Real Estate Market - St Louis Real Estate News

St Louis Distressed Home Sales Trending Upward But Still Low

By Dennis Norman, on February 21st, 2023

There have been a fair number of reports about the increase in distressed home sales in various markets around the country and on the national level. However, in St Louis, distressed home sales are on the rise, they are still at levels that are historically quite low.

Distressed home sales that involve some sort of distress or other condition that would typically result in the home not selling for a normal “retail” price like it would if it were a typical listing in market ready condition with normal marketing time allowed. The chart below shows distressed home sales in the Continue Reading →

New Listings Continue To Outpace New Contracts In Four out of Five Counties In St Louis Area

By Dennis Norman, on February 15th, 2023

Last week, there were 405 new listings of homes for sale in the St Louis 5-county core market, according to the STL Real Estate Trends Report from MORE, REALTORS®. During the same week, there were 365 new sale contracts written on homes for sale resulting in a new listing to new contract ratio of 1.11. As the tables below illustrate, the only county that had more new sales last week than new listings was Franklin County with 16 new sales and 15 new listings.

Listing supply remains low…

As the table at the bottom shows, as of today, there is Continue Reading →

St Louis New Listings and New Contracts Trend Indicating an Easing in Demand

By Dennis Norman, on February 9th, 2023

Last week, there were 350 new listings of homes for sale in the St Louis 5-county core market, according to the STL Real Estate Trends Report from MORE, REALTORS®. During the same week, there were 442 new sale contracts written on homes for sale resulting in a new listing to new contract ratio of 1.26. So while new contracts are still out numbering new listings, last weeks margin was much lower than a year ago during the same week. As the tables below show, last year during the same week there were only 266 new listings of homes for sale Continue Reading →

Ten zip codes in St Louis with the highest percentage of equity-rich mortgages

By Dennis Norman, on February 7th, 2023

According to data released by ATTOM Data Research, during the fourth quarter of 2022, 42.37% of the homeowners with a mortgage within the 63376 zip code, were “equity-rich” meaning their mortgage balance was just 50% or less of the current value of their home. The table below shows the 10 St Louis zip codes with the highest percentage of equity-rich mortgages. Half of zip codes on the list are located within the St Charles County, four in St Louis County and one in Jefferson County

Also shown on the table is the percentage of homeowners with a seriously-underwater mortgage, meaning Continue Reading →

Ten zip codes in St Louis with the highest percentage of seriously underwater mortgages

By Dennis Norman, on February 6th, 2023

According to data released by ATTOM Data Research, during the fourth quarter of 2022, 35.7% of the homeowners with a mortgage within the 63118 zip code, were seriously underwater on their mortgage, meaning their mortgage balance exceeds the value of their home by 25% or more. The table below shows the 10 St Louis zip codes with the highest percentage of seriously underwater mortgages. Half of zip codes on the list are located within the City of St Louis and the other half are located in North St Louis County.

Also shown on the table is the percentage of homeowners Continue Reading →

Franklin County Home Prices Increased at nearly double the rate for St Louis County From 2021 to 2022

By Dennis Norman, on January 13th, 2023

The median price of homes sold in Franklin County increased from 2021 to 2022 at nearly double the rate the price of homes sold in St Louis County did during the same period. As the chart below shows, the median price of homes sold in Franklin County during 2021 was $206,000 and then increased 6.7% to $219,800 in 2022. During the same period, the median price of homes sold in St Louis County increased 3.4% from 246,500 to $255,000.

[xyz-ips snippet=”Franklin-County-For-Sale-and-Open-Houses”][xyz-ips snippet=”St-Lous-County-Homes-For-Sale”]

Franklin County vs St Louis County Home Prices – 2021-2022

(click on chart for live, interactive Continue Reading →

Merry Christmas!

