By Dennis Norman, on August 26th, 2013
With all the talk lately about many St Louis neighborhoods going from the doldrums to a sellers market many would-be home buyers (and investors) are asking where are the buyers markets are in St Louis? The are looking for the areas where the opportunity still exists to negotiate a better deal and not have to worry about getting caught in a multiple offer situation like we are seeing in some of the hotter markets today. While the upside to a buyer’s market is less competition and perhaps a better price, the downside is there is a reason Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 24th, 2013
Lending Tree just released a list ranking the credit quality of perspective homebuyers by State based upon home loan applications during the 2nd quarter of 2013 and the report gives Missouri a score of 75.69 out of a possible 100, bringing our state in at 41st in the nation. In determining the credit quality of the borrower or “borrower health” in Lending Tree terms, they take into consideration three things on perspective homebuyer loan applications: weighted average of credit score, loan-to-value ratio [LTV] and overall lendability of mortgage-seekers to arrive at a score.
At the top of the list, Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 22nd, 2013
Lenders Guarantee Title Company Manager, Elizabeth Glosemeyer, plead guilty yesterday to two counts of wire fraud stemming from her activities as manager of the title company. In an indictment issued in June, it as alleged that “profitability suffered” at Lenders Guarantee Title as a result of the financial crisis of 2008 leaving the company without sufficient cash flow to pay its bills and obligations causing Glosemeyer, as manager, to “take money from the Lenders escrow account to fund operations.” This ultimately left the escrow account for the title company short and as a result, according to the indictment, Lenders Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 22nd, 2013
Today, RealtyTrac released its’ list of the “Top Housing Markets for Health and Wealth” with metro areas in the U.S. that scored the best in the health and wealth areas addressed by the report. The report examined lifestyle (including fast food restaurants per capita, adult activity rate and smoking rate), disease (including diabetes and obesity rate), environment (clean air days), economy (unemployment) and real estate (3 year appreciation rate). At the top of the list is Austin Texas with an 81 percent activity rate, 10 percent smoking rate, 5,8 percent unemployment and 27 percent real estate appreiciation in the Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 18th, 2013 This past week, Andy Van Slyke sold his Ladue Manse at 710 S. Price for $3,200,000 after being listed for sale for just 48 days, albeit at a sales price of just 80% of the asking price of $3,975,000. Andy and wife, Lauri built this french-inspired mansion in 2001 with with over 6,000 square feet of living area (with an additional 3,000 square feet in the lower level) situated on 1.8 acres of well-manicured grounds and including all the features you would expect in this price range such as exquisite architectural design, high-end finishes, a pool but also has features Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 16th, 2013
Bidding wars for homes in St Louis cooled in July as the number of home sales where the final sales price exceeded the list price at the time of sale was 14.7 percent of all home sales in the St Louis 5-county core area (City of St Louis and Counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin), according to the latest data from MORE, REALTORS. This is down 8.7 percent from June, when 16.1 percent of the homes sold in St Louis were sold at a price in excess of the list price. Nationally, in July almost half Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 15th, 2013
The number of St Louis homeowners with a foreclosure filing in July was 1,183 homeowners, a decline of 1.09 percent from June and a whopping decline of 36.4 percent from a year ago when 1,860 properties had a foreclosure filing, according to a report just released this morning by RealtyTrac. This works out to one in every 1,052 St Louis properties receiving a foreclosure filing, slightly lower than the national rate of one in every 1,001 properties and well below the 1 in every 250 rate in Miami, the metro area with the highest foreclosure rate in the U.S. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 14th, 2013
St Louis new home construction activity increased in June 2013 with 424 building permits for new homes being issued in the St Louis metro area (the area served by the Home Builders Association of St Louis and Eastern Missouri) an increase of 26.2 percent from the month before and is an increase of 63.7 percent from June 2012 when there were just 259 building permits issued for new homes, according to data published by the Home Builders Association of St Louis and Eastern Missouri.
While this is good news for the building industry, as the chart below Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 13th, 2013
St Louis’ year-over-year inventory of homes for sale has declined from 18,740 active listings for sale in the core St Louis market (City of St Louis and Counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) from 18,740 homes for sale in July 2012 to 16,888 homes for sale last month, a decline of 9.9 percent in the year-over-year inventory, according to MORE, REALTORS. This is nearly double the national rate of decline in the inventory of homes for sale which was 5.24 percent for the same period, according to the National Association of REALTORS.
