LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Greater Louisville Association of Realtors (GLAR) reported sales down 1 percent year-to-date versus 2017. With the continued lower inventory, the average price was up 6.1 percent. In Jefferson County, the average price in August was $216,956 and the median was $181,950. For all MLS areas, the inventory of available properties was 5.1 percent lower than at the same time last year.
“We see a continuation of a ‘split-market’ with median priced properties selling very quickly and higher priced properties selling more slowly,” said GLAR President Dave Parks, also noted that builders are contributing to the inventory situation with a 4.8 percent increase in residential building permits issued year-to-date versus 2017.
On the national level, Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) commented that moderately priced properties, “continue to go under contract in under a month (and) weakening affordability has put the most pressure on would-be first-time buyers in recent months.”
NAR President Elizabeth Mendenhall noted that despite rising prices, “demand is still strongest at the entry-level segment of the market” and that demand will continue into the fall.
Pat Durham, the executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Louisville, commented that, “As Dave Parks mentioned, building permits in Jefferson County are up about 5 percent year to date over last year, which showed a 15 percent rise over the year before. Our percentage would even be higher if we had the skilled workforce in place to handle this volume and if our lot inventory was higher in price ranges all across the board.”
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