Housing inventory reached its highest January level since the start of the pandemic in 2020. With 2,769 homes on the market compared to 2,727 last year, the 2% increase broke a nine consecutive month stretch of year-over-year declines.
With the continued slowdown in sales and inventory numbers up, months of inventory (MOI) remained above 3 for the third consecutive month. The 3.9 months tallied in January was the highest it’s been since December 2019, or 49 months. This represented a 5% increase from a year ago when it was 3.7 months and up 18% from the previous month of 3.3 months.
Randy Newsome was installed as the 2024 president of Bluegrass Realtors®. He has served the Association in many leadership positions including a nine-year directorship, was treasurer in 2022 and has held many committee roles including finance, executive, bylaws, government affairs and diversity. He previously served as president for two other local real estate associations in Kentucky – Cave Run and Pioneer Trace.
Bluegrass Realtors® presented its highest awards for 2023 at the recent Installation Luncheon and Member Recognition Meeting – Realtor® of the Year and Good Neighbor – honoring outstanding Realtors® within the Association. Additionally, two individuals were recognized with the President’s Award.
Rusty Underwood was named the 2023 Realtor® of the Year, the highest recognition the Association can bestow on a Realtor® member based on their association activity, community activity, and business activity. 
Bluegrass Realtors® announces the departure of its Chief Executive Officer, Justin Landon. For six years, Justin led Bluegrass Realtors®, and its subsidiaries, Imagine MLS and the Realtor® Community Housing Foundation, through many advancements and milestones, including a successful MLS conversion, a lockbox transition, an organizational restructure and rebrand, a governance overhaul, the introduction of new forms, successful mergers, and countless less visible efforts that promoted progress across the Association.
Bluegrass Realtors® is proud to offer 10 scholarships at $2,000 each to high school seniors for the 2024 school year. This new scholarship program is part of the Association’s Community Education and Outreach Committee’s goal of helping students, and investing in education, across the 30-county jurisdiction.
The real estate market in the Bluegrass region experienced a notable upturn in December, marked by a year-over-year increase in new listings for the first time since June 2022. The total number of properties entering the market saw a 5% rise, reaching 843 compared to 804 in the previous year. While December's total remained relatively low, this uptick suggests a potential improvement in housing inventory, providing buyers with a broader selection throughout the year.
Home sales in November showed an 8% decrease from last year, the strongest year-over-year comparison of 2023, with 894 sales compared to 975 in 2022. Single-family home sales for the month stood at 839 while townhouse/condo sales hit 55, both decreasing by 8% year-over-year.
A bright spot in November was the surge in new construction sales, reaching the second-highest total for the year at 131, a substantial 66% increase from the 79 sales recorded in the same month last year.
Kelley Nisbet, president of Bluegrass Realtors®, offered insights, “Seeing year-over-year sales figures getting closer each month is a positive trend. Recent reductions in interest rates, coupled with indications of the Federal Reserve pausing or potentially lowering rates into 2024, are anticipated to influence the market dynamics as we approach the new year.”
The Bluegrass region’s real estate market faced significant headwinds in October, with pending sales for the month dropping to the lowest level since 2014. The 949 homes under contract marked an 11% decline from the previous year, reflecting the impact of interest rates reaching their highest monthly level in 23 years, as reported by Freddie Mac.