During the Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 12th, 2013
St Louis’ Slowest Selling Neighborhoods can be found throughout the St Louis area. To find the “slow selling neighborhoods” I look at the median days on market of the current homes listed for sale with the logic that, if the median time on the market is very high for listings, then the majority of the homes are taking quite a while to sell.
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By Dennis Norman, on August 11th, 2013
Ok, so you’re a guy, you went to church this morning with the family, came home and did a couple of “honey do” projects, played with the kids and walked the dog. Now it’s time for a little “ME TIME”, right? But…how do you get your peace and quiet to kick back and watch the game and yet still be at home with your family? The answer is simple…you need a MAN CAVE! What? No room in the house for one as the family has taken over? No problem! Here’s the answer, a Man Cave Shed! Best I can Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 10th, 2013
Home Price Appreciation for 2013 is expected to be 6.75 percent (year-over-year from 2012), according to the average estimate of a panel of 106 economists surveyed by Pulsenomics. Interesting enough, though the economists had varying opinions, not one panelist project a decrease in home prices for 2013, in fact the lowest estimation of home price increase for 2013 was 1.69 percent and at the other end of the spectrum, the highest projection was 15 percent.
Also worth noting from the survey was the fact that 88 percent of the economists on the panel did not feel that Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 9th, 2013
It’s a seller’s market in 60 St Louis Neighborhoods!
That’s right, according to the latest market data from MORE, REALTORS. 60 St Louis neighborhoods are experiencing a seller’s market while only 8 have a buyer’s market. Which ones you ask? Invest 5 minutes of your time watching my market up date video below and you will find out!
Thinking of selling and want to know if your neighborhood is a seller’s market? Contact us and we’ll answer that question for you.
Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 8th, 2013
Home prices increased during the 2nd quarter of 2013, on a year-over-year basis, in 87 percent of the metro areas in the U.S. according to data released today by the National Association of REALTORS (NAR). Home prices increased in the U.S., from a median of $181,300 in the 2nd quarter of 2012, 12.2 percent to $203,500 in the 2nd quarter of 2013, according to NAR. (For complete NAR Report click here)
Locally, the St. Louis MSA saw a modest increase of 1.5 percent from $134,600 to $136,600 during the same period. Drilling down though to the 5 county core Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 8th, 2013
That’s right, along with very affordable home prices, Missouri also has almost the lowest closing costs in the nation at an average of $2,188 for lenders’ origination fees and third party fees, second only to the state of Wisconsin with average closing costs of $2,119, according to the 2013 closing cost survey by Bankrate.
See table below for survey results for all states:
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Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 7th, 2013
Nearly three out of four people (74%) say now is a good time to buy a home, according to the July 2013 National Housing Survey by Fannie Mae. In addition, forty-percent of the people surveyed feel now is a good time to sell a home, this is up for 36 percent that felt that way the month before and matches the survey high since it’s inception.
SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS:
Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 5th, 2013
St Louis’ Fastest Selling Neighborhoods can be found primarily in the West St Louis County area but, as the table below shows, most areas of the St Louis area have at least some representation on the list. For the purposes of this table, I look at the median days on market of the current homes listed for sale with the logic that, if the median time on the market is very low for listings, then homes must be selling fast or the neighborhood has the most impatient sellers in town who are giving up and canceling their listing within Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 5th, 2013 The results of a recent Rasmussen poll clearly reveal that American’s confidence in the housing market as a whole, and their home’s specifically, is returning with only 12 percent (12%) answering yes to the question; “Will home prices decline further?”, according to the poll. This is down from 14 percent that felt home prices would drop in the prior survey in June and is the lowest percentage since Rasmussen began doing this poll in April 2009. Home prices are expected to rise in the next year by 34 percent of those polled and 51 percent expect home prices to remain Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 4th, 2013
It’s Sunday and that means that many potential home buyers will spend time this afternoon visiting an open house, as will nosey neighbors, people looking for decorating ideas and people with time on their hands looking for something to do. So, what type of home buyers visit an open house? Below are the results of a survey conducted by the National Association of REALTORS addressing this question: Looking for Open Houses? There are over 700 homes open today…Visit StLouisOpenHouses.com for a complete list or click here The “typical” home buyer that visits an open house is: Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 3rd, 2013
St Louis mortgage interest rates are on the rise and hitting levels we have not seen in the past year and a half and the 3.x percent rates we have become somewhat accustomed to are gone. However, before you panic or think the housing market is headed toward another crash as a result, you should keep in mind that todays rates (see below for current rates) of about 4.5 percent for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage is still lower than the average monthly mortgage interest was for more than 40 years proceeding 2012. Granted, looking back, 2012 was Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 2nd, 2013
Homeowners are feeling pretty optimistic about the housing market and in fact, in a survey conducted by Pulte Homes, almost half (43%) of the move-up buyers indicated they are planning on buying a new home within the next five years. Over three in four (76%) of move-up buyers feel they can sell their current home within years at a price that would permit them to buy a new home.