By Dennis Norman, on December 25th, 2022

CFPB Orders Wells Fargo To Pay $3.7 Billion…Includes more than $2 B in redress to consumers

By Dennis Norman, on December 20th, 2022

Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released details of a Consent Order they reached with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. in which Wells Fargo is ordered to pay “more than $2 billion in redress to consumers and a $1.7 billion civil penalty for legal violations across several of its largest product lines.” According to a press release issued by the CFPB, Wells Fargo’s “..illegal conduct led to billions of dollars in financial harm to its customers and, for thousands of customers, the loss of their vehicles and homes.” Rohit Chopra, the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, stated “Wells Continue Reading →

Mortgage Interest Rates Inch Up a Little After Dropping to 3-Month Low

By Dennis Norman, on December 20th, 2022

As the chart below illustrates, yesterday, mortgage interest rates on a 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgage increased slightly to 6.27% after dropping to 6.13% last Thursday, the lowest level in over 3 months.

Historically-speaking, it’s not that bad….

Granted, no one really wants to hear this, but, if we look at the bigger picture (like the bottom chart that goes back to 1971) we’ll see that our current mortgage interest rates aren’t that high. In fact, over the 52-year period depicted on the chart, about 70% of the time mortgage interest rates were higher than they are now. If you’re Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Flips During 3rd Quarter Decline Nearly 30% From Previous Quarter

By Dennis Norman, on December 15th, 2022

There were 900 homes and condominiums “flipped” during the third quarter in the St Louis M.S.A., according to data just released by ATTOM Data Solutions. As the chart below illustrates, these flips represent 6.6% of all sales during the 3rd quarter of 2022, a decrease of 28.8% from the prior quarter but an increase of over 15% from a year ago.

[xyz-ips snippet=”Foreclosures-For-Sale-and-Homes-For-Sale”]

St Louis Home Flipping Trends

Continue Reading →

New Home Building Permits in St Louis area Decline 7 Percent but increase 15 Percent in Franklin County

By Dennis Norman, on December 9th, 2022

There were 4,499 building permits issued for new single-family homes in the St Louis area during the 12-month period ended October 31, 2022, a decrease of 7.01% from the same period a year ago when there were 4,838 permits issued, according to the latest data from the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri (St Louis HBA). Five of the seven counties covered in the report saw a decrease in building permits from the same period a year ago with three of the counties have a double digit decline. Franklin County came out the big winner with nearly Continue Reading →

Lending Limits Increase on Fannie-Mae and FHA Loans

By Dennis Norman, on December 2nd, 2022

This week the Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) announced that the limits for all conforming home loans to be acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie-Mac (most of the conventional home loans originated) will increase to $726,200 on January 1, 2023. This is an increase of $79,000 for the current loan limit of $647,200.

Also this week, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced that the limits for all FHA loans will increase to between $472,030 and $1,089,300 for single-family homes depending on the area the property is located in. Below are the limits for the low cost mortgage areas as well Continue Reading →

Forty-One Percent of Americans Think The Housing Market Will Crash Next Year

By Dennis Norman, on December 1st, 2022

According to results just released by Lending Tree from a survey they conducted in October, 41% of American’s surveyed expect the housing market to crash next year. As the table below, which shows the results by generation, the Millennials are the most pessimistic about the market with 44% of the millennials surveyed believing the housing market is headed to a crash. The most optimistic generation? Baby boomers, with only 35% of the generation I belong to believing we are headed to a crash.

Inflation is the leading culprit…

Of those surveyed that believe the housing market is headed for a Continue Reading →

Mortgage Interest Rates Remain Lower For Two Weeks Now

By Dennis Norman, on November 25th, 2022

As the chart below illustrates, on November 10th, mortgage interest rates on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage dropped sharply from 7.22% the day before to 6.62% on the 10th. Since dropping, interest rates have remained around the 6.6% level.

Historically, the current rates are not bad, but that does lessen the impact…

As the bottom chart below shows, interest rates have been above the current levels for over half the period. However, understandably, that doesn’t mean much to first-time home buyers or younger homebuyers as for over the past 10 years the rates have been much less, even to the Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update – Video

By Dennis Norman, on November 23rd, 2022

Is the St Louis real estate market going to crash? The national news is filled lately with reports of slowing housing markets throughout the country, increasing inventories, falling sales and prices. Some prognosticators are predicting some metro areas will see home prices fall by as much as 40 or 50 percent. Is the St Louis real estate market on a similar trajectory?? While I can’t predict the future, I can share data to help you see where the St Louis real estate market is currently as well as where the data shows it’s headed.

