Louisville Magazine

MAY 2012

Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.

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TOTAL SALES 15,500 15,000 14,500 14,000 13,500 13,000 12,500 12,000 11,500 11,000 10,500 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 š 7KH DYHUDJH VDOHV SULFH RI D VLQJOH IDPLO\ KRPH SHDNHG LQ -XQH DW RQ KRPHV VROG 2QO\ RQFH RYHU WKH ODVW GHFDGH ZHUH PRUH KRPHV VROG LQ RQH PRQWK Ř ZKHQ -XQH VDOHV RQ LQ 0DUFK VDZ š 7KH DYHUDJH VDOHV SULFH ERWWRPHG RXW DW KRPHV VROG 1. Price point: Homes are affordable ($97,000 *HUPLQDWLRQ LQ *HUPDQWRZQ %\ &ROOHHQ; 6WHZDUW Last December I moved to Germantown, a pragmatist's utopia of shotgun homesteads, neighborhood bars, bike-ability, urban gardens and minimalist charm, conveniently nestled between the Highlands and Old Louisville. I will admit to spending my first week in the neighborhood driving past rows of shotgun houses before I could efficiently recognize my own. But in time I've come to recognize why GT, as I've affectionately come to know it, is hot — hot for buying, renting and doing business. In the first three months of 2012, 15 homes sold in Germantown, up from 10 in the first three months of 2011. "People are adamant about the area, adamant about the lifestyle," says Louisville realtor Joe Hayden. And, he says, people are buying and renting in Germantown (and neighboring Schnitzelburg) for a few reasons. [52] LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 5.12 average), and renters get more space and yard for their money. 2. Stylish shotguns: Homeowners are renovating, and increasing the area's appeal. 3. Location: As gas prices rise, people want to walk and bike more. Again, Germantown is next to the Highlands. 4. Community: Germantown is close-knit. Recent college graduate and new nurse Ellie Cundiff just bought her avocado-green Bungalow with a porch swing in Germantown. "I decided to live in Germantown after I realized that my dream of living in the Highlands was financially unrealistic unless I was willing to settle for a small condo with little to no land," she says. She's not alone. Longtime resident Dan McMahon, who runs his Danny Mac's Pizza out of an AMVETS Post on South Shelby Street in Schnitzelburg, started the Germantown/ Schnitzelburg Facebook group in 2010 to share historic photos of the area, issue crime alerts and rally for fund-raisers. Currently "liked" by more than 7,500 people, the page "turned into something powerful," McMahon says. It has been used to organize help for tornado victims, find folks to clean back yards for the elderly and even replace a kid's stolen bike. McMahon says Facebook has united the community, like a church would have done when German immigrants began settling there in the 1850s. Te neighborhood is now a place where young urban farmers and artists mesh with residents who have lived there for more than 70 years. Bars such as the Four Pegs and Nachbar, and restaurants Hammerheads and Eiderdown, have sauntered into the neighborhood in recent years. Former Nachbar bartender Daniel Duncan opened Greenhaus, a beer/wine/plant/furniture shop on Preston Street in Schnitzelburg, and he says he has watched an influx of artists, hipsters, recent college grads and naturalists pour into the 'hood. "Te people are here, and now businesses are starting to build up around them," he says. "East Market might be where artists show their work, but Germantown is where they make it." AVERAGE PRICE: $163,317 TOTAL SALES: 10,975 AVERAGE PRICE: $166,333 AVERAGE PRICE: $158,331 TOTAL SALES: 11,652 AVERAGE PRICE: $165,727 TOTAL SALES: 11,375 AVERAGE PRICE: $173,723 TOTAL SALES: 14,762 AVERAGE PRICE: $173,104 TOTAL SALES: 15,185 AVERAGE PRICE: $171,247 TOTAL SALES: 15,288 AVERAGE PRICE: $164,430 TOTAL SALES: 13,901 AVERAGE PRICE: $161,557 TOTAL SALES: 12,730 AVERAGE PRICE: $153,468 TOTAL SALES: 10,867 AVERAGE PRICE: $153,044 TOTAL SALES: 10,650 TOTAL SALES: 11,442 Annual Sales of Single-Family Homes Although Louisville didn't experience the extreme highs and lows of the housing market witnessed in other parts of the country, it enjoyed a historic boom from 2005-'07, peaking with an average sales price of $173,723 in 2007. "The market is improving," says Alice Legette of Kentucky Select Properties. "But we'll never be back to that. That was the heyday."

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