Louisville Real Estate Blog

The Wall Street Journal reports that sales of new homes dropped more than eleven percent in November 2009 to a seven-month low. Real estate experts are cautiously optimistic about the country’s modest, but steady economic gains. However, there is growing concern that new home sales and sales of existing homes could dive again after the federal homebuyer tax credit program expires in a few months. One real estate economist said, “The housing rebound has so far been largely supported by government programs, raising questions of sustainability as these programs end next year.”

Peter Newland, an economist with Barclays Capital, was more optimistic. “Growth may slow from its current pace; but even as the government’s fiscal boost fades, wages and salaries can provide underlying support for consumer spending.”

The Commerce Department reported that the decline in home sales led to a seasonally adjusted rate of 355,000 new homes built, bolstered by a 7.4 percent increase in October that represented a surge in new home sales from previous months. This surge was attributed to the homebuyer tax credit scheduled to expire at the end of October but was extended. Their report also mentioned that new home sales typically comprise less than 15 percent of the total number of homes sold in the U.S. every year.

New home sales in Louisville reflected the national average. Like other housing markets across the country, sales of new homes were impacted by the current inventory of new, unsold homes. If you’re looking for a new or existing home in the Louisville area, call Louisville Properties today at 502.744.9504 or visit the website for the area’s best selection of newly built and existing homes.

Many Louisville real estate agents already know very well that the number of people across the U.S. getting ready to buy a home dropped sharply in November 2009. Housing experts say that housing markets across the country could be heading for a “double-dip” drop in sales where a decline in home selling prices is exacerbated by potential homebuyers who can take a bit more time in home shopping since the federal tax credit was extended. Adding the usual downturn in winter home buying, real estate agents all over the country could have some extra time on their hands.

Recent home sales figures released by the government show that October home sales got a boost from the scheduled expiration of the federal homebuyer’s tax credit. When the tax credit program was extended that month, buyers got several more months to bide their time and watch home prices for the best deals. However, Louisville home sales appear to have bucked the country’s downward trend, at least for December 2009. Lisa Stephenson, executive vice president of Greater Louisville Association of Realtors, said recently that Louisville home sales in December might have been up sharply from November’s home sales.

She was waiting on the release of the official home sales numbers, but thought home sales in and around Louisville may have climbed 40 percent in December. Whether Louisville home sales will continue to buck the national trend in January has yet to be seen. Nevertheless, if you’re thinking about using the federal tax credit to buy a Louisville home for sale, call 502.744.9504 or visit Louisville Properties website to see the area’s best selection of Louisville real estate.

Buying Louisville homes for sale allows new owners to make a fresh start and display their flair for decorating when it’s easiest to do it—without having to move and work around furniture and fixtures in the way. Furniture trends are moving away from dark finishes towards lighter, honey-colored tones that make rooms look and feel lighter and more spacious.

For wall prints, geometric patterns are en vogue, particularly bold patterns such as herringbone, ikats and Bargello designs that make a dramatic statement in any room. Other popular and trendy wall coverings getting a lot of exposure in decorating magazines include “new city brights” or rich, vibrant colors that add boldness and depth to any room. Another hot Louisville home decorating trend is maximizing the amount of natural light in every room, reducing dependence on artificial lighting during the day.

Author and design consultant Barbara Schirmeister said that common decorating themes where colors and textures are consistent are on their way out. “Matchy-matchy combinations are declining and unexpected pairings are escalating,” she says. She said that mixing new contemporary furniture with traditional home furnishings is hot right now, and people buying Louisville homes are incorporating these styles in unusual and unexpected ways.

While these decorating themes are hot in Kentuckiana and elsewhere, when shopping for a Louisville home, buyers want anything but unusual and unexpected results. That’s why more turn to Louisville Properties when looking for Louisville homes for sale. For the area’s best selection of Louisville homes for sale, call Louisville Properties today at 502.744.9504 or visit their website for more information.

The Louisville Courier-Journal has some great ideas to live green and save green without sacrificing your sense of style. Louisville homeowners are becoming increasingly adept at saving money on energy costs and reducing their carbon footprint. Both goals can be accomplished while displaying their sense of style. Like new Energy Star appliances, all of these energy-saving decorating ideas pay for themselves in no time at all through lower energy usage. Starting with the windows, a layer of heavy fabric sewn onto the back of the drapes helps improve their ability to insulate the home in cold and hot weather. Replace older windows with newer, more energy-efficient windows. They’re pricey but also pay for themselves over time.

