St Louis Zip Codes Where Home Prices Have Increased The Most In Past 12 Months

Home prices in the St Louis metro area increased at what is a pretty “normal” rate (historically speaking) of about 3.5% in the past year. However, as you hear me say often, all real estate is local, so the market varies significantly from neighborhood to neighborhood. For example, on our St Louis Median Home Price Change by Zip list (part of which is shown below), of the 101 zip codes shown, 87 had an increase in home prices in the past 12-months from the prior 12-months, 1 remained even, and 13 saw a decline in home prices. For the increases Continue Reading →

Are Home Prices Too High in Jefferson County? Is a Correction Coming?

Yesterday, I had lunch with a friend in the industry who expressed his concern that the Jefferson County real estate market was cooling off a little and questioned the possibility a market correction. I referenced the article I wrote last week in which I explored the possibility of a market correction in St Louis and, based upon the data we have, came to the conclusion there wasn’t anything to be alarmed about at this time. However, I had looked at the 5 counties that make up the St Louis core market as a whole (which included Jefferson County) but did Continue Reading →

Housing Market Report Card Gives 28 St Louis Neighborhood An “A” and 16 An “F”

In a neighborhood housing market report card just released by ATTOM Data Solutions, 10,950 neighborhoods across the nation were given a grade ranging from an A to an F. The neighborhood grades were based upon six factors related to the housing market: housing affordability, home price appreciation, public school scores, crime rates, unemployment rates and property taxes.

In all, 82 neighborhoods in the St Louis metro area received a grade with 28 of them receiving an A, 17 a B, 13 a C, 8 a D and 16 received an F. The list below shows the top 10 St Louis Continue Reading →

St. Louis’ Top 10 Fastest Selling Cities In July 2018

During the month of July, the homes that sold in Maplewood, Missouri took a median time of just 5 days to sell making Maplewood the fastest SOLD city in the St Louis MSA for July 2018! For July, the two fastest selling cities in St Louis took less time to sell than the number 1 city on June’s list (Columbia, IL at 9 days).

Considering the sales that closed in June were from contracts executed during the spring market, we would expect the time to sell to be low, but the time to sell for July’s closings didn’t slip Continue Reading →

Is There a Market Correction Coming To The St Louis Real Estate Market?

This morning I watched a video from a firm that reports on the real industry and does so from a blunt, “call it as they see it”, perspective (pretty much my style too) in which they say “market correction indicators continue to roll in” and suggest that, to some extent, the party is over. This report looked at the national real estate market as a whole and specifically looked at the west coast so is not necessarily indicative of what is happening in the St Louis real estate market, however, can often be an early indicator.

As a result, I Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Trending Downward Slightly

On a national level, there have been reports lately of slowing home sales evidenced by both new home sales and existing home sales falling in June, housing affordability issues and the like. Here in St Louis, the real estate market continues to perform well, however, indicators are showing a slight downward trend in St Louis home sales.

As the chart below illustrates, there have been 14,268 homes sold through the end of June in the St Louis metro area, a decline of 4.4% from the same period a year ago when there were 14,925 homes sold in St Louis. The Continue Reading →

New Home Sales Rate In The Midwest Decreases In June But Up From Year Ago

New homes sold in the Midwest region of the U.S. in June were at a seasonally-adjusted, annual rate of 71,000 homes, according to a report just released by the U.S. Department of Commerce and United States Census Bureau. June’s new home sales activity in the Midwest represents a 13.4% decline from May when new homes in the Midwest sold at an annual rate of 82,000 homes but is a 7.6% increase from June 2017 when the annual rate was 66,000 homes. Last year the rate of new home sales in this region increased every month after June up until December Continue Reading →

St Louis Ranked 4th In Nation For Home Price Inequality

Generally, when we think of inequality, such as income inequality, we perceive it as a bad thing however, when it comes to home prices, perhaps inequality is a good thing! A recent study of home price inequality by Lending Tree resulted in St Louis being ranked as the 4th highest metro area in the nation for home price inequailty. How Lending Tree ranked the cities was by using the GINI coefficient which is often used to measure income inequality. The way it works, in a nutshell, is a GINI Coefficient of 0 means everything is equal, so everything is at Continue Reading →

Missouri Ranks 9th For Most Restrictive Zoning In U.S.

According to a recent report published by the Cato Institute, the state of Missouri ranks 9th in the nation for having the most restrictive zoning regulations. Many anti-development folks may applaud this fact and look at it as a victory. However, many people in the real estate industry, including yours truly, believe that overly restrictive zoning regulations greatly impact the cost of new home construction resulting in increased home prices and less affordable housing. Couple the increased costs along with the reduced density permitted by overly restrictive zoning and you have a real impediment to the development of affordable or Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – July 2018

The St Louis real estate market continues to be an enjoyable one for sellers who benefit from the low inventory of homes for sale and somewhat of a challenge for home buyers who face stiff competition. The lack of inventory of available listings has contributed to St Louis home sales this year falling a little behind last years home sales. Find out more, as well as get information on some of St Louis’s best resources for home buyers and sellers in our just-released market [xyz-ips snippet=”Market-Update-Video–Inline-Link”] update video. [xyz-ips snippet=”Market-Update-Video-Package”] [xyz-ips snippet=”Seller-Resources—Listing-Targeted”]

Top Ten St Louis Metro Cities Where Homes Sold The Fastest In June

It took an average of just 9 days for homes to sell in Columbia, Illinois last month, making Columbia the fastest selling city in the St Louis MSA during June. Waterloo was the other Illinois city that made the list (#4) with the remaining 8 cities being in Missouri. Of the eight cities in Missouri on the list, 7 are in St Louis County and 1 in St Charles County.

