one of the lucky ones, selecting a city with great bang for your buck home prices, then you can land yourself a real estate bargain. Louisville didn’t make MSN’s 2008 MSN Real Estate best bargain markets but for years, Louisville home values have been very attractive compared to the rest of the country.

Back in December I posted Louisville Weathers the Housing Crunch; Beats Cincinnati, Indianapolis where only Nashville and Knoxville beat Louisville when comparing similar sized cities in our region. That means Louisville home values are better than Cincinnati, Evansville, Columbus, Indianapolis and Memphis.

7. Looking Ahead

In every city there are hot spots. Certain neighborhoods are more desirable than others. This changes over time, but a good Realtor® with experience can tell you which areas are currently drawing the most interest. For example, here in Louisville, the Highlands extremely popular with younger home buyers. If you’re looking to find a real estate bargain, do not purchase a home in this area, you won’t get a deal. Instead, you’ll likely overpay.

But a wise shopper will look at the surrounding neighborhoods to see where the hot trend might spread once everything has bought up in the first area. Frankfort Avenue and Clifton are neighborhoods near the Highlands. They both carry many of the same character traits and prices haven’t yet spiked for these areas like they have for the Highlands. These areas are good bets for finding yourself a real estate bargain.

6. Uniformed Sellers

For the most part, For Sale by Owners (FSBO) properties don’t meet with much success. I wrote a piece called Top 10 Things to Consider When Contemplating a FSBO that highlights some of the difficulties that FSBO’s encounter.

Every good Realtor® will tell you that the most important thing in selling a home is setting the proper asking price at the start. FSBO’s usually don’t accomplish this task. Usually they’ll overprice it, which only hurts their chances with the smaller number of people who’ll see their home. But every once in awhile, they’ll under price their home. That’s where a bargain can be found for the astute buyer.

5. Auction Properties

Going to a real estate auction might seem a bit strange to many, but there deals to be had if you’ve done your homework. Generally speaking, these properties have some kind of problem that kept them from being sold in the traditional manner. Wardlow Auctions does a good number of auctions here in town, as does ReMax 100.

4. Non-Trendy Styles

Louisville is, for the most part, a traditional city. We don’t have much in the way of ground-breaking design being created with our new construction. (Well, except for Museum Plaza.) So while a majority of homes share similar styling, many do not. These properties are overlooked by the majority of home buyers. This makes them prime targets to our bargain hunters. If you see a contemporary home for sale, chances are you’ll be able to purchase this property at or below it’s true value.

3. Relocation Nightmares

For a home seller, a relocation can be a monstrous event. For the home buyer, it can be a wonderful opportunity. Nothing pushes negotiating in the buyer’s favor like a seller who needs to be in Topeka by the first day of the next month. Their loss is almost always your gain.

2. Days on Market

Days on Market (DoM) is the total number of days that a particular property has been for sale. It just stands to reason that the longer the seller has been trying to sell, the more anxious he or she is to get it sold. These kind of sellers are much more likely to drop their asking price even further if someone (anyone!) will come and take this property off their hands. If that doesn’t sound like a bargain waiting to happen, I don’t know what does.

1. Fixer Uppers

Fixer Uppers are sometimes called Handyman Specials because whoever buys this house is most certainly going to need some work done on it before it’s ready to be lived in. Spotting these properties isn’t too difficult at most real estate agents will identify these properties as such in their listing descriptions. I would throw “As Is” properties into this category as well.

Due to the fact that in today’s market most buyers want “move in ready” homes, these fixer uppers generally are discarded from their search list. That means some lucky buyer, who has properly inspected the home’s structure and other vitals, is likely going to get one heck of a deal!

It’s important to note that while I’ve given you the best ways to find a bargain, finding them can still be tough. I wholeheartedly recommend that you take full advantage of your Realtor® to help you track down the deals.

If you don’t currently have a trusted Realtor®, please feel free to contact me. We can chat or meet for coffee. Buyers pay no commissions to agents so it rarely makes sense for any buyer to go it alone.

Location in Louisville

Area 8 in Greater Louisville’s MLS consists of such areas as Douglass Hills, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Anchorage and parts of St. Matthews and many others within Jefferson County.

Winner of Best Bargain

As I was compiling my data for this post, one of the contenders for best bargain, a little ranch in Douglass Hills, went under contract and sold at an amazing price of $170,000. But never fear! This home in Lake Forest is quite the bargain too! It’s tough to find a quality home in Lake Forest near $300k but this one is priced to sell. Golf course view, finished basement. It should have already sold!

14808 FOREST OAKS DR – $315,000
17 Years Old, 5 Bedrooms, 4.5 Baths, 2,652 AG Finished Sq. Ft.

Other Good Deals

• 11109 HARRODS CREEK CT – $229,900
• 412 NICKLEBY WAY – $239,900
• 10401 FLORIAN RD – $265,000
• 1105 GARDEN CREEK CIR – $319,000