And now the primary lender for the project, Central Bank & Trust Company has asked the courts to force the sale of the development.  The luxury Lexington condos are now approximately 75% to 80% complete and no work is currently happening on the job site.  Tribecca Development Company had hoped that the project would be salvaged, and completed as originally proposed – but with all of the creditors lining up, and now the primary lender who has millions of dollars of outstanding debt, its finish is now in question.

The original expected sales price for these luxury condos in Lexington was going to range from $227,000 to $540,000 each.  This is the first Lexington condo development in the downtown area that is facing foreclosure in a long while.

Given the proximity to everything in the downtown Lexington area, its likely that some real estate developer may be able to step in, save the project, and finish The Mark – and make a decent profit to boot.

Luxury Lexington Condos May Not Be Completed is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

Here’s a few snapshots of the metropolitan area:

In Scott County (for reference: Georgetown KY being one of the major cities), new home permits issued were 768 in 2005.  Only 446 were issued in 2007.  And for 2008 only 184 have been issued for the first 6 months of this year.

In Woodford County (for reference: Versailles KY being one of the major cities), new home permits issued were 154 in 2005.  Only 165 were issued in 2007.  And for 2008 only 52 have been issued for the first 6 months of this year.

In Jessamine County (for reference: Nicholasville KY being on of the major cities), new home permits issued were 643 in 2005.  Only 307 were issued in 2007.  And for 2008 only 90 have been issued for the first 6 months of this year.

In Bourbon County (for reference: Paris KY being one of the major cities), new home permits issued were 54 in 2005.  Only 46 were issued in 2007.  And for 2008 only 19 have been issued for the first 6 months of the year.

Which brings us to Fayette County and Lexington.  New home permits for 2005 were 2469.  Only 1235 were issued in 2007.  And from January 1 through August 30 2008, 534 new home permits were issued.

So, what does this mean for the Lexington real estate market?  It means that the pain isn’t over.  The inventory currently on the market has been moving slowly.  There are just simply not enough buyers to go around, so if you need to get your home sold ASAP, you are going to have offer the property for lower than you’d probably like to get it sold.

But what about the $700 billion bailout rescue plan?  Won’t that help ease the credit crunch by providing banks and lenders some more liquidity?  Well, sort of.  Lets put you into the banker’s position.  The stock market is reeling (it dropped to below 8000 today, and has lost almost 40% of its value in the past year).  Banks are failing.  People are losing their jobs.  Homes are going into foreclosure.   Inventory is WAY up on homes for sale….. Now, do you want to lend some money to someone in that market unless you are WAY over collateralized?  Probably not.  And there you see the dilemna.  Even with this “rescue” plan, it will take a long time before things get back to normal in the real estate market.  So, if you are wanting to get your home sold – you better plan on doing what it takes.  Or you could be waiting for a very long time.

New Lexington Homes For Sale Decline is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

The total estimated cost to address the flood prone areas in these communities is estimated at $1.3 million.  The additional $300,000 is to be contributed by the city of Lexington.  The 9 homes located within this area haven’t actually been purchased yet – but all home owners have been told that the cities intentions to acquire their homes as part of the grant received from FEMA.  There are no plans proposed for the 9 properties to be razed.  They may used as green space – but no new construction projects will be allowed on the properties.  [The green space concept is a cost saving measure as its much cheaper to purchase the Lexington homes adn raze them than it is to put in infrastructure with storm drainage projects.]

Lexington KY gets $1 million to purchase Homes is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

Louisville was the reigning champ for highest priced home in Kentucky in 2007.  For 2008, the Lexington homes with those features were priced at $291,000.  For Louisville, it was only $241,060.  A substantial turn around from the previous year.  For comparison, the average price across all 315 cities surveyed was $403,738.  So, relative to that both Louisville and Lexington Kentucky homes represent a tremendous value relative to many other parts of the country.  And just for kicks:  the highest priced area nationally & internationally was Dubai – where that home that met those specifications was valued at $2.5 million.

So, Lexington gets to be the champ for 2008.  Hopefully the trend will continue.  The local real estate market has languished somewhat with inventory increasing generally.  The uppermost high end market has continued to pick up steam, and the $7500 first time home buyers tax credit that was recently passed has helped, at least somewhat, the entry level homes market to improve.  But a lot of the property in between has increased market times due to the excessive amount of inventory, and people’s concerns with how the economy is fairing.  All of that has left many persons wanting to wait and see what will happen before diving in to make a new home purchase.

Lexington Homes are more expensive than Louisville KY is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

That being said – what about Lexington homes values? While not as rosy as we may not like them to be, we are in a far better position than many other parts of the country. Yes, inventory is up. But at least some Lexington homes are selling. Pricing, staging, and knowing your competition are critical in today’s market. Whatever price range you are in, you want to be at the lower end of that price range, be staged the nicest – and represent a good value for a potential buyer that may be considering making the move to purchase a home. Those will be critical factors that are musts to get a property moved in the current climate.

