Home sales still on record pace with a solid October

Insider Louisville 11/9/2015

 

When I started my Louisville housing reports this month, I began with Area 2, like I usually do. This is the area surrounding the Highlands, south of I-64, west of I-65 and within the Watterson Expressway.

When I noticed that only 85 homes sold compared to 107 last year, I wondered if something big was happening in Louisville real estate. After further review, the play on the field was overturned. It appears last year’s high number was the anomaly.

Home sales still on record pace with a solid October – Insider Louisville

This year’s home sales total was more in line with expected results. Phew.

As I worked my way through the other MLS areas, I found most were up, while a few merely kept pace with last year.

So how did Jefferson County perform during the month of October?

During the month, 975 homes were sold. Good enough for a 5.4 percent increase over the previous year. Not too shabby.

Charts of Louisville home sales and Louisville home prices for the 12 month period ending October 2015.

While this is a dip from the vigorous pace thus far in 2015, Louisville real estate is still in great shape to finish out the year with near record numbers. From January through October, home sales are 10.5 percent higher than the same period last year.

Louisville’s best year in terms of home sales was 2005, when 11,439 properties exchanged hands. And 2015 is just a mere 106 sales behind that pace. Clearly, the market has finally recovered from the housing recession and is moving forward with a full head of steam.

Now let’s look at Louisville home values.

The median sales price for homes sold during October was $155,000. This value is up from last month but far below the high of June when the statistic was a whopping $165,000!

Comparing the year-over-year trend line is a better gauge of where prices truly are. Here, we see solid improvement with a 4.1 percent gain in the past 12 months. New construction is finally moving, thus contributing its higher prices to the bucket. Increased competition is also bumping up sale prices.

Look for these values to decline during the winter months, as sales slow as well.