St Louis continues to enjoy a pretty robust real estate market, albeit it a challenging one for buyers due to the low inventory of homes for sale in most areas, with St Louis home sales, during the past 12 months, up over 5 percent from the prior 12-month period and St Louis home prices up over 5 percent for the same period as well. Continue Reading →
The low inventory of homes for sale in St Louis comes up today in most conversations related to the St Louis real estate market. St Louis home buyers have struggled to get to new listings quick enough, and then make strong enough offers, to successfully beat out the competition. Well, while that may be the story for the majority of the St Louis real estate market, it is certainly not the story for the $1Million+ market. Continue Reading →
Home flipping accounted for 8.6 percent of all the home sales in the St Louis MSA during the 1st quarter of this year according to a report released today by Attom Data Solutions. This is an increase of 14.7% from the prior quarter when 7.5% of the homes sold were flips and is an increase of 6.2% from a year ago when 8.1% of the homes sold in St Louis were flips, according to the report. Continue Reading →
There are several ways to look at home prices and home affordability as well as to argue the merits of homeownership versus renting, however, one my favorite metrics to consider along these lines is the relationship between home prices and rental rates. Most home buyers, that are seeking a home to live in, never consider what the home they are considering purchasing would rent for, since that is not their intended use. Continue Reading →
What a great time to be a home seller! This month, as the video below shows, there remains a shortage of homes for sale in many areas throughout the St. Louis area making it fun for sellers and challenging for buyers Listings that have been properly price, positioned in the market and marketed appropriately are selling in a matter of days in many areas and price ranges throughout St Louis.
Whether you are thinking of buying or selling and would like me to look at your situation and your market to determine the best strategy, just call, or text me, Continue Reading →
According to a report just released by Corelogic, the 30-59 day mortgage delinquency rate in March (the most recent month reported) fell to just 1.7%, the lowest level since January 2000. Continue Reading →
There were 2,707 homes sold during May within the St Louis 5-county core market down slightly from May 2016 when there were 2,736 homes sold according to the latest data from MORE, REALTORS (see chart below). The median price of homes sold in the St Louis core market during May 2017 was $125 per square foot, an increase of 2.5% from May 2016 when the median price of homes sold in the St Louis core market was $122 per square foot. Continue Reading →
From the outset I need to admit that this is probably a pointless article as the mindset of someone that would want to buy a luxury home ($750,000+) in St Louis County is quite different than someone that would want to buy one in the city of St Louis, and vice versa, so neither will probably be swayed in their preference by which location offers a better return on their investment. Having said that, I still thought it would be interesting to examine the market and see how luxury home buyers have fared over the years in both locations.
Of the 6,137 homes that were sold in St Charles county during the past 12 months, 5,839 (95%) of them had a garage. Nearly 68 percent of the homes sold with a garage in St Charles county had a 2-car garage, nearly 24 percent a 3 car garage or larger and just 8.5 percent had a one-car garage. So, if you are a St Charles county homeowner with a one-car garage, how much can you expect to be impacted price-wise when you sell? Of, if you are a buyer, looking at a home in St Charles county with a one-car garage, how much should you discount what you pay for it versus a similar home with a 2-car garage? Continue Reading →
It is common for home buyers, particularly those moving to St Louis from outside the area or perhaps moving to a different part of town than where they currently reside, to inquire about crime rates and other safety issues related to the area they are looking to move to. Today, like pretty much every other topic out there, there is a wealth of information available on the internet with regard to crime activity however sometimes it is difficult to find real data and not just “headlines” from local news stories or social media posts. Therefore, in keeping with our mission of providing up to date, accurate and trustworthy information that is relevant to homeowners, as well as buyers and sellers, we developed our own Index to make it easier to people to assess an area. Since we are in the real estate business and the people I’m talking about there are interested in home values, we wanted to have our index consider both crime rates as well as home price appreciation. As a result, our Home Appreciation & Safety (HASTM) Index was born. Continue Reading →
It probably won’t come as a surprise to you that many homeowners feel their homes are worth more than perhaps they are, particularly when the time comes to sell them. This is evidenced by the Quicken Loans’ Home Price Perception Index (HPPI) which looks at appraised values of homes versus the the homeowners estimate of value. Continue Reading →
The St Louis market continues to be hot although there is a little downward pressure on pricing. This month, as the video below shows, the St Louis real estate market continues to be low on competition and favoring sellers although the home buyers out there are savvy and are not reacting to over-priced listings. Listings that have been properly price, positioned in the market and marketed appropriately are selling in a matter of days in many areas and price ranges throughout St Louis.