So, while its definitely not a sellers market at present – you can get a home sold. Again, touching on the national real estaet market perspective: We didn’t see, in general, the huge gains of appreciation that a lot of other parts of the country enjoyed – and which are now being corrected by the softening real estate market overall. I mean, if you saw 300% appreciation in 3 years – who really cares if you lost 20% in this correction. So, lets get real. The only persons that are really stuck are the persons that put little to no money down, but if they can hang on and continue to make their payments, they should be able to hang on.

A significant portion of persons in the Lexington housing market aren’t in that position. Quite a few made at least some contribution toward a down payment when purchasing their home. And we aren’t seeing a “huge” decline as some other parts of the country are currently dealing with.

To get the most value out of your home – you need to ensure that you are getting the most exposure that you can. Anyone can take out an ad in the local newspaper, and throw it on the Lexington MLS. But to attract buyers from other areas, you need to be seen where they are looking. This is currently primarily through the internet. If you aren’t able to be found quickly on a site thats in the first 5 or 10 positions for a particular search engine keyword – then you are missing out on a lot of eyeballs that may be interested in purchasing your home – but just can’t find it. Get found!

Lexington Homes Values: Increasing or Decreasing? is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

The only 2 cities with lower costs were Shreveport Louisiana, and Montgomery Alabama.

This marks the 3rd year in a row that Lexington KY has ranked #3.  Add in their quality of life, and the Lexington metropolitan area is definitely a good choice for most persons to consider.  Excellent choices abound for housing considerations.  Everything from first time home buyer starter homes, to luxury Lexington homes, all the way to world class horse farms, you can find it all within this metropolitan city.  Its large enough to offer most metropolitan conveniences, but small enough that it still has a small town “home-i-ness”(yes, I just created a new word! ) to it.  Congratulations to Lexington Kentucky for continuing to rank among the best in the USA.

Lexington Kentucky Cost of Living is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

But, there remains a potential for some opportunities for savvy investors.  The Lexington Kentucky newspaper, The Lexington Herald-Leader published an article recently that Lexington KY homes foreclosures for the metropolitan area have increased by 121% for 2007. If you examine the actual numbers, for 2006 there were 210 Lexington KY homes that were in some phase of foreclosure proceedings.  For 2007, there were 464 Lexington KY homes that were in some phase of foreclosure proceedings.  So, if you do the math:

464 – 210 = 254

254 / 210 = 121%

That sounds grim.

But, if you look at it from a broader perspective – that amount represents approximately 0.25% of all the Lexington Kentucky homes in the metropolitan area.  And if you compare it to the national average of 1.03%, and taking it a step further by comparing it to the top 100 largest metropolitan areas national average of 1.4%, things are starting to look a LOT better.

So, again this represents an example of where perception becomes reality.  The Lexington KY real estate market is somewhat softer than what it has been traditionally.  BUT, it is vastly more stable and superior to most of the rest of the United States.

If you want to get really shook up, lets look at some numbers for some other metropolitan areas in the USA:

Stockton California had an increase of 271% of homes in foreclosure

Sacramento California had an increase of 272% of homes in foreclosure

And the list goes on.

So, yes, while it might appear scary on the surface for many Lexington Ky homes owners, things really aren’t as bad as things may initially appear on the surface.

Homes are still selling.  And people are still buying.  You can expect longer market times if you are considering Lexington Ky homes for sale – but if its priced appropriately, and marketed correctly, you can expect it to sell within a reasonable time frame.

So, while many persons are running around like Chicken Little saying the sky is falling, the educated and informed can grasp the opportunity to make some smart purchases from those persons that are buying into the national hype and letting their emotions make some of their business decisions and choices for them.

Its a great time to buy real estate.  If you are considering making an upgrade, its probably worth it to stretch yourself and shoot for some of the luxury Lexington KY homes for sale that have been sitting on the market for a while.  When the market and national perception corrects itself, you will have made a smart purchase and will have probably picked up some built-in equity by buying the property correctly while the market was considered “soft”.

Review of the 2007 Lexington KY Real Estate Market is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

What led to the unfortunate accident is at approximately 7:00 in the morning, 6 yearlings were being moved from their paddock to the barn.  Something startled the horses, and 5 of them ran through the gate and down the road toward Mount Horeb Pike – with 4 ending up in the accident.  1 of the horses died instantly.  3 were euthanized on site.

Lanes End President Bill Farish did not disclose the sires or dams of the young horses, but he did admit that the horses belonged to Lanes End and their clients.

While it is unfortunate anytime there is an accident, this one is particularly unsettling.  Lanes End Farm’s inventory of world class thoroughbred stallions is highly touted as one of the best in the entire world.  Just some of the horses in their portfolio include former Horse of the Year: A.P. Indy whose stud fee is $300000.  They also have Kingmambo with a stud fee of $250000, and Smart Strike (sire of Horse of the Year Curlin) whose fee is $150000.  The quality of the 4 yearlings that were lost is likely some of the best in the thoroughbred industry and it is a shame to have lost that stock in the gene pool for this year’s crop of yearlings.

