Dennis Norman - St Louis Real Estate News

Help For Underwater Homeowners-FHA Short Refinance

By Dennis Norman, on December 5th, 2014

In 2010, in an effort to “help responsible homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than the value of their property”, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) began a program that allowed lenders to offer refinancing options to underwater borrowers that included a reduction in the principal amount of their mortgage to get it more in line with the current value.

This program, called the “FHA Refinance of Borrowers in Negative Equity Positions (Short Refi) Program”, has helped only about 4,000 people or so reduce their loan balances, in spite of the fact that when announced Continue Reading →

St Louis Metro Area 14th Lowest Performing Real Estate Market

By Dennis Norman, on December 4th, 2014

St Louis ranked 14th on Clear Capital’s list of the 15 Lowest Performing Real Estate Markets based upon home price appreciation on a quarter over quarter basis. The report, based upon data through November 2014, shows Hartford, CT at the top of the list with a .6% loss in home prices for the most recent quarter from the prior quarter. The rest of the metro areas on the list, like St Louis, did have an increase in home prices from the prior quarter, just all .7% of less. At the other end of the spectrum, as the table below shows, Continue Reading →

Who Lives In Ferguson?

By Dennis Norman, on December 2nd, 2014

I spent most of my childhood as well as my early adulthood living in Ferguson and have fond memories of those days. I remember, as a young child, walking down South Florissant Road, south of Carson Road, past a head shop surrounded by hippies in a building on the east side of the street where now is just a parking lot, thinking how strange everyone looked and wondering what a head shop was. I also remember riding my bike all the way from my parents house on Spring to E.J. Korvette’s in Cool Valley to buy my mom a mothers Continue Reading →

St Louis Distressed Home Sales Down Dramatically In Past Year

By Dennis Norman, on November 28th, 2014

St Louis Distressed Home Sales continue to have less impact on the St Louis real estate market paving the way for sustainable home appreciation, according to the latest data available from RealtyTrac. According to the chart below, short sales in St Louis accounted for just 1% of the overall home sales last month, a 10% decrease from the month before and a decrease of almost 68% from a year ago. Nationally, short sales accounted for 5% of all home sales last month.

St Louis REO’s (bank-owned properties obtained through foreclosure) declined slightly in October from the month before and dropped Continue Reading →

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Dennis Norman, on November 27th, 2014

Thanksgiving Proclamation By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish Continue Reading →

St Louis New Home Sales Slip Slightly In October

By Dennis Norman, on November 26th, 2014

St Louis New Home Sales in October 2014 slipped 3.8% behind October 2013 but increased a little over 16% from the month before. The St Louis new home sales activity followed suit with the Midwest Region of the U.S. which saw a 15.8% increase in new home sales activity in October from the month before but a decline of 2.9% from October 2013, according to data just released by the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD.

As the chart below shows, the median price of new homes sold in St Louis in October 2014 was $205,000 a decline of 4.7% from Continue Reading →

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Told To Allow Foreclosed Homeowners To Buy Their Home Back

By Dennis Norman, on November 25th, 2014

Today, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) told Fannie May and Freddie Mac to change their policies to allow foreclosed homeowners the opportunity to buy their home back at the property’s fair-market value, just like any other purchaser can. Currently, if a foreclosed homeowner wanted to buy their home back from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac they would be required to pay the entire amount owed on their previous mortgage although a non-related purchaser, not buying the home for the benefit of the former homeowner, only has to pay the current fair market value.

“This is a targeted, but important Continue Reading →

Will Millennials Fuel Home Sales Next Year?

By Dennis Norman, on November 24th, 2014

The Millennial generation, consisting of people born between 1980 and the mid-2000s, make up about one-third of the U.S. population and, as more of them are becoming adults, have been seen as perhaps the saving grace to a lagging home market. Unfortunately, thus far, the Millennial’s have appeared to favor renting rather than buying, although that may be more the result of necessity than desire, the result of increased student loan debt and tight lending standards. However, according to a survey of Millenial’s recently conducted by the California Association of REALTORS, a majority of the Millenial’s plan to buy Continue Reading →

Property Flips In St Louis Down Over 50 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on November 21st, 2014

Property “flips” in St Louis slowed during the 3rd quarter of this year to just 234 properties flipped in the St Louis MSA during the quarter making up 2.6% of overall home sales for the quarter, a decline of 20% from the quarter before and a decline of 55% from the third quarter of 2013, according to data just released by RealtyTrac. Property flipping is a term that has been loosely applied to a variety of real estate transactions but, for the purpose of this report, was considered to be when a single family home sold in during the third Continue Reading →

Will The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 Be Extended?