[xyz-ips snippet=”Market-Update-Video–Media-Center”]

[xyz-ips snippet=”Seller-Resources—Listing-Targeted”]

Continue Reading →

Builders’ Housing Affordability Index Drops To Lowest Level Since Inception

By Dennis Norman, on November 9th, 2022

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo, jointly publish quarterly their Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) which shows the affordability, or lack thereof, of homes to a typical family. To arrive at an index value the median home price of recently sold homes for an area is taken into account as well as the median income for a family in that area. From this data the index is computed to show how affordable the typical home is to a typical family. The higher the index, the more affordable homes are to buyers in that market and the lower Continue Reading →

Franklin County Closed Home Sales In October Over 43 Percent Lower Than Last Year

By Dennis Norman, on October 28th, 2022

As the tables below show, so far during October there have been 52 home sales closed in Franklin County, down 43% from the same period last year when there were 91 sales closed. The median sold price this month for those closed sales in Franklin County has been $210,000 an increase of over 12 percent from the same period last year when the median prices homes in Franklin County sold for was $187,000.

The time it took listings to sell actually improved slightly with the median time being 43 days last October and 4o days this month. Last year the Continue Reading →

St Louis County Closed Home Sales In October Over 25 Percent Lower Than Last Year

By Dennis Norman, on October 28th, 2022

As the tables below show, so far during October there have been 704 home sales closed in St Louis County, down 26% from the same period last year when there were 955 sales closed. The median sold price this month for those closed sales in St Louis County has been $255,000 an increase of over 10 percent from the same period last year when the median prices homes in St Louis County sold for was $231,000. The time it took listings to sell has not changed with both periods having a median of 12 days and homes sold for a Continue Reading →

St Charles County Closed Home Sales In October Nearly 30 Percent Lower Than Last Year

By Dennis Norman, on October 27th, 2022

As the tables below show, so far during October there have been 278 home sales closed in St Charles County, down 28% from the same period last year when there were 388 sales closed. The median sold price this month for those closed sales in St Charles County has been $337,000 an increase of over 12 percent from the same period last year when the median prices homes in St Charles County sold for was 300. Another bit of data which is illustrates the overbidding we’ve seen in the past that has quickly come to an end for the most Continue Reading →

Survey Shows Majority Of Consumers Think Now Is A Good Time To Sell A Home But Not Buy One

By Dennis Norman, on October 27th, 2022

Monthly, Fannie Mae surveys consumers to gauge their sentiment toward whether it’s a good time to buy or sell a home and publishes the result in their Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI). As the chart below illustrates, in the most recent survey, which was just released, the HPSI index was at 60.8, the lowest level in nearly 11 years. No doubt the higher interest rates and softening economy are taking their toll on homebuyer’s optimism about the prospects of buying a home in the current market. This marks the seventh-consecutive monthly decline in the index and the first time since Continue Reading →

Home Builder Sentiment Falls For 10th Month In A Row

By Dennis Norman, on October 18th, 2022

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released their NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) report for October 2022 and, not surprisingly, it shows the builders are continuing to lose confidence in the market. As our chart below shows, the Housing Market Index (HMI), the red line, peaked in November 2020 at 90 and has, with the exception of a few minor upticks along the way, fallen ever since reaching 38, the lowest level since August 2012 when it fell to 37.

Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Louis New Homes For Sale Single Family Housing Continue Reading →

Showings On St Louis Listings Drop Below To Lowest Levels Of The Year

By Dennis Norman, on September 26th, 2022

It’s no secret that the real estate market slows down in the winter and typically nearly screeches to a halt from shortly before Christmas to shortly after New Years. Therefore, when tracking showing activity in the St Louis area, the first week of January of each year is used as the base, or “0” value and then each rolling 7-day period afterward is compared to that first week.

As the chart below shows, in 2020 and 2021 all weekly averages of showing activity were above the baseline of January until getting close to Thanksgiving, with the one exception being late Continue Reading →

Lawsuit Filed Against Zillow With Accusations of Wiretapping and Invasion of Privacy

By Dennis Norman, on September 15th, 2022

On Monday of this week, a federal lawsuit was filed in the United Status District Court for the Western District of Washington by Natalie Perkins and Kenneth Hasson against Zillow Group, Inc. and Microsoft Corporation. The suit was filed as a class action complaint on behalf of “All natural persons in the United States and its territories whose Website Communications were captured through the use of Session Replay Code embedded in Zillow’s website”.