According to the survey, the need to downsize is a common reason why homeowners decide to purchase a new home. Other reasons given for deciding to buy a new home Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 1st, 2013 City of St Peters MO agrees to pay fine and change discriminatory ordinance
The Justice Department announced today that the city of St. Peters, Mo. will pay $80,000 and make changes to its zoning laws to settle a lawsuit alleging that the city violated the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it denied a zoning request to operate a group home for four women with intellectual disabilities. The lawsuit is part of the Justice Department’s continuing effort to enforce civil rights laws that require states and municipalities to end Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 31st, 2013 Over the years I have seen many “St Louis For Sale By Owners” (FSBO’s), you know those people that decide they can sell their house themselves without the help of a professional, make a variety of mistakes in the way they handle the sale of their property. The mistakes range from minor ones that will probably just cost them some heartburn to major mistakes that could lead to serious legal troubles.
What are the most common mistakes made by FSBO’s?
Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 30th, 2013
While Home Ownership Rate In U.S. Is At Lowest Level In 18 Years St Louis Bucks Trend
St Louis Home Ownership Rate is bucking the national trend by rising and came in at 74.1 percent for the 2nd quarter of 2013 and a 74.2 for the 1st quarter. This year has started out with the highest rate of home ownership since 2006!
Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 30th, 2013
The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) reported that it’s pending home sales index for June slipped to 110.9 from the six-year high it hit in May at 111.3 as home sales slowed as a result of increasing home prices and interest rates. Even though home sales declined in June, the index was still 10.9 percent higher than it was a year ago when it was at 100. It just so happens, “100” in the index equals sales activity during the year 2001, which was the first year for NAR’s pending home sales index. NAR’s forecast calls for existing home Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 29th, 2013
I wrote about St Louis’ hottest real estate markets the other day however, just because we are seeing so many neighborhoods become seller’s markets, it does not necessarily mean that home prices are on the rise. In fact, in many neighborhoods large numbers of sellers are reducing their asking prices.
The table below shows the current list of St Louis neighborhoods with the highest percentage of listings that have had price reductions in the past 90 days. This table is “real-time” so will change as the data changes, but as of the writing of this article, there are 5 Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 27th, 2013 It’s becoming pretty well known that the housing market is improving and, given the fact that real estate is VERY local, some markets are naturally performing better. So, with this in mind, where are St Louis’ hottest real estate markets? Well, as of today, according to the Market Action IndexTM by MORE, REALTORS, the hottest St Louis market today is the 63131 zip code area of Des Peres which has a Market Action Index (MAI) of 53 today (the table below is real-time so, depending on the date you are reading this, it could be different.
An index of “30” Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 26th, 2013
The truth on the Mortgage Interest Deduction
Currently, lawmakers in Washington D.C., while looking for ways to “close loopholes” and cut spending, are looking hard at something once considered “untouchable”, the mortgage interest deduction (MID). While there is probably little chance of totally eliminating the ability for homeowners to deduct the mortgage interest they paid on their homes, there is a possibility the deduction could be altered significantly or capped, and, perhaps, even phased out over time.
Like most current events, there are stories out there with varying degrees of accuracy about the benefit of the mortgage interest deduction Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 25th, 2013
St Louis distressed home sales have fallen substantially in the past year with distressed home sales in June making up less than 1 in 5 home sales (18.3 percent) for the 5 county core area of the St Louis MO market (St Louis City and County, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin Counties), according to the latest data from MORE, REALTORS. REO sales (bank and government-owned properties) accounted for just 15.8 percent of St Louis home sales in June (5 county core), down from 22.6 percent in June 2012. Short sales (where sellers sell for less than they owe) accounted Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 24th, 2013 The great flood of ’93 revealed the importance of flood insurance to many St Louis area property owners that found their homes either underwater or threatened by flood though they never before thought it possible. As a result of that flood as well as subsequent floods brought on by hurricanes in coastal areas and other major storms inland, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) found itself in a position where major changes were needed in order to continuing providing flood coverage and at fair rates. Therefore the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 was passed which makes sweeping changes to Continue Reading →
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