By Dennis Norman, on November 20th, 2014

UPDATE December 17, 2014 – Congress has passed an extension of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 through December 31, 2014 – It is part of a bill that has been sent to President Obama for his approval. This falls short of the two year extension the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), among other groups, was pushing for which would have covered next year as well, but is at least some relief for those affected this year.

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 provided relief for homeowners that receive forgiveness on some of their mortgage debt Continue Reading →

New Home Construction Slows In The Midwest

By Dennis Norman, on November 19th, 2014

New Home Construction in the Midwest Region of the U.S. slowed in October with new home building permits being used at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 102,000 homes, a decline of 3.8% from September but a 4.1% increase from October 2014, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD. Year to date for 2014, through October, there have been 89,100 permits issued for new homes, down very slightly from the same time last year when there had been 89,400 new home permits issued.

New Home Starts Fall Dramatically In The Midwest In October-

Construction began on Continue Reading →

Effect Of School Districts On St Louis Home Prices

By Dennis Norman, on November 18th, 2014

I think most people know that good schools benefit the housing market and home prices in that district by creating more demand for homes in the district. This demand contributes to a healthy market and, the ultimate hope of most home owners, appreciating home prices that yield a good return on the investment over time. Conversely, the opposite is generally believed to be true as well that a poor school district has a negative effect on the housing market and home prices within that district.

How much effect does a school district have on home prices, whether a good district or Continue Reading →

St Louis’ 15 Top Buyer’s Market Neighborhoods

By Dennis Norman, on November 17th, 2014

Over two-thirds of the 68 St Louis neighborhoods that we track favor sellers, according to our Market Action IndexTM, leaving 20 St Louis neighborhoods (32%) that are currently buyer’s markets. As the table below shows, the top buyers market in the St Louis area as of today is Saint Albans with a Market Action Index of 20, followed by House Springs with a 24. Our Market Action IndexTM looks at supply, demand and inventory for an area and then applies an index value to it based upon 30 begin a balanced market not favoring buyers or sellers. The farther the Continue Reading →

St Louis Foreclosure Activity Increases In October But Down Overall

By Dennis Norman, on November 14th, 2014

St Louis Foreclosure Activity was on the rise during the month of October with a big spike in foreclosure activity from the month before in St Charles and Franklin Counties as well as the St Louis MSA as a whole, according to newly released data from RealtyTrac. As the table below shows, St Charles County saw an increase of over 3,000% in foreclosure activity during the month of October from September, and over a 400% increase in activity from October 2013, however, this is the result of a large influx of REO property in October. When you look at the Continue Reading →

Missouri Supreme Court Strikes Down St Louis County Foreclosure Mediation Ordinance

By Dennis Norman, on November 13th, 2014

Yesterday, the Missouri Supreme Court handed down it’s decision in the case “Missouri Bankers Association, Inc., and Jonesburg State Bank v. St. Louis County, Missouri, and Charlie A. Dooley” ruling in favor of the Appellants (Missouri Bankers Association and Jonesburg State Bank) and against the Respondents (St Louis County and Charlie A. Dooley) by reversing an lower courts decision that ruled the Banker’s suit was moot. The original suit was filed after St Louis county enacted its “Mortgage Foreclosure Intervention Code” which, among other things, required mediation prior to a bank or other lender proceeding with a foreclosure on a Continue Reading →

St Louis’ Most Expensive Neighborhoods

By Dennis Norman, on November 12th, 2014

Huntleigh is at the top of the list of St Louis’ Most Expensive Neighborhoods with homes selling in the past year at a median price of $1,375,000 followed by Ladue with a median sale price of $797,000, according to MORE, REALTORS. The chart below depicts median sale prices in blue for the 10 most expensive cities in the St Louis area and the median list prices in orange.

