"Not So Sixties" Home and Garden Tour

For those of you who can't get enough of HGTV, love to see what your neighbors have done to renovate or decorate their homes or enjoy the beauty of a fine residential garden, you might want to consider attending the Barberry Heights "Not So Sixties" Home and Garden tour in West Lafayette. Barberry Heights is a West Lafayette neighborhood developed in the 1960's and early 1970's, north of Sagamore Parkway and south of Cumberland Avenue between Salisbury and Soldiers Home Roads.

Here's a snippet from the material promoting the event.

"REMEMBER THE 60’S? Acres of avocado green and harvest
gold shag carpeting inside, with rows of round trimmed yew
bushes, looking like big fat birds, for landscaping in the yard?
Barbarry Heights is NOT SO SIXTIES now! Five neighbors
are inviting you to see their remodeled family homes and four
more are showing their gardens. All have been updated and
remodeled, highlighting what owner effort and imagination
can do to transform homes and landscaping.
Please join us to see large open spaces, lofts, wide windows,
new kitchens, and family antiques mixed with new colors and
collections. Gardens include Japanese, cottage, with medicinal
and aromatic plants, and just beautiful.
--Maybe a few new ideas, and at least a lovely afternoon!"

Tickets can be purchased in advanced at Ace Hardware and Gretel's in WL or Bennett's Garden Center in Lafayette Tickets can be purchased the day of the event in Lomell Park near the intersection of Barlow and Wilshire Streets in Barberry Heights. Tickets are $5 a piece. Children under 12 years old are free.

Life after the Home Buyers' Tax Credit

When I last wrote, I commented that it has been hard to quantify the impact of the Federal Home Buyers' Tax Credit Now that we have sales numbers, it's easier to measure. The results are very exciting.

Overall, sales volume in the Greater Lafayette residential market area through 4/30/10 were up by 38% from the same period of 2009. As I suggested in my prior post, the increase in activity was not equally spread across all price points. Although designed to assist home buyers at a multiple of price ranges, the value was found to be the highest among first time home buyers. Sales volume below in homes priced below $150,000 was up by 64%. On the other hand, volume between $150,000 and $300,000 was only up by 13%. But the important work in that sentence is "up". A very interesting occurrence took place in the market between $300,000 and $450,000, where volume rose by 80%. That is amazing.

On a more troublesome note, the softness in demand in houses priced above $450,000 continued to be slow. Sales volume in the first four months was 88% below the same period in 2009. Take a look at the link I created that shows the quality of homes for sale above $450,000.
Homes for sale above in Lafayette/West Lafayette above $450,000.

In the weeks that followed the 4/30/10 expiration of the tax credit eligibility, we saw a significant decrease in the number of showings of our listings. This is comes as no large surprise. There is no doubt that the attractive terms of the tax credit accelerated some demand that might have occurred otherwise later in the year. However as a group of real estate professionals, we would be remiss if we did not remind all members of our community that now, more than ever, is an excellent time to purchase a new home.

• Interest rate are very attractive.
• Our major employers are calling employees back to work.
• The Lilly to Evonik sale is complete and jobs are saved.
• There is an abundance of well priced homes for sale.
• Greater Lafayette continues to be a national leader in the stability of property values.

There is still more than enough time to identify and purchase a home before the 2010/2011 school year begins.

P.S. The Barn is at Historic Prophetstown in the Prophetstown State Park.