About Cincinnati's Mt. Adams

Bluegrass for Babies - Saturday, September 17

This event, benefitting Cincinnati Children's Hospital grew out of a love for bluegrass and a determination to improve children's health. Last year, over 1000 people attended sometime during the day and this year, even more are expected. Headline sponsors include Krogers, Green Bean Delivery, Merrill Lynch, Suave and others. As you can see, in only 3 years it has become quite an event.

Founders, Matt and Anne Schneider took their personal Bluegrass party and grew it for the entire community. They believe firmly that young families need help in their journey to raise healthy kids. The event will highlight both western and holistic health practices.

Activities for children include food and nutrition advice, and representatives from Kindermusic, Go2Grow Gymnastics, Soccer instruction and arts and crafts.

So come to Seasongood Pavilion in Eden Park on Saturday, September 17th from 4pm until dark. Bands that will be playing include Relic, Jennifer Ellis, and the Comet Bluegrass All-Stars. Cost is $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Food, beer and wine will be available.

Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park presents A Christmas Carol

Another sign that the holiday season is JUST around the corner... A Christmas Carol is coming soon! Performances are at the Robert S. Marx Theater, just around the corner from the Cincinnati Art Museum in beautiful Eden Park, and a mere stone's throw from plenty of fantastic dining in Mt. Adams, here's an opportunity to have a phenomenal day & night!

A Christmas Carol is a familiar story, but the themes of togetherness, second chances and redemption resonate as well today as they did when Dickens originally wrote the story in the 1800s! All of us have memories of at least one of the versions of A Christmas Carol, whether one of the old black and white movies, or Bill Murray's Scrooged!

Performances start December 2nd, 2010 and finish December 30th, 2010. They do not perform daily, so click HERE to check actual performance dates and times! Upper level seats are priced $20 to $55, lower level seats are priced $20 to $66, depending upon day and time.

And pssst...there's a half price discount for the Sunday 7 pm performances on December 5 & 12, sections B/C/D, limit four tickets. Enter the promotion code: SCROOGE. Seats are limited, so don't delay!

You can purchase tickets online HERE or call 513-421-3888.
Click HERE for directions.
Click HERE for the official website for Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park!

Enjoy!
Liz and Bill aka BLiz

Halloween weekend in Mt. Adams is full of fun. Expect lots of ghosts and goblins to be on hand! It all starts on Friday at 7PM with pumpkin carving at Bow Tie Cafe and culminates with a parade followed by trick or treating on Sunday evening.

Here's a run down of the events to plan for...in between searching for just the right costume. Friday night's activities start out at Bow Tie Cafe, 1101 St. Gregory, for a pumpkin carving contest. This event, open to all ages will feature pumpkin ale beer, homemade cider and fresh treats available. At 9PM the Masquerade Ball starts at Longworths, 1108 St. Gregory.

Saturday night is one party after another! You'll want to go to Pavilion's 9th Annual Masquerade Ball with Cincinnati Sports Leagues, 949 Pavilion, at 7PM. It's a costume party there as well. At 8PM, go to the All Hallow's Eve Bash at Rookwood, 1077 Celestial or the the Blind Lemon, 936 Hatch for live music with Ken Cowden. Then at 9PM Longworth's will sponsor the Heaven and Hell Ball with prizes for the best humorous or ghoulish costumes.

Sunday's plans start at 4:30 at Tap & Go, 950 Pavilion. The parade will start promptly at 5:30PM on Guido Street (at Holy Cross Immaculata Church) and walk to the Monk Fountain at the corner of St. Gregory and Pavilion Streets. The costume judging in categories by age will then be held.

After that, Mt. Adams neighbors will be manning tables at "Candy Corners" on streets throughout the area. Bring your chairs, coolers, snacks and candy to the corner nearest you and share in the fun as children go from place to place with their Trick or Treat bags. Businesses along the way will also be handing out treats.

Take a look at the map detailing the candy distribution locations and laugh with me at the great names each one has come up with...something tells me that the organizers of each corner will be dressed in costume as well! It will certainly be lots more fun than sitting behind your closed door at home!

June numbers are in for Mt. Adams. For the month, 2 homes or condos were sold. There are currently 41 homes actively on the market and 4 pending sales.

Credit Suisse provides a monthly analysis of real estate traffic (showings) across the country. The traffic index level dropped to levels not seen since the credit crisis began in late '08. The sharp fall off in traffic was expected in May, but June only added to the slowdown. The most worrisome aspect of their index is that the numbers continued to fall throughout the month.

Along with that, the number of pending home sales across the country dropped 30% from May, 15% below May, 2009. The number of closings will continue to decline in July and August based upon this.

So, what does that mean? Overall, it demonstrates that the consumer pushed their buying plans ahead in order to qualify for the $8000 or $6500 federal tax credit. Now, homeowners can expect to be on the market longer and may be forced to further lower home prices, through reductions or concessions in negotiating a sale.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors notes that, "The tax credit has broadly stabilized home prices. Now the key test on whether the housing market can stand on its own without the stimulus medicine will depend on private job creation in the second half of the year and conditions on the Gulf Coast. If jobs come back as expected, the pace of home sales should pick up later this year and reach a sustainable level of activity given very favorable affordability conditions."

Mt. Adams has had 23 sales from June 30, 2009 to July 1, 2010. That turns out to be approximately 1.9 per month. At that rate, there are approximately 21.5 months of inventory. Five to six months of inventory is considered a balanced market.

Homes and condo sales continued at a brisk pace in May, 2010 in Mt. Adams. 6 homes closed in the month of May. There are currently 4 homes pending closing and 40 homes and condos that are actively listed for sale.

Mt. Adams is one of the few areas of Cincinnati showing signs of rebounding. Prices so far in 2010 are significantly above last year and 2005. Most homes in Cincinnati are currently averaging below prices sold for in 2005. This is causing difficulties for people wanting to refinance in this time of extremely low mortgage rates. It is also a problem for those with little equity in their home, who need to sell because of a relocation or change in family circumstances.

According to Credit Suisse's monthly survey, traffic levels (number of visitors to homes for sale) have been slower in May. This is caused by the end of the homebuyer tax credit. It forced many buyers to buy ahead of what might have been their regular time schedule. Low traffic levels may result in a longer time to sell a house and price reductions.

The Cincinnati Multiple Listing Service reported an overall uptick of 25% from May of 2009 to May of 2010 on the number of homes sold in the region. That is more than the 19% reported for nationwide home sales. June sales are expected to also remain strong as the last of the tax credit homebuyers close on their homes.