In terms of median list price, Huntleigh is also number 1 on the list with a median price of $2,350,000 for homes currently listed for sale followed by Westwood with a median Continue Reading →

How To Sell Your Home For The Highest Price In The Shortest Time

By Dennis Norman, on November 11th, 2014

Would you like to know how to sell your home for the highest price in the shortest time? If so, perhaps the best place to find the answer is from prior sellers that have been successful in doing just that. This, and much more information gathered from home owners that sold a home in the past year, was just released in the National Association of REALTORS 2014 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. This gives some great insight into what worked for sellers as well as what did not.

Highlights from the NAR 2014 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers:

Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales and Prices Market Update VIDEO-November 2014

By Dennis Norman, on November 10th, 2014

St Louis home prices have increased in the past year while home sales are lagging a little behind last years pace largely due to a lack of inventory of homes for sale. Get more details on this, as well as a complete update on St Louis home sales, St Louis home prices as well as the St Louis Real Estate market in general in our new, 5-minute, market video update below.

There are neighborhoods throughout St Louis that are low on inventory and high on demand creating a seller’s market! If you have considered selling your home, or perhaps tried Continue Reading →

Brinkmann Constructor’s Founders’ St Albans La Charette Estate Hit’s Market

By Dennis Norman, on November 7th, 2014

Robert G. Brinkmann, founder and CEO of Brinkmann Constructors, has listed for sale his 12,000 square foot St Albans estate home for $8.5 million. The Brinkmann estate, named “La Charette”, sits on 15.7 acres overlooking the Missouri river valley and claims to have “the most beautiful views in St Louis”. I was pondering the name given the estate, “La Charette”, and did a little research to try to find a connection between the name and Brinmann, who built the home 12 years ago. I looked first at the french definition of the word which is basically a “cart”, sort of like a chariot or wagon which at first made no sense to me until I discovered this type of French cart was often used to transport drawings. However, the other definition I found of it, which seems perhaps even more fitting, is (from Merriam’s) “the intense final effort made by architectural students to complete their solutions to a given architectural problem in an allotted time or the period in which such an effort is made.” Continue Reading →

St Louis Area Cash Home Sales On The Decline

By Dennis Norman, on November 6th, 2014

Cash home sales’ percentage of overall home sales declined during the 3rd quarter of this year from the 2nd quarter in the city of St Louis as well as St Louis and St Charles County, according to data just released by RealtyTrac. As the table below shows, the counties of Jefferson and Franklin saw cash sales take a bigger share of their home sales during the same period.

Purchases of homes by institutional investors increased during the 3rd quarter from the quarter before in Franklin and Jefferson County as well as the City of St Louis and declined in St Continue Reading →

Top Real Estate Exec’s Thoughts On The Housing Market

By Dennis Norman, on November 5th, 2014

Broker-owners and top executives of leading real estate firms across the U.S., responsible for nearly half of all the home sales in the U.S., were surveyed in October 2013 and then again last month, about their confidence in the housing market as well as their outlook for the housing market. The survey, commissioned by Imprev, revealed that real estate execs are not as optimistic now about the outlook for the housing market as they were a year ago.

Survey results are shown on the info graphics below:

(We work hard on this and sure would appreciate a “Like”)[iframe http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FStLouisRealEstateNews&send=false&layout=standard&width=50&show_faces=false&font&colorscheme=light&action=like&height=35&appId=537283152977556 100 Continue Reading →

Who Are The Home Buyers Today?

By Dennis Norman, on November 4th, 2014

As the look, size, price and location of homes we live in has changed over the years so the typical buyer of these homes. The best way to find out what the typical home buyer is like and what they are looking for in a home is to turn to the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) annual survey of Home Buyers and Sellers. Annually, NAR produces the results of the massive survey they conduct and just today they released the 2014 survey results which I will highlight below.

(We work hard on this and sure would appreciate a “Like”)[iframe Continue Reading →

St Louis New Home Building Permits Increase In September

By Dennis Norman, on October 30th, 2014

St Louis new home building permits issued in September increased by 6 percent from a year ago for the 5-county core area of St Louis (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin), according to data just released by the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri. On a year to date basis, as the table below shows, the city of St Louis is up 13 percent from the same period last year, St Louis county is up 2 percent and the rest of the counties are running behind last years numbers.

