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.
With slower monthly sales over recent months, the region’s overall inventory levels have risen to the highest level of the year. The 2,714 homes available in September represented just over a 1% increase from the previous month. However, inventory levels have declined, year-over-year, for the sixth consecutive month, with 3,278 homes on the market last September resulting in a 17% decrease. Current inventory levels are still running about 70% below where they were a decade ago and less than half of where they were just prior to the pandemic.
New real estate listings fell to the lowest August total on record with August also becoming the sixth consecutive month that hit all-time monthly lows. This year, there were 1,567 residential properties that hit the market while last year there were 1,839, a 15% decline, however, the August total was 4% higher than the previous month.
July saw a 22% decline in residential home sales, year-over-year, with 1,109 compared to last year when there were 1,420 sales. The total sales also slid from the previous month with an 11% drop from June. Single-family home sales for the month stood at 1,027, a drop of 22%, while townhouse/condo sales were 82, a decline of 12% year-over-year.
Inventory levels have declined, year-over-year, for the third consecutive month. In June, available homes on the market hit 2,454, down 14% from last year’s 2,851. Despite the decline, available homes are up 7% from the previous month and the second highest level of the year behind January’s total. However, inventory levels are currently running 25% below where they were at the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
May saw the highest recorded monthly median home price, topping out at $259,000. This is 4% over the $248,500 from May of last year, and just over 3% over the previous month’s median home price. Single family homes peaked at $261,000 while townhomes/condos hit $210,000.
May marked the 51st consecutive month of year-over-year price appreciation, however, for eight months in a row, starting in the last quarter of 2022, year-over-year price appreciation has remained in the single-digits. Year-to-date, median prices are up 6% in 2023 ($249,000) compared to 2022 ($235,000).