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Search St Louis Homes For Sale    Search St Louis Upcoming OPEN HOUSES St Louis MSA Top 10 Fastest SOLD Cities In June 2018

(click on Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Decline Slightly While Prices Rise

Home sales in St Louis declined a little over 2 percent during the most recent 12-month period from the prior period while the median price of homes sold in St Louis rose 4.4%, according to the latest data from MORE, REALTORS.

St Louis home sales are trending downward slightly as well, as illustrated by the chart below. The light green line depicts year to date home sales for the St Louis 5-county core market (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) and reveals that through June of this year, there have been 13,237 Continue Reading →

Are iBuyers Changing The Way People Sell Their Homes?

One of the “buzz words” you hear often in the real estate industry today is “disrupter“. To disrupt, by definition, is to “throw into turmoil or disorder, interrupt the progress of (a movement, meeting, etc) or break or split (something) apart.” With dozens and dozens of new startups, new business models and new practices coming upon the real estate scene over the last handful of years, it seems practically everyone wants to disrupt the real estate industry. Why not? Afterall, there was some $70 Billion (yes, Billion with a “B”) in commissions made by residential real estate agents last year Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices And Sales Surge In May Time To Sell Drops

The St Louis real estate market continues to be a strong one and continues to favor sellers in many cases. As the chart below illustrates, the median price per foot that homes sold for in May (green line) shot up in May to $133 from $129 the month before, a 3.1% increase from the month before and an increase of 6.4% from May 2017 when the price per foot was $125. This increase in home prices didn’t seem to affect St Louis home sales, however, as there were 2,922 homes sold in May, an increase of 24.3% from the month Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Trend Show Lower Rate of Increase

Homes have sold in the St Louis area at an increasing rate for a little more than 3 years now, however, as the chart below illustrates, the trend is flattening. The chart below, which was created from software our firm developed which compiles data from the MLS, plots homes sales for the past 12 months for each month. So, rather than just seeing the activity for one month and all the seasonal fluctuation, you can actually see the sales trend.

Since March 2015, the 12-month home sales trend has steadily increased at a fairly steady pace however, it appears we Continue Reading →

“MLS Exempt” Listings – Is This Approach Good For Sellers Or Just Listing Agents?

Something that has become fairly common today in the St Louis real estate market are “MLS exempt” (or “non-MLS”) listings. Also known in the industry as “Pocket Listings“, this refers to a home that is listed with an agent but is not entered into the MLS. When I first enteered the real estate business, back in 1979, these type of listings were known as “Vest Pocket LIstings” with the reason being the agent would instead of turning the listing agreement into his or her office, making everyone aware of it, would keep the listing in their vest pocket so they Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – June 2018

There is a lot of activity in the St Louis real estate market! The inventory of homes for sale in St Louis remains low, interest rates have dropped a little over the past couple of weeks, home prices are beginning to soften as we move beyond the peak spring market and demand is still strong.

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Do Home Prices In A Growth Market Like Wentzville Perform Better Than An Established Market?

One of the things that often attract homebuyers to a new or expanding area is the availability of new homes at affordable prices. This is something that is hard to find in older areas that have mature real estate markets due to the lack of available ground and the cost of the ground when it does become available. This is, no doubt, one of the things that have been responsible for the population growth in Wentzville in spite of the fact it is in the farthest west most area of St Charles County. As a result, the city of Wentzville Continue Reading →

Home Sales And Price Trends Between St Louis Area Counties

The five counties I refer to as the “St Louis Core Market“, which include the city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin, account for over 90% of the home sales in the 9 Missouri Counties that are part of the St Louis MSA. This is why I typically focus on those five counties when reporting real estate market stats as they give the “big picture” view of the St Louis market but in a more accurate way than the St Louis MSA stats.

The counties making up the St Louis core market vary Continue Reading →

Jefferson & Franklin County Zips Move To Top of Fastest Selling Zip Code List

Typically, Franklin County and Jefferson County home sales stats tend to lag behind their “closer in” neighbors of St Louis and St Charles County, however, when it comes to fastest-selling zip codes, the two outlying counties claim the number 1 and number 2 spots, respectively. As the table below shows, homes in the 63072 zip code area (Robertsville) of Franklin County are selling the fastest, based upon average days on market of existing listings which stands at 24 days as of this morning. With an average time on the market of 33 days, the High-Ridge area zip of 63049 in Continue Reading →

Great Scott! The Scott’s Are Buying Out St Louis!

