Real Estate Market - St Louis Real Estate News

Showings of St Louis Listings Increase Forty-Two Percent Since Low 8 Days Ago

By Dennis Norman, on April 20th, 2020

Showings of listings for sale in the St Louis metro area started to decline on March 10th after COVID-19 hit our area and stay at home orders followed. As the chart below shows, the number of showings, compared to the same period last year, continued to fall until hitting the bottom on April 12th.

By the time showings hit rock bottom, they had declined to a level equal to about 25% fewer showings than during the first week of January this year and nearly 50% fewer showings than the same time last year. However, since hitting bottom on the 12th, Continue Reading →

The COVID-19 Impact On The St Louis Real Estate Market – One Month In

By Dennis Norman, on April 14th, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic (coronavirus) began impacting the St Louis area just a little over a month ago and I’ve been tracking the impact on the St Louis real estate market along the way. From the outset, we have seen a decline in the number of new listings, new sales and physical showings of listings, however, overall the decline has remained fairly constant. New sales of listings for the St Louis area has pretty well hovered around a level equal to about tw0-thirds of the activity we saw at the same time last year.

Now that we are about a month Continue Reading →

The Population Increase of St Louis during past 9 years was less than one-tenth of U.S. population growth

By Dennis Norman, on April 12th, 2020

While we are in the midst of the 2020 census, the U.S. Census Bureau released its population growth estimates for metropolitan statistical areas (MSA’s) in the U.S. which revealed the St Louis MSA saw a population increase of just 0.6% from 2010 through 2019. As the table below shows, the population of the St Louis MSA in 2010 was 2,787,751 and in 2019 it was 2,803,228, an increase of 15,477 people during the 9-year period or 0.6%. Overall, the United States saw a population increase of 6.3% during the same period and the population of MSAs across the country saw Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – April 2020

By Dennis Norman, on April 10th, 2020

The St Louis real estate market is off to a good start for 2020 however, it is getting impacted by COVID-19. This month’s market update video includes market data through the end of March but, even though about 2/3 of March was after COVID-19 began disrupting things here, the effects really cannot be seen yet. A couple of weeks ago I did a Special Report video that was specifically about the impact of coronavirus on the St Louis real estate market, but it won’t be until our May market report that we really see the full impact of it on Continue Reading →

The IRS Extends Time-Frame To Complete Exchanges and Opportunity Zone Rollovers

By Dennis Norman, on April 10th, 2020

Last night, the Internal Revenue Service issued guidance to extend the time permitted to complete a like-kind exchange or rollover into an Opportunity fund. While the actual IRS notice has not been issued yet (I’m guessing it will come out today) and that will contain more specifics, below are highlights of the relief that is being granted to real estate investors by the IRS as a result of COVID-19:

1031 Like-kind exchange – If an investor is in the midst of 1031 exchange and has already sold the property they owned and the 45-day period to identify the replacement property Continue Reading →

St Louis MSA Property Taxes For 2019 Was At Same Effective Rate as 3 Years Ago

By Dennis Norman, on April 9th, 2020

The average property tax amount in 2019 for a residential property was $2,840, according to the latest data released from ATTOM Data Research. Based upon the average estimated home value for the St Louis MSA of $211,816, this works out to an effective property tax rate of 1.34% which is slightly less than last year’s effective rate of 1.36% and is the same as the rate of 1.34% in 2016.

St Louis MSA Effective Property Tax Rates – 2016 – 2019

[xyz-ips Continue Reading →

Is Real Estate Essential?

By Dennis Norman, on April 4th, 2020

Need I answer? Given the title of this site and if you have been here before you probably are aware I’ve been in the real estate business ever since graduating high school some 41 years ago, I’m going to guess you know I’m going to say “of course it is”. On a more serious note though, my headline poses the question in light of the current Coronavirus pandemic which has resulted in a stay at home order for several counties in Missouri and, effective tomorrow night at midnight, the entire state of Missouri.

One of the exceptions in all of Continue Reading →

How Mortgage Forbearance Works Under CARES ACT (Video)

By Dennis Norman, on April 3rd, 2020

Yesterday, I shared information about forbearance options available to borrowers with an FHA loan that has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau released a very informative video titled “CARES Act Mortgage Forbearance: What You Need to Know” which is below. This video contains a great explanation of what forbearance is, how it works and how to request it on your mortgage.

[xyz-ips snippet=”Homes-For-Sale”]

Foreclosure Activity Increases in February But Down 12 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on April 2nd, 2020

The foreclosure rate for the St Louis MSA during February increased 22.55 percent from the prior month but declined 12.0% from February 2019, according to data just released from ATTOM Data Solutions. As the table below shows, only 3 counties in the St Louis metro area saw a decline in foreclosure activity in February from the month before but 10 of the 15 counties reported saw a decline in foreclosure activity from a year ago.

Three counties, Madison in Illinois and St Louis and Lincoln in Missouri, saw a decline in foreclosure activity from both the month before as Continue Reading →

HUD To Allow Homeowners Impacted by COVID-19 To Defer House Payments For Up to a Year

By Dennis Norman, on April 2nd, 2020

As a result of the COVID-19 National Emergency Servicing and Loss Mitigation Program declared by President Trump, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sent a letter yesterday to its loan servicers making them aware of new COVID-19 National Emergency Loss Mitigation Options. HUD told the lenders that the new options for borrowers go into effect immediately but the lender must implement them no later than April 30, 2020.

