Fayette County

A real estate development currently under construction is now apparently in jeopardy.  Tribecca Development Company was building some luxury Lexington condos in a development called The Mark - but worked stalled on the 36 unit complex located at East High Street & Woodland Avenue a few months ago.  Shortly thereafter, many contractors that had worked on the development, placed liens on the property stating that they had not been paid for services or materials provided.

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…

The ongoing drama with the economy, softening real estate markets, and banks tightening their requirements on loans continue to pinch the credit lines of Lexington area home builders.  As a result, the amount of new Lexington Homes for sale are on the decline.  This has results in both fewer new Lexington home permits being issued, and a new issue is starting to arise:  half finished homes are becoming more commonplace within the community.  What is happening is as builders get their credit lines called, they simply end up running out of money and can't afford to continue to work on homes - which then ends up costing them their permit (Home permits become void after 180 days of inactivity on the job site).

Here's a few snapshots of the metropolitan…

Lexington KY has received $1 million to purchase homes that are located in flood prone areas.  This money was given as a grant from FEMA to help reduce the amount of Lexington homes that are prone to water problems.  9 homes have been identified to have chronic flooding issues, and those homes will be purchased, and razed.  The properties are located in the Joyland subdivisionon Shandon Drive as well as Fort Sumter Drive which is located off Eastland Parkway here in Lexington KY.

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…

The local newspaper, the Lexington Herald-Leader recently had an article about how Lexington homes are more expensive than the homes in Louisville KY.  Their source for this comparison was the Coldwell Banker Home Price Comparison Index, which is released annually for persons to be able to compare what their homes value would be relative to properties in 315 other cities across the United States.  The standard of comparison utilized in the report was a 2200 sq.ft. home w/ 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a family room, and a 2 car garage.

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 most recent predictions are out regarding the national real estate and homes values that are expected to happen this year in 2008. Nationally, things are looking pretty bleak. Fannie Mae ran up over $2 billion (yes, with a B) in losses for the quarter and is predicting a decrease in homes and housing values this year. Foreclosure rates appear to be increasing - which when added to the already excess inventory thats built up in most markets around the country, will further exacerbate the problem. This then causes many home owners that got into their existing property for little or no money - to cause their equity to be stripped out completely as the value of their home decreases. Fannie Mae is predicting a potential decline in values nationally ranging…

According to an article in the Lexington Herald Leader newspaper, Lexington KY has the 3rd lowest cost of living in the United States for a mid sized metropolitan area.  [A mid sized metropolitan area is one that has between 100,000 and 500,000 persons.]
The report was prepared by KPMG LLC, and in comparing  numerous factors and considerations including transportation costs, property taxes, and electricity among others - Lexington Kentucky enjoys some of the lowest overall costs in the USA.  These reports are important for many businesses considering making a relocation, or expansion to a new area, but they can be invaluable tools for consumers as well.  After all, regular persons use electricity, pay taxes, etc just the same as the big companies - and…

A review of the 2007 Lexington KY real estate market shows some strength especially relative to many other parts of the country.

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 -…

The Lexington Kentucky newspaper, The Lexington Herald-Leader, had an interesting article on their Friday January 18 2008 edition of their newspaper on the front page regarding how homes for sale in Lexington KY and the rest of the central region in Kentucky, had declined overall for 2007.  So, these figures represent the entire metropolitan area including Georgetown, Nicholasville, Versailles, etc.

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…

The following is an overview of the schedule items to be discussed at the next Versailles-Midway-Woodford County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting to be held on Thursday January 10, 2008 @ 6:30 pm:

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…

A new piece of real estate is available now in Lexington Kentucky:  The Springs Inn.

This property has been in business for nearly 60 years and is somewhat of a fixture in Lexington.

The property has been for sale for approximately 2 months, and the owners are anticipating it taking 6 months for the property to sell.  As such, they are currently only booking rooms through July because beyond that, they expect it will be for the new property owner to determine what rates/terms he would want to charge for use of the property.

The current owners have owned The Springs Inn since the mid 1980s and have said that they would like to move on to other things, and that business is still quite good for the hotel.

This mainstay has been long time popular with…