Next, swap out incandescent light bulbs for new fluorescent or LED light bulbs. The color and quality of light provided by fluorescent bulbs has improved significantly in recent years and the new LED bulbs use even less energy. Make a ‘vampire energy’ home audit. Vampire energy is the energy consumed at a low, but constant level by appliances that are left plugged in at all timers whether in use often or not. For the floors, buy large, warm area rugs that add a cozy feeling to your home, making it easy for you to resist the temptation to turn up the thermostat in cold weather.

One of the simplest ways to live more ‘green’ and save no energy costs is to keep afghans or other types of blankets draped across the chairs and sofas where you do most of your reading and TV watching. These are but a few of the ways that you can save money through lower energy usage in your Louisville home. If you’re looking for a Louisville home for sale where you can begin your own Louisville home green campaign, call Louisville Properties today at 502.744.9504 or visit the website to browse the area’s best selection of Louisville homes for sale.

Kentucky Congressman John Yarmuth has been joined by Louisville Realtors, local homeowners and members of the Home Builders Association of Louisville to announce that more Louisville residents are eligible for a homebuyers tax credit than ever before.

“The first-time homebuyer credit included in the Recovery Act has already helped hundreds of Louisville families fulfill the dream of homeownership and given a much-needed boost to the local housing market,” said Congressman Yarmuth. “Congress extended the credit last week, making it easier for sellers to find a buyer and for buyers to afford the home they want.”

President Obama recently signed new legislation that extends the deadline for first-time homebuyers to qualify for up to $8,000 in tax credits from December 1, 2009 to April 1, 2010. First-time homebuyers may also be eligible for tax credits of $6,000 and $4,000 until December 2010. The extension of the tax credit program also increased income caps for eligible buyers and expanded eligibility for tax credit for current homeowners. Some of the more notable changes in the program include:

• Maximum income levels to qualify for the tax credit have been raised from $150,000 to $225,000 for families, and $75,000 to $125,000 for individuals, enabling many more prospective Louisville homebuyers eligible.

• Louisville-area homeowners who have lived in their current home for at least five years who want to move into a new home may qualify for a $6,500 tax credit.

• Members of the U.S. Armed Services who are deployed overseas may qualify for the first-time home buyer tax credit until April 31, 2011

Looking to take advantage of the homebuyers tax credits on the purchase of a Louisville home? Contact the Louisville real estate specialist at Louisville Properties today by calling 502.744.9505. Let his experience and expertise help you find the Louisville home of your dreams!

Real estate industry analysts are forecasting that 2010 will be another tough year for commercial real estate with prices expected to hit bottom, creating market difficulties not seen for generations. However, they also said that like any other depressed market, there would be unique opportunities for savvy investors with deep pockets. They say that the 2010 commercial real estate market will be an exercise in the survival of the fittest, with only the strongest developers and investors still around by the end of the year. In other words, commercial real estate analysts expect market conditions to get much worse before they recover with 2010 being the year that many creatively financed real estate deals made at the height of the commercial real estate boom coming due.

Regarding all the loans coming due in 2010, one analyst said, “So that’s a whole lot of mortgages that have to be refinanced. And how they get refinanced is the problem that’s out there. No one knows where the money is coming from. Most of these deals are underwater or have little or no equity in them and the lender’s not going to give you an 80 percent loan anymore. They’re going to give you a 60 percent loan.”

He called mortgage-backed securities the commercial real estate sector’s Frankenstein monster, saying that some lenders will be willing to extend mortgage terms while others will have no choice but to repossess some properties.

If you’re thinking about buying  Louisville commercial real estate to start a business, expand an existing one or as income property, there’s never been a better buyer’s market than right now. For the area’s best selection and most complete listings of Louisville commercial real estate, call Louisville Properties today at 502.744.9505.

Sales of existing homes received the biggest boost in a decade due to the first-time homebuyers tax credit, fueling hopes of a rebound in struggling real estate markets driving some Wall Street stocks higher. Foreclosures, plunging real estate values and job losses still plague many markets, particularly in California and Florida, while economic indicators in some markets are causing bidding wars for homes in select cities. Overall, home sales across the country are up 36 percent above their lowest point in January 2009. Real estate analysts cited the looming expiration of the federal first-time homebuyers tax credit as the principal reason October home sales rose sharply. Congress extended the tax credit program in October until next spring.

The National Association of Realtors released home sales figures recently that fueled a stock rally on Wall Street, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 132 points. Real estate analysts projected that the tax credit extension will sustain most housing markets across the country through 2009, but expected the nation’s overall economy to benefit only slightly from increased home sales. They cited several factors that are preventing the economy from recovering such as slow job creation, rising foreclosures, reduced spending by consumers, and sluggish new home construction.

If you’re thinking of buying Louisville real estate and taking advantage of the federal tax credit, your window of opportunity has been extended but won’t last forever. With housing prices down overall in and around Louisville, the time to buy is now. Whether you’re buying or selling Louisville real estate, call Louisville Properties today at 502.744.9505 for superb customer service and a Louisville real estate professional who gets results!

This article reports something that Louisville real estate agents already know—many home sellers are willing to lower their asking price to facilitate the sale of their home. More than a quarter of homeowners across the country wishing to sell their home reduced their selling price at least once in the last twelve months, according to real estate search firm Trulia. The company says the average sale price reduction was 10 percent, but almost half (40 percent) of the top 50 major metropolitan real estate markets across the country saw selling price reductions above 30 percent.

Homes sold in the Northeast saw the highest rate of price reductions with 29 percent of home sellers settling for less than their asking price. Coming in second for reduced home selling prices was the Midwest with 28 percent, followed by the West with 25 percent, and the South with 24 percent.

“With mortgage rates still low and the expansion of the tax credit to trade-up buyers, we could see significant inventory, both new and shadow inventory, hit the market during the next four to six months,” said Pete Flint, Trulia co-founder and CEO. “Inventory levels this quarter are poised to be atypical of a normal real estate market, which could create tremendous pressure on sellers to price their homes competitively and move their property before the tax credit expires on April 30th.”

Some metro areas experienced notable drops in home asking prices with Kansas City leading the way at 59 percent, Colorado Springs at 43 percent, Omaha at 39 percent, Louisville at 37 percent, and Milwaukee at 30 percent.

Thinking about taking advantage of lower home asking prices for Louisville real estate? Call Louisville Properties today at 502.744.9505 for the area’s best selection of residential and commercial real estate.

The Greater Louisville Association of Realtors reported that its members sold 1210 Louisville homes last October, which represented the fourth consecutive month of gains over 2008 year-over-year. President of the local realty group, Linda Gibson Cecil, called the sales figures “very encouraging.” Until this past July, monthly home sales in the Louisville real estate market has posted steady declines for almost two years.

“It gives you hope that this is not an anomaly, that this is actually a trend,” Cecil said.

She said that the Louisville real estate market continued to enjoy a boost from the federal government’s $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit that helped the sale of Louisville homes, especially in the $90,000-$125,000 sales range. She went on to say that a surge of Louisville homes for sale went under contract in the middle of October, a clear indication that prospective homeowners were trying to get their deal closed before the tax credit program expired. The tax credit program was initially set to expire on Dec. 1, but it has been extended to June 2010 and has been amended to include a $6,500 tax credit for current homeowners who wish to sell their home and buy another. Homebuyers have until April 30 to get a home under contract and have until June 30 to close the transaction.

October represented the second-busiest month for Louisville real estate professionals, having sold 1276 homes last July. Another positive trend for Louisville real estate was a modest rise in median sales prices. In October, the median sales price was up slightly to $133,500, up from $130,000 the previous October.

Thinking about taking advantage of the homeowner’s tax credit before it expires? Call 502.744.9505 today and talk to the Louisville real estate professionals at Louisville Properties. No one has a better selection of Louisville real estate of all kinds from which to choose.

The Obama administration has requested that the U.S. Treasury Department provide guidance, financial support and sales measures for short sales in an effort to kick-start the U.S. housing market. The Home Affordable Foreclosures Program is expected to provide financial incentives and streamline procedures for the completion of short sale real estate transactions that have been blamed for clogging the mortgage loan pipeline. Short sales favor real estate agents and mortgage lenders as they are the last opportunity for homeowners to avoid foreclosure if they are unable to have their mortgage modified.

In most cases where a home is sold via a short sale, the home is in reasonably good shape, unlike foreclosed homes where the home can be damaged by angry homeowners or looters after the home becomes vacant. Short sales benefit lenders and real estate professionals as the home is more or less in better condition, and can be sold far more quickly and easily than a foreclosed home. Short sales also help the home seller who wants to get rid of the debt obligation of their mortgage before the lender begins the foreclosure process. Further, if a lender accepts a short sale offer, the lender may forgive the difference between what is owed on the mortgage and the short sale price, or the deficiency balance.

Initial reports on the program’s success say its effectiveness has been very limited. “The incentives, first announced in May, expand the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program known as HAMP, which has seen limited success in lower payments for distressed homeowners.”

The HAMP incentives for completing short sales include $1,500 in relocation expenses for borrowers, servicers would receive $1,000 per transaction, second lien holders can receive up to $3,000 of the sales proceeds if they release their liens, and other incentives for lenders and borrowers alike. Looking to get a great home by buying a Louisville short sale? Call Louisville Properties today at 502.744.9504 for the area’s best selection of Louisville real estate.