In the complaint, the plaintiff’s allege that the defendants, Zillow and Microsoft, violated the Washington Wiretapping Statute (Wash. Rev. Code §9.73.030, et. seq.) through the use of Continue Reading →

Will The Housing Market Crash?

By Dennis Norman, on August 12th, 2022

Apparently a lot of consumers are concerned about the housing market crashing or at least concerned enough to be online searching for answers. According to Google Trends the search phrase “Will The Housing Market Crash?” has hit it’s 5-year peak in terms of interest level during the last 4-5 months. In addition, according to Google Adwords tools, there are 10,000 – 100,000 searches for month for the phrase “Will The Housing Market Crash?” and 100,000 – 1,000, 000 monthly searches for “housing market crash“.

Will there actually be a housing market crash in St Louis?

I guess first we should Continue Reading →

Yesterday’s Headlines Say Interest Rates Are Below 5 Percent – Why They Were Wrong

By Dennis Norman, on August 5th, 2022

I saw dozens and dozens of headlines yesterday reporting that mortgage interest rates had fallen below 5% on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. The catch is on the day that was reported, yesterday, interest rates were actually above 5% on a 30-year fixed-rate loan. As our chart below shows, the MND Rate index was reporting 5.09% and, below that, Optimalblue was reporting 5.326%. Both of the aforementioned charts are updated daily and considered by many in the industry to have the most current and accurate information.

How could all the big headlines be wrong?

Well, actually the articles I scanned Continue Reading →

Most Consumers Who Sold to Opendoor Lost Money According to FTC Complaint

By Sandie Hea, on August 3rd, 2022

Maybe you’ve received an unsolicited offer recently to buy your home via email or postcard from Opendoor, a home buying firm. OpenDoor will make an offer on your house, bypassing the traditional method of selling your home via a REALTOR® using the MLS (which reaches 13,000+ REALTORS®) and entices you with catchy phrases on their website like “Get an instant offer and get paid” and “Skip showings and repairs”. It can sound good and SIMPLE but, according to the FTC complaint against OPENDOOR LABS, Inc. (Opendoor) and the agreement and consent order, “…consumers who sold to Opendoor have lost money Continue Reading →

Mortgage Interest Rates Ease Back to May Levels

By Dennis Norman, on July 22nd, 2022

Interest rates on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage peaked at 6.28% a little over a month ago on June 14th, sending shockwaves through the St Louis housing market. After peaking however the rates have subsided, today dropping to 5.5%, the lowest rate since July 5th. This decline brings the mortgage rates down to the range they were I for most of May this year.

Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Louis Upcoming OPEN HOUSES Mortgage Interest Rates

(click on chart for live, interactive chart)

Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Continue Reading →

Inventory Of Homes For Sale In St Louis Increases Year Over Year For First Time In Nearly Three-Years

By Dennis Norman, on July 21st, 2022

The inventory of homes for sale in the St Louis core market area increased to a 1.04 month supply in June 2022, an increase of nearly 12 percent (11.8%) from a year ago when there was a 0.93 month supply. As our chart below illustrates, this is the first time since August 2019 there has been a year-over-year increase in inventory and then the increase was just 3.1%. While a double-digit increase is significant, we do need to keep in mind that, at just over a one-month supply of listings for sale is still crazy low! The median listing supply Continue Reading →

National Headlines Say Homebuyers Canceling Deals At Highest Rate Since Start of Covid…Is this true in St Louis?

By Dennis Norman, on July 15th, 2022

If you’re heard it once, you’ve likely heard it a hundred times, “all real estate is local”. This is why you can’t put too much faith in national news or data if you are interested in buying or selling a home in St Louis. This is also why at MORE, REALTORS®, we put so much time, effort and money into producing the best and most accurate local data we can. We think it’s important to bring the data and information down to the local level.

“Homebuyers are canceling deals at highest rate since start of COVID” was the headline earlier Continue Reading →

St Louis Area Housing Market Report For June 2022

By Dennis Norman, on July 12th, 2022

St Louis Real Estate Report for June 2022

(click on infographic for complete report including other counties)