According to a report just released by ATTOM Data Research, during 2017, there was a 40 percent increase in homes purchased by people with a family name of Scott from the year before making Scott the family name with the largest increase in home purchases in the St Louis MSA during 2017.

This increase of home purchase by “Scott’s” was the largest increase in St Louis home purchases for a family name during 2017. At the other end of the spectrum, the family name of “Martin” saw the largest decline in home purchases with a 26% decline in homes purchased Continue Reading →

St Louis Ranked 8th Most Affordable Metro Area To Buy A Home

According to a report just released by HSH, St Louis is the 8th most affordable metro area to buy a home in and one of just 17 metro areas where an income of less than $50,000 per year will buy a median-priced home. The report is based upon data from the 1st quarter of this year when the median-priced home in the St Louis MSA was $162,400 (a 4.84% increase from a year ago) and the average mortgage interest rate was 4.41% (an increase of 0.36% from the previous quarter) resulting in a house payment (principal and interest portion only) Continue Reading →

Where St Louis Area Homeowners Are Moving

The St Louis metro area has seen some population growth over the last few decades but not nearly as much as many other areas. From 1975 until last year, the population of the St Louis MSA increased 12.3% from 2,500,100 in 1975 to 2,807,338 in 2017. Of the major counties in Missouri that make up the St Louis MSA, St Charles County gained the most population increasing 248% during the same period. As the table below shows, 4 of the 5 major counties covered saw an increase in population from 1975 to 2017, although St Louis County’s increase was a Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – May 2018

The low inventory of homes for sale in many areas and price ranges throughout St Louis continues to plague the St Louis housing market and is causing home sales to run behind last years sales. Find out more, as well as get information on some of St Louis’s best resources for home buyers and sellers in our just-released market update video. In our MORE, REALTORS, 5 Minute St Louis Real Estate Market Update video below, you can quickly and easily get the latest information on home prices, home sales, trends and more for the entire St Louis area!

Continue Reading →

First-Time Homebuyers; 5 Things You Should Do BEFORE You Buy

Just over 1 of every three (34%) homebuyers in 2017 were first-time homebuyers according to the With the growing population of millennials reaching an age where many are buying homes, I expect to see the percentage of first-time homebuyers increase over the next couple of years.

Many first-time homebuyers find the home buying process to be a little intimidating which is largely due to just lacking the experience of having done it before and the knowledge that is gained from the experience. However, with a time spent getting educated on the process, the fears can be calmed and the home Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – April 2018

A low inventory of homes for sale is making it tough on the St Louis real estate market with sales for the first quarter of this year lagging behind last year. St Louis home prices, on the other hand, continue to rise as do the number of “seller’s markets” in St Louis. In fact, as the video shows, the list of buyers markets in the St Louis area is short…in fact the shortest list I can remember. Find out more, as well as get information on some of St Louis’s best resources for home buyers and sellers in our just-released Continue Reading →

New Home Construction Activity Up Slightly In St Louis Area – St Charles County Losing Steam

New home construction, based upon building permits issued, is up overall for the 7-county area covered in St Louis by the Home Builders Association of St Louis and Eastern Missouri (HBA). For the most recent 12-month period reported for this area, through the end of February 2018, there have been 4,720 single family permits issue versus 4,579 for the prior 12-month period, an increase of 3.08%.

As the table below shows, 5 of the 7 counties reported on by the HBA have seen double-digit increases in new home construction during the past 12-months, Lincoln County and St Charles County being Continue Reading →

When Is The Best Time To Sell Your Home?

If I had a dollar for everytime someone asks me when is the best time to sell their home I would probably not have to be writing this article today and instead would be relaxing somewhere warm :). My initial answer, while somewhat snarky, is always the same “when you have a buyer“. Actually though, just because there is a buyer doesn’t mean you are realizing the best price and terms as may be possible.

It’s not really possible to be totally objective when analyzing this as no more which data I choose to use or consider is going to Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices Increase 3.8 Percent In Past Year While Sales Increase About Half As Much

Home prices in the St Louis 5-County core market increased 3.67 percent in the 12-month period ending February 28, 2018 to a median price of $186,500 from $179,900 for the prior 12-month period. During the same period, home sales in the St Louis 5-County core market increased 1.89% to 27,839 homes sold from 27,323 homes sold during the prior 12-month period.

As our table below shows, there were 1,489 homes sold during February 2018, and are currenlty 4,921 homes listed for sale, computing into a 3.3 month supply of homes for sale, continuing to favor sellers due to the low Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – March 2018

The real estate market in St Louis, after the first two months, continues to see good price appreciation with home sales on about the same pace as this time last year. Find out more, as well as get information on some of St Louis’s best resources for home buyers and sellers in our just-released market update video. In our MORE, REALTORS, 5 Minute“> St Louis Real Estate Market Update video below, you can quickly and easily get the latest information on home prices, home sales, trends and more for the entire St Louis area!

Sell Your Home Continue Reading →