The housing market in Central and Southern Kentucky got a bump in overall transactions this October. Residential sales rose to 1,074 from 1,041 last year, a 3% increase and held steady from the previous month. Single family sales were up 4% with 1,010 sales this year compared to 968 last year. Townhouse/condo sales dropped to 64 sales this year compared to 73 in 2023, a decrease of 12%.
Year-to-date, sales in 2024 overtook last year with 10,923 homes selling over 10 months compared to 10,890 last year, a difference of just under 1%.
New construction sales in October improved by 10% with 106 sales in 2024 compared to 95 last year but were slightly lower than the previous month. October marked the fifth straight month of year-over-year gains. For the year, sales are up 14% on new construction with 1,128 sales compared to 994 last year.
An indication of housing activity through the last quarter of 2024, October saw pending sales leap ahead 21% compared to last year, with 1,132 properties under contract versus 934 in 2023. Homes under contract in 2024 surpassed last year’s number, ending up just under 1% with 11,576 contract signings versus 11,545 in 2023.
"Market activity appears to be picking up,” said Randy Newsome, president of Bluegrass Realtors®. “The recent data showing sales increases and an upward trend in pending contracts and new listings should play out to a relatively strong end of year. Couple that with NAR’s national chief economist, Lawrence Yun, predicting home sales to rise by possible double digits in 2025 and 2026, and you get a healthy real estate market.”
October brought an above average number of new listings to market, outpacing last year by 14% with 1,623 compared to 1,425 a year ago and up 3% from the previous month. New listings have increased year-over-year since February, or nine consecutive months. Year-to-date, new listings jumped 7%, to 14,042 this year, up from 13,199 in 2023.
The upward push in new listings has also helped boost housing inventory. Inventory climbed to the highest level in 53 months (May 2020) and the highest number of homes available in October since 2019. Total inventory reached 3,689 properties, a 20% increase over the 3,068 homes available last year and up just over 1% from the previous month. October was the fifth consecutive month with inventory remaining over the 3,000 mark and the 12th consecutive month of year-over-year improvements.
“Rising inventory is a great start to help alleviate some of the buyer demand present in the market," stated Newsome. “However, the recent report from the state legislature that Kentucky is short over 200,000 housing units means we still need more, especially on the affordable end of the spectrum. And this region has some of the highest housing demand in the state.”
And that demand continues to elevate prices in the area. The median home price reached an all-time high for the month of October and was the fourth highest on record, reaching $277,000. This was up 9% over last year’s mark of $255,000 and marked the 68th consecutive month of year-over-year price appreciation. The monthly median price was up less than 1% from the previous month’s price of $275,000. Single-family homes hit a median of $283,200, an 11% increase from the previous year’s $255,000, while townhomes/condos fell 12% to $227,500 from last year’s $259,900.
For the year, overall median prices have risen 8%, reaching $275,000 compared to $255,000 in 2023.
The total volume of real estate sold through the first 10 months of the year was just under $3.5 billion, up 9% from 2023, with $355 million of that coming in October, a 19% increase over last year’s $298 million.
The interest rate in October rose slightly from the previous month, averaging 6.43%, but was down more than a percent from last year’s 7.62%. Yun has stated this month that the “new normal” will be bouncing around 5.5 – 6.5% and that the country may expect six to eight more interest rate cuts over the coming years, four of those in 2025.
The time it took for a home to sell fell to 38 days in October, down from 41 days in September but up two days from 36 days last year. The median DOM, year-over-year, was 18 days, up from 13 days in 2023. Year to date, 39 days was the average time to sell, up a day from last year’s 38 days.
Months of inventory (MOI) remained flat from the previous month at 3.4 but rose 13% from last October’s 3 months. October notched the 30th consecutive month of year-over-year growth.
Newsome continued, "Wealth can be built through home ownership. That certainly has been evident by the price increases we’ve seen for several years now. In fact, a recent study from the Federal Reserve Board showed that homeowners have nearly 40 times the net worth of renters. Much of that comes through equity gains from owning a home. If you are considering buying, talk to a Realtor® to see if you are in a position to start down that path.”
As the region’s leading advocate for homeownership, Bluegrass Realtors® understands the value and joy of owning a home. The Association represents more than 4,000 Realtors® located in 38 counties: Anderson, Bath, Bell, Bourbon, Boyle, Casey, Clark, Clay, Elliott, Estill, Fayette, Franklin, Garrard, Harrison, Henry, Jackson, Jessamine, Knox, Laurel, Lee, Lincoln, Madison, McCreary, Menifee, Mercer, Montgomery, Nicholas, Owsley, Powell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Rowan, Russell, Scott, Shelby, Wayne, Whitley and Woodford counties. Visit www.bluegrassrealtors.com for up-to-the-minute real estate listings and buying and selling resources.