Lexington KY Farms Accident Kills 4 Horses is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

Overall, the sales of homes for sale in Lexington Kentucky decreased by 18.4% for December 2007 – with a year end value of a decrease of 8.2% relative to the previous year in 2006.

Overall, the average price for homes that sold was only slighty decreased from what they had been in previous years as announced by the Lexington Bluegrass Association of Realtors – so thats good news.  The average sold price was only decreased by 0.3% (a near negligible value in my opinion).  And the median price was only down approximately 1.2% overall.

And there were some high spots in the Lexington KY real estate market.  Values for townhomes and condominiums increased in 2007.  They both saw strong gains rising 6% with a median price increasing by 11%.  However, this isn’t necessarily statistically meaningful as less than 100 units are sold per month in the Lexington KY real estate market – and this number has possibly been swayed by the increase in new units of condominiums for sale in Lexington’s downtown area that are starting to come onto the local market.

December 2007 was a little off – with only 615 properties being sold, and the lowest since January 2007 when the market saw only 524 properties that were sold.

So, by now, I’m certain many of you are wondering how long did the homes take to sell.  The average market time for Lexington KY was 79 days in December 2007.  This is superior to what it was a year prior in December 2006 when it stood at 93 days, but again overall the average market time was much longer in 2007 with the average market time being 85 days – which is 9 days more than it was in 2006.

Again, December 2007 was a slow month for the local market.  The average sold price for a home in December was a decrease of 4.3%, and the median dropped 1.95%.

The amount of inventory on the market (the number of homes for sale in total actively), was fairly flat with less than a 1% adjustment between December 2006 and December 2007 – and overall for the entire year of 2007.  So, from an inventory standpoint, there really hasn’t been much change.  The total market inventory numbers are as follows:  December 2007 had 6263 homes for sale.  November 2007 had 6616 homes for sale.  This decrease can probably be reflected more to homes being taken off the market for the holidays, than homes that actually sold.

Now, lets look at the rate that sales are coming off the market.  For December 2007, the total number of pending homes (homes that have a contract on them that is waiting to close), was the lowest that its been in 3 years with a total of 469.  For reference, there were 594 in November 2007, and 544 in December 2006.

So, if you look at the big picture – you can see some 65oo or so homes for sale.  And that approximately 500-600 homes go pending each month.  This means that there is roughly 13 months worth of inventory on the market.  [6500 / 500-600 = approx. 13]  This indicates a soft Lexington KY real estate market overall.  Anytime you get over a few months of inventory – supply and demand economic basics start taking hold.  Anytime you have too much supply, and not enough demand, prices drop overall.

Now, that being said – is it a good time to sell your home?  YES – if you are moving up to a larger home.  The difference that you lose percentage-wise on your lower priced home, will be more than offset by the value that you will receive by the same percentage on the home of higher value.

If you are looking to downsize, or make a lateral move, its probably not the best time to do that if you have to sell your existing property.

But, it is a great time overall to buy real estate.  There are many sellers that need to get their property sold, and there are deals to be made.  Someone will be making some deals – and in a short period of time, you can reasonably expect that they’ll be sticking that money in their pocket by having built in equity when the real estate market improves.

Lexington KY Real Estate Market Review for 2007 is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

3rd amended development plan will be reviewed regarding a proposed retail development at 479 Lexington Road.  The development encompasses approximately 1.53 acres and is located at the corner of US 60 bypass & Lexington Road.  The previous use for the property was as a Citgo gasoline station.  Under the current proposed development plan, this property will keep the existing car wash that was used as part of the gas station as part of the overall development for the real estate.   The applicant is Prism Holdings LLC, and they have stated that the scope and design of this development would be in keeping with their other real estate development known as The Crossings which is along the US 60 bypass on a 3.398 acre parcel.   By adding the real estate at 479 Lexington Road, to this parcel – it would create one contiguous parcel of real estate for development.

1st amended development plan for Midway Fuel Properties LLC located at Georgetown Road at Leestown Pike will be reviewed.   The current proposed real estate development plan would include razing an existing building located on the property so that a bigger facility would be able to be constructed for the existing gas pumping operation.

Final development plan for Mortonsville Wings of Refuge Community Church located at 1030 & 1060 Delaney Ferry Road.  The proposed facility will include a 1 story building located on 1.61 acres with a 70 person seating capacity.  The property had previously been used by a church until it was destroyed by fire – and the current proposal is smaller in scope and size than what had been on the property previously.

Amended preliminary plat for Woolridge Gardens Phase III section 3 / Townhouses proposed by Woolridge LLC.

68 proposed home lots located near Falling Springs Blvd (which is currently zoned R1C).

A final townhouse plat for 12 townhouse lots located on Beech Street applied and proposed by Kingdom Construction, as well as a consolidation of the minor amended plat for Aachen Estates (B & M Farms LLC).

A proposed rural subdivision is also proposed at 134 and 138 Aachen Way which is located off of Tyrone Pike.

If you have any interest in the activity of the commission, be sure to attend the meeting and voice your concerns.

Versailles-Midway-Woodford County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate