By Dennis Norman, on January 10th, 2015
The bursting of the real estate market bubble back in 2008 led to opportunities for investors to buy up homes at attractive prices throughout the country and even attracted some large firms backed by Wall Street such as Blackstone, American Homes 4 Rent, Colony American Homes and Fundamental REO. While institutional ownership of commercial real estate, apartments and land has been very common, and in fact, predominant, since entering the business in 1979, firms like this investing in single family homes has not. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on January 8th, 2015
The number of St Louis Homeowners with negative equity (or underwater) during the third quarter of 2014 hit the lowest level since Corelogic began tracking this data in the 3rd quarter of 2009. During the quarter, 8.43% of St Louis homeowners with a mortgage were underwater or in a negative equity position meaning their mortgage balance exceed the current value of their home, according to the latest data from Corelogic. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on January 7th, 2015
In the past year, homes for sale located within the 63105 zip code (Clayton) have sold, on average, for 98.2% of the original list price, a higher percentage than any other St Louis area during the same period, according to the latest date available from MORE, REALTORS. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on January 6th, 2015
As a result of the real estate market crash in 2008 and the subsequent downturn in the economy, many homeowners with prior stellar payment records on their mortgages ended up losing their homes in foreclosure or being forced to do a short sale to get out from under it. Most of these former homeowners then became renters but have the desire to buy a home again once back on their feet. Depending upon just how severely their credit was impacted as well as whether they had a foreclosure, short sale or bankruptcy, they may have to wait as long as 7 years to obtain a home loan again. However, thanks to an FHA program called “Back to Work”, which, surprisingly, has received little attention, there is hope for these homeowners including the opportunity to obtain a home loan again without the normal waiting period if their problems were related to a job loss and they meet certain criteria. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on January 5th, 2015
Clear Capital just released it’s list of the Top 50 Performing Real Estate Markets Forecast for 2015 for major metro areas and St Louis made the list at number 12! At the top of the list was Milwaukee-Waukeshawest Allis, Wi, followed by Columbus OH and Denver CO. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on January 2nd, 2015
Almost 3 out of every 4 homes currently listed for sale in St Ann have had a price reduction in the past 90 days, according to the latest data from MORE, REALTORS. As the table below shows, all the St Louis neighborhoods that made the top ten list for home price reductions have had price reductions on more than half of the current listings of homes for sale in that neighborhood. (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 35 ]
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By Dennis Norman, on January 1st, 2015
Pending home sales, those listings that have contracts pending but have not yet closed, declined in St Louis in December 3.2 percent to 1,621 pending home sales from 1,674 sales in December 2013. For the midwest region of the U.S. as a whole, pending home sales slipped a little in November (the latest month national data is available for) falling one-half of one percent from November 2013, according to the Pending Home Sales Index Report just released by the National Association of REALTORS®.
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By Dennis Norman, on December 31st, 2014
St Louis Distressed Home Sales ticked up slightly in November 2014 rom October but declined over thirty percent (30.8%) from November 2013, according to data just released by RealtyTrac. As the table below shows, all the counties in the St Louis core market except one saw an increase in distressed home sales in November from the month before and all saw a decline in November from a year ago.
On a national level, distressed home sales in November 2014 accounted for 12.6% of all home sales, down from 13.7% in October and from 14.8% in November 2013.
(We work hard Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 30th, 2014
St Louis home sales fell to 2,065 homes in November 2014 for the St Louis 5-County Core Market (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin), a decline of 3.3% from from 2,136 homes sold in November 2013 Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 23rd, 2014
St Louis New Home Sales in November 2014 increased 12.5% from November 2013 and, as would be expected given the time of year, decreased about 8% from the month before. New home sales in St Louis out performed new home sales in the Midwest Region as a whole as the region saw 4,000 new home sales in November 2014, the same as a year ago, and a decrease of 20% from the month before, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD.
The median price of new homes sold in November 2014 was $235,900, an Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 19th, 2014
The number of neighborhoods in St Louis that are currently seller’s markets has dropped in the past month but the majority (63%) of the St Louis neighborhoods we track still favor the seller over the buyer according to our Market Action Index. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 18th, 2014
Most of the neighborhoods in St Louis have seen home prices increase over the past year, at least to some extent however, some are seeing home prices increase at more significant rates than others. So where are the St Louis neighborhoods that have seen the largest increase in home prices in the past year? Let’s being with how the data is computed. The table below is based upon current median list prices of homes for sale within a zip code. Zip codes that don’t have a sufficient amount of annual home sales to make their statistics accurate and significant have been omitted. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 13th, 2014
St Louis home sales are lagging behind last years however St Louis home prices are up from last year. How much are home prices up? What are the HOT St Louis real estate markets (and the COLD ones as well)? Find the answers to these, and many other questions you may have about the current St Louis real state market in our newly published, 5-minute, market video update for December 2014, below. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 10th, 2014
The Mortgage Delinquency Rate, the pre-cursor to, and leading indicator of, foreclosures, which play havoc with home prices, is expected to decline to 3.12 percent by the end of this month and continue to decline next year hitting 2.51 percent by the end of 2015, according to a forecast just released by TransUnion. If mortgage delinquency rates fall as lowest as forecast, it will hit the lowest level since the housing bubble burst. A home mortgage that is 60 days or more delinquent is counted in the mortgage delinquency rate for this report by TransUnion.
The report goes on to Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 9th, 2014
St Louis home sales slipped in November to 1722 home sales for the 5-county core St Louis market (the city of St Louis and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) from 1808 home sales in November 2013, according to the latest data available from MORE, REALTORS. Home prices in St Louis went the opposite direction during the same period however, rising from a median price of $147,500 for homes sold in November 2013 to a median price of $156,000 for homes sold in November 2014, an increase of 5.8% for the year. Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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:
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