Whether you are thinking of buying or selling and would like me to look at your situation Continue Reading →
We are about half way through the spring real estate market in St Louis, normally the most active time of the year for the St Louis real estate industry, and, thus far, the 2017 spring market is shaping up pretty good! As our chart below illustrates, there were 4,582 homes sold in the 5-county core St Louis market during March and April of this year, an increase of 2.4% from last year when there were 4,473 homes sold and the median price per foot of those homes sold was $126 per foot in April, an increase of 6.8 percent from April 2016 when the median price per foot was $118. Continue Reading →
Even in a hot real estate market like we have today, it is still important for sellers to price their homes accurately from the start. If you are a homeowner thinking about selling, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking you can get away with over pricing your home as buyers are desperate, but that is just not so. Don’t get me wrong, you should be able to sell your home for every dollar that it is worth, and perhaps even a tad more, but only if your home is priced and marketed accurately from the start. Continue Reading →
The median price per square foot of homes sold in St Louis County have increased 3.5% over the past 10 years, from $116 per foot in 2007 to $120 per foot currently. As the chart below illustrates, home prices dipped to a low of $90 per foot in 2011, a result of the housing bubble burst in 2008. During the same period, the price per foot of homes sold in St Charles County increased 5.1% from $117 per foot in 2007 to $123 per foot currently. Like St Louis County, St Charles County saw home prices bottom out in 2011, hitting a low of $95 per foot. Continue Reading →
As the chart below shows, there were 2,880 homes sold last month within the 5-county core St Louis market (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) an increase of 6.5% from March 2016 when there were 2,705 homes sold. Continue Reading →
Yesterday, I did a post on the 10 St Louis neighborhoods that made it in the Niche list of “100 Best Places to Live In America”. This prompted a question as to how much better price appreciation have home owners seen in these neighborhoods as a result of the features they have that make them the “best places to live” verses the normal appreciation for the area? Since it just so happens that all ten of the neighborhoods that made the list are in St Louis county, I decided to pull a chart to compare the median price per foot (the most accurate way to compare home prices) of homes sold in the top ten neighborhoods versus St Louis County as a whole. As the chart below illustrates, here is what I found when I looked at home prices from January 1, 2012 (around the bottom of the market after the housing bubble burst in 2008) through the end of 2016: Continue Reading →
The supply of homes for sale continues to be a major impediment to the St Louis real estate market! This month, as the video below shows, every county in the St Louis core market area has seen the inventory of homes for sale (in terms of months of supply) decline from last month and last month was already low! In spite of the low, low inventory, home prices have remained reasonable and, in fact, we are seeing a little bit of a downward trend price-wise in some areas. With these things in mind, along with the fact that interest rates are sure to go up, there’s no better time to buy or sell than now! Continue Reading →
It seems almost crazy to even throw out the idea of an adjustment in St Louis home prices or, perhaps even, any sort of slow down in the rate of home price appreciation given that the inventory of homes for sale is so low in so many parts of the St Louis area, however, maybe it’s something to look at. Continue Reading →
New home sales in St Louis declined in 2016 after increasing during the prior two years, for both the entire St Louis MSA as a whole as well as the St Louis 5-County Core Market. Continue Reading →
The median price of homes sold in the St Louis core housing market (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) was $179,900 for the past 12 months, an increase of 5.2% from the prior 12 month period when the median price of St Louis homes sold was $171,000. Continue Reading →
There just aren’t enough homes for sale in many price ranges! This month, like many months before, you will see that all five counties in the St Louis core market (city of St Louis and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) all have less than a 6 month supply of homes for sale (a few less than half of that), so it remains a sellers market in many areas! While the market is doing well, you will notice the trend over the past 24 months, as I describe in the video is down a little in terms of number of homes sales which is due simply the lack of homes available for sale. There doesn’t appear to be a shortage of buyers at this point, just a shortage of sellers. Continue Reading →
Happy home builders? Wow, I remember those days, back before the real estate bubble and market collapse, boy were those the days! Well, the good news is, while builders still have their challenges, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Home Builders, builders in the Midwest are more optimistic about the new home market than they have ever been! (or, at least since the beginning of the regional level index records that are published). Continue Reading →
The St Louis real estate market continues to be strong and, thanks for a low inventory of homes for sale in many areas, competitive. Accurately priced homes in popular neighborhoods often sell within a day or two of coming on the market. Listings in the fastest selling cities in St Louis spend an average of less than 30 days on the market. As the table below shows, the fastest selling city currently is Glendale (which has spent a lot of time at the top of this list over the last few months) with an average of just 23 days on the market for current listings, followed by Valley Park with an average listing time of 26 days. Continue Reading →
The St Louis downtown loft market had a slow start back in the early 90’s and then picked up some steam later in the 90’s when Missouri launched its historic tax credit program. The loft market, as the chart below illustrates, peaked in 2005, stalling out before the majority of the residential hit its peak in 2006. The St Louis loft market saw a kind of double peak with prices rising in 2007 after dipping the year before, but then loft prices followed suit with the rest of the market and started a long slow decline until hitting bottom in 2011. Continue Reading →
St Louis is known as an affordable place to live so it is not surprising that there is a fairly robust housing market for affordable and moderate priced homes. When it comes to luxury homes in St Louis however ($500,000 and above for the sake of discussion here), the market is much cooler. Continue Reading →
Last year was a good year for the St Louis real estate market and, thus far, 2017 is off to a pretty good start in St Louis as well! As the chart and tables below illustrates, home prices in the St Louis area have been trending upward over the past couple of years and sales are holding pretty steady. Continue Reading →
Investors that rental property may find their best returns, relative to the price of the homes they buy, in the City of St Louis, according to some county-level rental data compiled by MORE, REALTORS. As the tables below illustrate, over the past 12 months the median price of homes sold in the City of St Louis was $106.57 per square foot and the median annualized price per foot homes lease for was $11.04 which works out to a gross annual return on investment of 10.4%, the highest of the four St Louis area counties we looked at. Continue Reading →
The ranch-style home has been around a long time with it’s origin going back to 1920’s but this style of home became extremely popular in the 1940’s carrying through the 1970’s. Ranch-style homes are normally much wider than deep and feature open floor plans with a casual style. Over time, as incomes increased, as did ground cost making the rather large footprint of a ranch more expensive since it needed a larger not to accommodate it, 1.5 and 2-story homes became increasingly popular. Recently, it seems there has been somewhat of a resurgence in terms of interest in ranch-style homes Continue Reading →
While the bulk of the St Louis area spent most of the past year as a sellers market, real estate is very local and very seasonal, so there are still neighborhoods where buyers markets exist! So where are the buyers markets? Well, they are a constantly moving target due to the fluctuations I just mentioned, however, currently, as the list below illustrates, Continue Reading →