LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — If you’ve noticed more “for sale” signs popping up on lawns across central Kentucky, the region is seeing an uptick in inventory.
From January of 2023 to January 2024, home sale listings have increased by more than 3%.
“That’s the most it’s been up in five years,” said Randy Newsome. Newsome is the 2024 President of Bluegrass Realtors.
“We’ve been operating since COVID on a 1.2 to 1.6 months worth of inventory. Now we have about 3.4 months,” he added.
Newsome said that shift presents a much better but not ideal situation for buyers.
“A healthy market is six to eight months of inventory,” he said.
So, he said, if you’re in the market for a new home, it’s a good idea to lock your pre-approval before you go shopping. He also said not to fret over the 6-7% interest rate for several reasons.
“You’ve got to do the math,” he said. “Appreciation is still happening. Homes have appreciated, since the pandemic, around 45% in Kentucky,” he continued while noting that the monthly payment might be higher. Still, your ability to make more money on the home could offset the difference, given the recent trend of an 8% increase in value year to year.
He also said not to wait for those interest rates to return to the historically low levels we saw in the early 2020s.
“I would not, in the next few years, or my lifetime, expect them to go down to the 2.9 to 3.25% we saw. If you wait on that, you’re going to spend a lot of money renting, or prices will go up while waiting for the interest rate to come down,” he said.
