After a string of years in decline, housing sales in the bluegrass are moving in the other direction. Unlike other states during the recession, the central Kentucky housing market didn’t see a big drop in property value. But, there were sizeable reductions in the number of houses sold from 2005 until 2012.
Then there was a pendulum swing according to Fayette County Property Valuation Administrator David O’Neil.
“2012 was the first year where the number of houses sold was higher than the previous year. That was the first time that had happened since 2005 and what we’re seeing now is that same trend is continuing only stronger,” said O’Neil.
O’Neil says residential sales in September were 23 percent higher than a year ago. However, he admits property values have not moved up.
“Most of us, our property values are still where they were at the beginning of the recession, unless we bought at the height of the market, say in 2005 or 2006. We may need a little bit longer to recover, but for the most part, property values are flat to where they were prior to the recession,” added O’Neil.
O’Neil expects property values to start climbing over the next several months. Even with stagnant property values, O’Neil says the county’s tax roll has still grown a bit.