Continue Reading →

Ballwin Makes List Of Top 50 Suburbs In America

By Dennis Norman, on October 30th, 2014

Business Insider just produced it’s list of “The 50 Best Suburbs in America” and Ballwin made the list coming in at number 46. Ballwin was the only Missouri suburb on the list. To compile the top 50 list, Business Insider considered suburbs with populations between 5,000 and 100,000 within about 25 miles of the nearest metro area and then ranked the suburb on commute times, median household income, crime and poverty rates, housing affordability and school rankings.

Get neighborhood info on Ballwin here See all homes for sale in Ballwin here

(We work hard on this and sure would appreciate Continue Reading →

Zombies Are Becoming Scarce In St Louis

By Dennis Norman, on October 29th, 2014

Halloween may be just two days away however zombies are getting harder to find in St Louis, or at least “foreclosure zombies“. That’s right, according to the latest data from RealtyTrac, during the 3rd quarter of this year St Louis had 481 zombie foreclosures (homes in the foreclosure process, not yet foreclosed upon and the owner has vacated) or about 33 percent of the St Louis foreclosures. This is down 40 percent from the quarter before and down 70 percent from a year ago.

This is good news as zombie foreclosures quickly become a nuisance as well as an eyesore Continue Reading →

St Louis Distressed Home Sales Continue To Decline

By Dennis Norman, on October 28th, 2014

Distressed home sales in St Louis accounted for 7.97 percent of all home sales during the 3rd quarter, down from 9.84 percent the quarter before and down a whopping 40 percent from a year ago when distressed sales accounted for 13.6 percent of all homes sold in the St Louis MSA, according to the latest data from RealtyTrac. State-wide for Missouri, distressed home sales made up 7.12 percent of home sales during 3rd quarter, lower than the rate for St Louis however, at the other side of our state, in Kansas City, distressed home sales share of home sales was Continue Reading →

St Louis Pending Home Sales In September Increase From Last Year

By Dennis Norman, on October 27th, 2014

St Louis pending home sales increased in September to 2,285 for the 5-county core St Louis housing market (St Louis city and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) from 2,203 in September 2013, an increase of 3.7%, according to the latest MLS data. Year to date, the number of pending home sales for 2014 is running about 3.3% behind last year however.

Visit StLouisMLS.com Find ALL Homes Open This Weekend Continue Reading →

St Louis New Home Sales In September Increase Slightly From Last Year

By Dennis Norman, on October 24th, 2014

St. Louis new home sales in September 2014 increased 3.26% from September 2013 while the average St Louis new home sales price increased 10.97% during the same period, according to the latest data from Maris.

On a national level, new home sales in September 2014 were up 17% from September 2013 and in the Midwest region sales were up 6.7% during the same period. The average new home sales price in the U.S. in September 2014 was $259,000, a 4% decline from a year ago when the average price was $269,800, according to the U.S. Census Bureaiu.

See St Louis Continue Reading →

Over Half Of Ferguson Homeowners Have Negative Equity

By Dennis Norman, on October 23rd, 2014

Over half of the homeowners in Ferguson are in a negative-equity position meaning their current mortgage loan balance exceeds the current value of their home, according to data from RealtyTrac. According to the latest data available, 51% of the homeowners in Ferguson with a mortgage are seriously underwater on their mortgages with balances that are equal to or higher than 125% of the value of their homes. Another 14% of Ferguson homeowners have mortgage balances of between 90% and 110% of the value of their homes.

Ferguson Serious Underwater Rate More Than Double Rate for St Louis MSA…

As the Continue Reading →

Almost half of St Louis County Homeowners With Mortgage Are Underwater or Nearly Underwater

By Dennis Norman, on October 23rd, 2014

Over 80,000 homeowners, or 27% of all homeowners with a mortgage, in St Louis County are seriously underwater on their mortgage meaning the total balance of their mortgages represents 125% or more of the current value of their home. In addition, there are 53,548 homeowners, or 18% of all homeowners with a mortgage, in St Louis County that have mortgage balances between 90% and 110% of the value of their home, according to data just released by RealtyTrac.

As the table below shows, for the St Louis MSA, 21% of homeowners with a mortgage are underwater and 19% have “resurfacing equity” (mortgage balances equal 90% Continue Reading →