Heraclitus of Ephesus, a noted Greek Philosopher from the 6th Century said “the only constant is change” and, while that applies to many things today, it doesn’t really apply much to what features home buyers are looking for in homes they buy today. According to the results of the National Association of REALTORS 2013 Home Features Survey, which asked people that bought homes during 2012 to identify those features they were looking for in a home, reveals home buyers are still focused on many of the same features that, over the past several years, have been typical of what Continue Reading →
Sellers in most St Louis neighborhoods have had to lower the asking price of their homes in the past 90 days and, in fact, as of today, 11 St Louis neighborhoods have seen more than half the sellers lower their prices, according to MORE, REALTORS.
As the table below shows, almost 75% of sellers in the 63122 zip code area of Des Peres have lowered their home price in the past 90 days (this list is real-time and “live” so, depending upon when you are reading this, the data may have changed). Next on the list are three zip codes, Continue Reading →
St Louis home prices (core market) rose 12 percent rose from a median price of $125,000 for homes sold in September 2012 to $140,000 for homes sold in September 2013, according to MORE, REALTORS. The core market for St Louis includes the city of St Louis as well as the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin.
Home price appreciation during the past year in the core St Louis market, at 12%, was right in line with national home prices which, according to a report released today by CoreLogic, rose 12% as well during the same period. Continue Reading →
More than 1 of every 4 (28%) St Louis home sales in October was a cash sale, according to the latest data, according to MORE, REALTORS. This is the highest rate of cash sales in St. Louis since March 2013 when cash sales made up almost a third (31%) of St Louis home sales.
There were 2,438 homes sold in St Louis in October 2013, an increase of almost 19 percent from a year ago.
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I decided to take a look at the age of homes in the St Louis area and determine if older homes in St Louis sell for lower prices than newer homes. My idea to do this was prompted by a report RealtyTrac published this morning revealing that 71 percent of the homes in the U.S. were built before 1990 and that there was less demand for these older homes thereby making prices more affordable than on their newer counterparts.
My research shows that the city of St Louis and St Louis county have a larger percent of older (pre-1990) housing Continue Reading →
Nearly one of every five (18%) St Louis homes sold in the first half of October 2013 sold within the first two weeks of hitting the market, according to the latest data from MORE, REALTORS. Of the five counties included in the St Louis 5-county core market (see table below), Jefferson County, with 22 percent of it’s homes selling in the first two weeks of coming on the market, had the highest percentage and Franklin County, at 1 percent, the lowest percentage of homes sold in under two weeks.
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Cash Home Buyers in St Louis were responsible for 50 percent of the home sales in September 2013 in the St Louis Metro area, according to a new report just released today by RealtyTrac. The report showed that state-wide, cash buyers accounted for 48 percent of home sales in Missouri during the month. As the table below shows (a St Louis Real Estate News Exclusive), in the city of St Louis 69 percent of the home sales in September were cash sales.
Cash sales are often associated with investors and, as the table shows, there is no lack of investor Continue Reading →
Thirteen of the 15 top sellers markets in St. Louis are found in St. Louis County, with the City of St Louis and Franklin County each having one neighborhood on the list. This list is produced by MORE, REALTORS, and is based upon their Market Action IndexTM which, among other things, looks at supply, demand and inventory for an area and then applies an index value to it.
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St Louis is a pretty modest place as a whole and is very affordable when it comes to housing costs. This doesn’t mean that you can’t find a multi-million dollar estate if you are in the market for one.
The proof is in the slideshow below…the most expensive homes currently on the market in the St Louis area:
Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), cautioned today that, given the fact the U.S. Government spends one dollar for every 75 -80 cents it takes in, if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, the government will have to decide where to cut its spending. Should the government choose not to pay its interest obligations, “we can expect interest rates on Treasury bonds to rise…and if that happens, mortgage rates will rise, because mortgage rates follow Treasury rates.”
Yun went on to say that if mortgage interest rates do rise we can expect home sales to drop Continue Reading →
It’s a fickle market…
The government shut-down and economy that is, at best, somewhat unstable, continues to keep home buyers somewhat timid. As the data shows in our just-released 5 minute market update, St Louis home prices and St Louis home sales have both increased in the past year, but the market is fairly fragile at this point.
