The housing industry is one of the most sensitive markets to Federal Reserve policy changes, especially the interest rate. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, home sales slipped, year-over-year in consecutive months. Home sales were down 14% in August from a year ago as sales topped out at 1,419 in 2022 compared to 1,646 in August 2021.
Single-family home sales declined 13% with 1,333 sales in August compared to 1,534 sales last year. Townhouses/condos dropped 23% with 86 sales compared to 112 in 2021. Townhouses/condos made up over 6% of the total market in August.
Housing inventory in the region has been increasing in recent months, even before the current rise in interest rates. The number of homes on the market rose 8% in May to 2,346, up from 2,158 homes last year. Unsold inventory rose to 1.5 months in May, a 7% increase over last year when it was 1.4 months but even with the previous month.
Despite the uptick in inventory, homes are still selling faster than last year. Properties remained on the market for 21 days in May, down from 28 days in 2021 and 25 days in April.
The overall housing inventory jumped in April reaching 2,085 available residential properties on the market, an increase of 3% over the 2,025 properties available last year.
Unsold inventory dropped to 1.3 months in April, a 7% drop over last year when it was 1.4 months. New real estate listings in Central and Southern Kentucky kept the months of inventory suppressed. New listings to the market were down 6% compared to a year ago, with 1,808 residential properties came online this year versus 1,916 last year, but up 3% when compared to the 1,757 new listings from March.
The 2022 Housing Fair and Expo, hosted by the Lexington-Bluegrass Association of Realtors® (Bluegrass REALTORS®), will take place on Saturday, May 21 from 10am – 2pm. Bluegrass REALTORS® is excited to partner with LFUCG and the Office of Housing, Advocacy and Community Development to bring the public an event that will provide the information needed to understand and navigate the real estate market in Central and Southern Kentucky.
New real estate listings in Central and Southern Kentucky rose to the highest level since September of last year. The 1,703 listings recorded for March were the most for the month since 2017 and were up 18% over last year’s 1,442. Compared to the previous month, new listings jumped 42%.
With the increase in new listings, the overall housing inventory jumped in March, year-over-year, for the first time in six months, reaching 1,540 available residential properties on the market, a bump of 15% over the 1,177 properties available last March when inventory was at an all-time low.
Due to new monthly highs in both total sales and median prices, February’s total volume jumped to over a quarter billion dollars in residential real estate sold. This represents a 19% increase when compared to last year’s total of just over $213 million.
Median prices climbed to new highs for the month reaching $218,000, up 7% over last year when the median was $204,000. Single-family home prices increased 7% to $220,000 while townhouse/condo prices rose 20%, reaching $192,500.
After a record-breaking year in 2021 for real estate, January continued the streak with several monthly highs. A jump in both sales and prices in the first month of the new year helped increase total volume to new record mark.
Residential sales in January reached 995, the most on record for the month, a 6% increase over last year’s total of 939, the previous monthly high.
