Stephanie Mattingly on Louisville, Kentucky Real Estate

The National Association of Realtors just release their third quarter report on Tuesday confirming what we have been seeing locally in the Louisville, Kentucky real estate market.  First, that there is hope on the home-price front. Thirty cities in the third quarter saw median home prices rise from the same period a year ago (see list below).   However, that still leaves 123 metro areas where home values are falling. Nationally, the median home price fell 11 percent to $177,900 from a year ago.

After viewing the 30 metro areas below you will notice most of them are located in the midwest.  These areas did not have the large appreciation rates that Arizona, Florida, California, and Nevada had.

Here is the list of the 30 cities with the local median price of a home and its percentage rise in value from a year ago:

1. Cumberland, MD-WV ($122,100) 19.2%

2. Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL ($115,600) 14.3%

3. Oklahoma City, OK ($144,100) 9.1%

4. Shreveport-Bossier City, LA ($152,300) 8.6%

5. Cedar Rapids, IA ($145,700) 7.6%

6. Bismarck, ND ($157,200) 7.5%

7. Ft. Wayne, IN ($102,500) 6.9%

8. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY ($119,700) 4.8%

9. Jackson, MS ($141,200) 4.6%

10. Durham, NC ($184,300) 3.6%

11. Charleston, WV ($132,000) 3.4%

12. Springfield, IL ($114,400) 3.2%

13. Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX ($133,600) 3.1%

14. Yakima, WA ($158,400) 2.7%

15. Manchester-Nashua, NH ($237,600) 2.6%

16. Fargo, ND-MN ($142,100) 2.4%

17. Florence, SC ($121,300) 2.4%

18. Waterloo/Cedar Falls, IA ($118,200) 2.4%

19. Memphis, TN-MS-AR ($129,300) 2.2%

20. Indianapolis, IN ($120,200) 2.0%

21. Little Rock-N. Little Rock, AR ($132,500) 2.0%

22. Denver-Aurora, CO ($229,100) 1.8%

23. Pittsburgh, PA ($124,600) 1.5%

24. Des Moines, IA ($156,600) 0.8%

25. Kennewick-Richland-Pasco, WA ($172,200) 0.7%

26. South Bend-Mishawaka, IN ($88,500) 0.6%

27. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX ($150,500) 0.2%

28. Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, TX ($160,600) 0.2%

29. Louisville, KY-IN ($135,600) 0.1%

30. Omaha, NE-IA ($137,600) 0.1%

A newspaper finally wrote a positive article regarding real estate so I had to jump at the chance to expose it. If you hear a tad of frustration in my voice then you are correct! Over and over again media paints the picture of doom and gloom in certain subjects and I feel like real estate has been in their “Top Five Most Negative News We Can Print” stage. This stage feels like it has been going on for over a year. Even Louisville, Kentucky’s Courier Journal has been on this band wagon. So without further ado here is The New York Times‘ article from today’s business section:

Unexpected Jump in Home Sales in February

It is extremely good news that the harder hit areas (Florida, California, Ohio, etc) are seeing an increase in sales. Since buyer confidence is at an all time low it helps (even Louisville, Kentucky real estate) tremendously when media prints GREAT news. Investors take note and start spending and buyers start buying because they feel like the bottom may have already hit…they get nervous that they won’t get the “good deal.”

What might Louisville, Kentucky real estate see from this news? It is hard to say due to the fact that we are in the “spring” market which typically has more sales anyway. However, I believe the areas that were harder hit will see the most sales rather than our market. But I would still enjoy seeing/hearing positive real estate news from our local media….actually any positive news would be a nice change.