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.
You can now subscribe to our ITUNES Podcast Channel to receive our updated market videos via podcast automatically Continue Reading →
Agency relationships between a buyer or seller of a home and the real estate agent are probably one of the most confusing aspects of the real estate transaction for consumers and for many real estate agents as well for that matter. Dual agency takes the confusion to a whole new level though for the parties involved as the issue gets quite complex. At the very basic level, dual agency exists when the same real estate agent represents both the buyer and seller in the same real estate transaction (a bad idea in my humble opinion). At a more complicated Continue Reading →
Just over 1 of every 4 (26%) St Louis home sales (5-county core area) in August 2013 were cash purchases, according to MORE, REALTORS. This is the highest rate of cash sales in St. Louis since April 2013 and is the highest number of total home sales for a one month period in over 4 years!
The average home price on cash sales in August was $116,724 and the average home price on all home sales for the month was $187,978.
On the national level, almost half of the homes sold (45%) in August 2013 were cash purchases, according Continue Reading →
New home sales in the midwest in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 61,000 homes, a 19.6 percent increase from July and an increase of 15.1 percent from a year ago, according to data just released by the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD. On a national level, new home sales in August were at the annual rate of 421,000 homes, a 7.9 percent increase from the month before and a 12.6 percent increase from a year ago.
New homes sold during the month of August 2013 were sold for a median price of $254,600, a slight decrease Continue Reading →
St. Charles county is a “hidden gem” for real estate investors wishing to buy rental property, according to RealtyTrac’s newly published “List of Top 25 Hidden Gem Single Family Rental Markets“. St. Charles County was the only Missouri county that made the list and it came in at 21 on the list with a gross yield on rental property of 9.4 percent. The gross yield is determined by taking the annual median rent for a county and divide it by the median price of home in that county. In the case of St Charles county, the median Continue Reading →
St Louis has some top rated public school districts cranking out kids with high GPA’s but also has some districts facing real challenges, the most recent of which being the Normandy School District. I think most people agree that the quality of the schools has an impact on home values in that district as demand to be in the top districts is thought to help protect home values but to what extent?
St. Louis has school districts at the top, as well as the bottom, of the list.
It’s still a seller’s market but it’s losing a little steam…
Most of the St Louis area finds itself in a sellers market still however a few more neighborhoods slipped back into a buyer’s market this month, according to the St Louis Market Update from MORE, REALTORS. The St Louis real estate market is definitely volatile, making it more important than ever to be aware of current market conditions if you are in the market as a buyer or seller and the 5 minute market update video for September below can do just that for you!
Thinking of selling Continue Reading →
Nearly one of every 4 St Louis homeowners with a mortgage are seriously underwater, meaning their mortgage exceeds the current value of their home by 25 percent or more, according to a report just released by RealtyTrac. As the table below shows, the city of St. Louis has the highest percentage of seriously underwater homeowners at 31 percent and Franklin county the lowest at 14 percent. In addition, there are another 104,000 St Louis homeowners in a “near-equity” or “resurfacing equity” position, meaning their loan equals 90 to 110 percent of the current value of their home. As long Continue Reading →
Home prices in St Louis (core market) rose from a median price of $145,000 for homes sold in August 2012 to $155,000 for homes sold in August 2013, an increase of 6.9 percent. The core market for St Louis includes the city of St Louis as well as the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin.
St Louis home sales, for the 12 month period ending August 31, 2013, increased 13.9 percent from the same period a year before. In the five county area that makes up the bulk of the St Louis real estate market (city of St Louis and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) there were 26,436 homes sold during the period, up from 23,208 the year before.
In July 2013 just a little over 1 of every 5 (22 percent) St Louis homes* that were sold were cash purchases, marking the lowest rate of cash sales since June 2010, according to MORE, REALTORS. On the national level, 2 of every 5 (40 percent) homes sold during July were cash purchases, according to a report released this morning from RealtyTrac.
The total number of homes sold in St Louis* in July was 2,731, a slight increase from June’s 2,672 sales and a 17 percent increase from July 2012 when there were 2,326 homes sold in the St Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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.
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 →
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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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:
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 →
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 →