Foreclosure Short Sales Drag Louisville Home Prices Down

A survey from the National Association of Realtors revealed that Louisville home prices dropped by about 0.8 percent last year. It joins 74 other areas in the nation which posted a decline compared to the previous year. One culprit experts are looking at is the large volume of foreclosure short sales in the market.

In 2010, median sales price was pegged at $129,100, which is significantly lower than the $130,100 price posted in 2009. In the Midwest, home prices went up to $139,300 or about 0.5 percent during the last quarter of last year. According to NAR, it was clear that home sales recovered during the last few months of 2010 and helped absorb the huge inventory, which includes Louisville foreclosures.

And despite the continued entry of Kentucky foreclosure homes in the pipeline, these foreclosure short sales are surprisingly selling well, which led to the housing supplies trending down.

Meanwhile, home prices of existing houses, particularly single family homes in nearby areas, showed varied trends. Cincinnati, for instance, experienced a 1.8 percent increase to $127,000. The same is true for Cleveland, which posted a 4.2 percent increase, bringing home prices to $114,700.

Columbus home prices were down by 3.8 percent to $127,500. Dayton was down as well by 9.9 percent to $95, 900 while Lexington prices were up by 6 percent to $149, 200. Both Toledo and Youngstown posted a decline 13.9 percent and 13.6 percent to bring home prices to $74, 500 and $62, 800 respectively.

Foreclosures continue to dominate most major cities in the nation and adversely affecting home prices. Some cities experienced a decline in foreclosure short sales activity as a result of the foreclosure moratorium imposed by several banks which have been accused of robo-signing foreclosure documents. For these cities, it is expected that foreclosure activity will once again rise as the lender process those foreclosure which have been affected by the said moratorium.