About Jefferson County, KY

Just for the fun of it, I spent a little time today looking at the median prices of Louisville Luxury Homes compared to luxury home prices in Prospect. For this activity, I defined luxury as the most expensive 25% of the homes on the market, in each market. As expected, the price of the homes available in Prospect was significantly higher than the larger market of Louisville. However, I didn't expect the price difference to be so large as the chart below indicates.

If you are familiar with Louisville, you know that every year as the horses are led to the post parade for the Kentucky Derby, you can hear the familiar strains of "My Old Kentucky Home" being sung. Well there is cause for singing in Louisville, even if it isn't May! Recently the Home Buyer Tax Credit was extended and expanded!! First time home buyers can continue to take advantage of the program and now repeat homeowners can qualify for a tax credit too!!

New Credit for Repeat Home Buyers!

Since January of 2009, first time home buyers were eligible for up to $8000 tax credit with purchase of a qualifying home. In the expansion of the program, home owners who have resided in their home for five consecutive years out of the last eight may qualify for a tax credit up to $6500 when they purchase a new home! If you are ready to upgrade your living accommodations, now is the time!

There are income guidelines. For a single filer, the maximum income is $125,000. If you are married and filing jointly you can have an income of $225,000 combined. The home itself can have a purchase price of $800,000 or less and must be a primary residence. From townhouses to manufactured homes, they all qualify under the program.

First Time Home Buyer Credit Still in Place

For first time home buyers, the $8000 tax credit has been extended! Whether you are a repeat buyer or a first time home buyer you now have until April 30^th to have a binding contract on a home. What is different is that you have until June 30^th to execute the closing. The income guidelines are now more generous for first time buyers as well! Before November 6^th, the income cap was $75,000 for single filers and $150,000 for those who filed jointly. The income guidelines have increased to $125,000/$225,000 respectfully.

Generally speaking, the tax credit is 10% of the homes purchase price with a maximum of $8000 for the first time buyers and $6,500 for repeat buyers. There is not a better time to buy your own Louisville home! With home prices averaging $100,000, the tax credit can make a huge impact on your bottom line! If you want to sell your home, there are eager buyers waiting to make you an offer!

If you have questions about the Home Buyers Tax Credit or about real estate in Louisville, call Mollie Younger or Jessica Gaines! Your local real estate experts!

POSTED BY: AT 08:43 pm | Permalink | E-mail this

Having recently completed a successful sale in the Louisville Woods of St Thomas Subdivision, my client asked me to put together a short and sweet update of what other real estate activity there has been in the Woods of St Thomas. Very quickly, I was able to print something off of the local MLS, and email it over, but I thought I would also share it here, just in case anyone else was interested. The rough break down is that there have been 21 new listings in the subdivision so far this year, and that 11 homes have sold, which is a very respectable percentage in this environment, and certainly beats the city as a whole and most other subdivisions. Having sold a bunch, there are now only 4 Louisville Woods of St Thomas homes for sale, but I would expect to see that number increase early next spring as residents there are seeing their neighbors fair pretty well on the open market.

I have a friend who lives in the Sutherland Subdivision of Louisville, or Prospect to be more precise, and he was curious how the micro real estate market was behaving for his neighborhood. Since it is pretty easy to pull that info off of the local MLS, that is exactly what I did, and here is what I found. So far this year, there have been 23 listings in Sutherland, but only 12 homes are currently active today. Of those 23 total listings so far in 2009, only 7 have sold and closed in Louisville's Sutherland Subdivision, with another 18 listings leaving the market with a contract. Obviously, that last number includes a few homes that came on to the market in 2008, but it is still worth looking at, as we can see that less than 1/3 of new listings, or Louisville Sutherland homes for sale resulted in a completed contract and sale.

Forest Springs (along with Forest Springs North) is a great neighborhood in Louisville's east end off LaGrange Road just outside of the Gene Snyder Expressway, near Rock Springs, Woodmont and Fox Run. Homes here are reasonably priced while still being part of a great community with tennis courts, pool and clubhouse. This subdivision has some beautiful homes and is located in a great part of town where a lot of new development is taking place. Read More »