Handling data can be a tricky business. This famous quote was directed at how numbers can be manipulated—“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” With that in mind, I try very hard to present all the information in an unbiased manner and let you make up your mind about how that affects your personal situation in regard to housing here in Louisville.
CoreLogic is an organization that follows and reports on the real estate markets in the United States, including Louisville, KY. Their most recent report states:
In Louisville-Jefferson County, home prices, including distressed sales, declined by -4.41 percent in October 2010 compared to October 2009. Excluding distressed transactions, year-over-year HPI for October is -0.53 percent.
Now, I have no way of determining where CoreLogic gets its raw data, nor do I understand the inner workings of its Home Price Index (HPI). But I do have access to our Greater Louisville MLS data and I find it difficult to believe that home prices have dropped during this time period, with or without distressed homes as part of the equation.
The median home price for the 893 homes sold in Jefferson County during October of 2009 was $131,000. For October 2010, the data shows that this price was only slightly higher at $131,500 (551 properties). The increase is small, but it is an increase.
When you look at the 1-year trend line in the chart below, you’ll see that while October did dip down, Jefferson County home prices are on an upward trend.
Maybe in the future, I’ll create a chart with a longer time line but for now, home values in Louisville appear to be moving higher.
