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Despite sluggish homes sales - Louisville getting looks as one of the perfect places to live in the U.S.
June 2008 was a mixed bag of good and not so good news for Louisville. The city was picked as The Most Livable City in America by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and This Old House magazine chose Old Louisville as one of the top 12 cities to buy an old home.
Still there’s no getting around the fact that home sales have tumbled. The number of homes that actually closed in June 2008 was down 23% from June 2007. More disturbing, the number of homes going under contract in June 2008 was down 38% from June 2007. Additionally the number of days a home stayed on the market jumped from 76 days in June 2007 to 88 in June 2008. As of this writing, there were 10,898 homes on the market, if that’s not a new record for the number of homes on the market at any one time; it’s very close to it.
All the signs for a housing recovery are in place. Interest rates are holding at 6.5 %. Sellers are accepting lower prices for their homes in the wake of national news stories about the home sale slump. Even mortgage companies appear to be easing up (a little) on approving loans.
The problem continues to be the price of gas and the local new bombarding consumers with stories on gloom and doom.
June 2008
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Number of Houses Sold
This Month
1191
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Average Selling Price
This Month
$185,029
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Average Days on the
Market This Month
88
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Number of Houses on
the Market this Month
(As of 7/1/2008 10:59:58 PM)
10684
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Median Selling Price This
Month
$141,000
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June 2007
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Number of Houses Sold
This Month
1553
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Average Selling Price
This Month
$188,481
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Average Days on the
Market This Month
76
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Number of Houses on
the Market this Month
(As of 7/1/2008 11:01:48 PM)
10684
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Median Selling Price This
Month
$149,900
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Numbers as per METROSEARCH, INC.
Best Places to Buy an Old House: Editors' Top 12 Picks 
Old Louisville, Kentucky
The Neighborhood
Stately homes face one another across lush, gaslit "walking courts," and yards overflow with geraniums and magnolia trees here. Residents treat gardening like a competitive sport, their efforts celebrated by seasonal garden tours. Central Park, a 17-acre municipal green space designed by famed architect Frederick Law Olmsted, sits adjacent to the neighborhood, which was developed in the 1870s. Old Louisville is just a stone's throw from the University of Louisville, and the city's top employers include health insurance provider Humana, bourbon producer Brown Forman Corp., and Republic BankCorp., a financial holding company.
The Houses
Old Louisville has 48 blocks' worth of Queen Annes, Second Empires, and Stick Victorians. Other styles include Italianate, Tudor, and Georgian Revival, and while many have been restored, others are clamoring for work.
The Prices
A rehabbed manse might run you about $275,000, and prices top out at $800,000.
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