The news for February is not particularly good.  As I mentioned in my post last month, the weather (tornados and ice storms) was not real conducive to home buying and selling.  This combined with the current market conditions to yield:

New Listings: 138 (down 18% from Feb 2007)

Pending: 68 (down 24% from Feb 2007)

Sold: 45 (down 34% from Feb 2007)

Avg Sale Price:  $147,664 (up 3.2% from Feb 2007)

The good news is that average price is still strong.  The homes that are selling are close to list price (97%) and buyers are still willing to pay a premium over last year for properties that meet their needs.   Additionally, fewer properties came onto the market than did last year.  This will help keep the inventory level under control and will help keep prices strong. 

The bad news is that sales numbers in March are going to be off as well.  It won't be as bad as February, but I predict that sales will finish at least 15-20% down.  The worse news is that the 30-year mortgage rate has continued to rise and is now higher than it was at this time last year.  When you combine this with the fact that lender's are still tightening restrictions on loans, it becomes even harder for buyers to get loans.  As I mentioned here and here January and February were great times to buy a home.  Most of my argument still holds true, but, for the short term, interest rates are not as ideal as they were the last 2 months.  In addition, to fewer sales, expect Avg. Sales Price to be flat or even slightly down as a result of the increased cost of getting a loan.

If you are ready to buy or sell a home in Shepherdsville, Mt. Washington, or anywhere else in Bullitt County, please remember,

 I am here to help.