Highlights of the new forbearance plan:

The Mortgagee (lender) must not deny COVID-19 National Emergency Home Retention Options to Borrowers that experience an adverse impact on their ability to Continue Reading →

Showings Of St Louis Area Listings Trending Upward

By Dennis Norman, on April 1st, 2020

While, rightly so, health concerns remain on the minds of home buyers, sellers, and agents, with safety practices in place, the real estate market in St Louis still has activity. Granted, as you would expect, the activity is at a reduced rate, but there are still people that want, or even need, to buy or sell a home. In fact, the economic downturn as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has put some additional pressure on sellers who have been negatively affected.

One of the things I’ve been watching to track activity in the market are showings of homes. As Continue Reading →

Special Report (Video) – The Impact of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) on the St Louis Real Estate Market

By Dennis Norman, on March 30th, 2020

I’ve written several articles over the past couple of weeks about the impact the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is having on the St Louis real estate market. Hopefully, it has been of some benefit to people that either already had their homes on the market, were in the market to buy or considering buying or selling. Yesterday, I took all of the most recent information and updates that I think people in those situations will find useful and packed it all into a short, 4-minute, video special report on the impact of COVID-19 on the St Louis Real Estate Market.

You Continue Reading →

Fannie Mae Offers Mortgage Payment Deferral Plans for Eligible Homeowners

By Dennis Norman, on March 29th, 2020

Fannie Mae, the leading source of financing for home mortgages in the U.S. (they purchase home loans from lenders), earlier this week announced some payment deferral plans to help borrowers. Fannie Mae is authorizing it’s loan servicers to provide options to borrowers that have fallen delinquent or are having trouble making their house payments, which is likely a result of the financial impact on them of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While it’s complicated, there are several options that Fannie Mae has made available to loan servicers to offer to borrowers that are struggling. Complete details are in Fannie Mae Lender Letter Continue Reading →

New Listings In St Louis During Past 7 Days Down Just 25 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on March 28th, 2020

St Louis sellers appear to remain pretty confident in the St Louis real estate market in spite of the COVID-19 threat as evidenced by the number of new residential listings that hit the St Louis market in the past 7 days. During the past 7 days, there were 701 new residential listings on the St Louis 5-County Core Market (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) this is a decline of just 25% from the same period last year when there were 943 listings. For the St Louis MSA, there were 930 new Continue Reading →

Home Affordability In St Louis Improves In 2 Of Five Counties During 1st Quarter

By Dennis Norman, on March 28th, 2020

Homes became more affordable in Jefferson County and St Charles County during the first quarter of this year from the 4th quarter of 2019, according to data just released by ATTOM Data Research. As the table below shows, the affordability index for both those counties increased from the prior quarter as well as from the same quarter the prior year. Franklin County’s affordability index was the same for the 1st quarter of 2020 as the prior quarter but improved by 5% from a year ago. The two St Louis’s, the city and county, both saw decline in home affordability from Continue Reading →

New Sales Of Residential Listings In St Louis In Past 7 Days Down Just 14 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on March 25th, 2020

As all of us continue to deal with a much different lifestyle as a result of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) I am closely monitoring the St Louis real estate market to help get the most accurate information possible to our agents, clients, and consumers to help them make informed decisions about their real estate transactions.

With this in mind, I took a look at new contracts on listings for the past 7 days, so in other words, homes that actually went under contract during the period, but this time, I wanted to drill down deeper than I did a few Continue Reading →

Showings Of Missouri Listings In Past 7 Days Down Nearly A Third From Last Year But Still Up 20 Percent From January

By Dennis Norman, on March 23rd, 2020

As the chart below from Showingtime illustrates, showings on real estate listings in Missouri were down nearly one-third (32.6%) from the same time last year. However, as the chart depicts, for the 7 day period ending yesterday, March 22nd, the number of showings were nearly 20 percent (19.6%) higher than during the first week of January this year. Last year at this time, showings were up over 77 percent from the first week in January, so, as expected, we are seeing a decline in showings but, at this point, are still at a rate better than back in January.

The Continue Reading →

Over Sixteen Hundred Listings Went Under Contract In Past Week In St Louis area MLS

By Dennis Norman, on March 21st, 2020

As I mentioned in my article yesterday about the effect of the coronavirus on the St Louis real estate market, for those homebuyers in a position to buy a home, there will be some good opportunities presented. Apparently, there are buyers out there that perhaps feel the same way or, they at least are not uncomfortable with buying now as, in the past 7 days, 1,670 listings in MARIS, the regional MLS that serves the St Louis area as well as some additional areas outside the metro area, went under contract. When pulling data from our database for this, I Continue Reading →

St Louis County Judge Issues Order Stopping Evictions

By Dennis Norman, on March 21st, 2020

Yesterday, Michael D. Burton, Presiding Judge of the Circuity Court of St Louis County, signed an order that, until further notice, directed the St Louis County Sheriff’s office to “refrain from executing any writs of restitution (eviction of a tenant), writs of replevin, writs of attachment, writs of partition and any other writs of execution that require them to come into direct contact with the general public..”. In addition, putting a stop to evictions of tenants in St Louis County this order stops the additional actions listed as well but preventing evictions is probably the most significant part of the Continue Reading →

The Effect of Coronavirus (COVID-19) On The St Louis Real Estate Market

By Dennis Norman, on March 20th, 2020

While we deal with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic practicing social-distancing, shutting down events, public gatherings and the like, we are still trying to go on with our lives at the same time. A big challenge to this is the unknown; not knowing how bad things will get, how long we may have to live like this, etc. Fortunately, for those of us in Missouri, at the time I’m writing this, we have just 41 confirmed cases putting Missouri at number 40 of the 50 states in terms of the number of cases. Granted, once more people are tested, our position Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – March 2020 – 2020 off to a better start than last year…so far

By Dennis Norman, on March 14th, 2020

The St Louis real estate market is off to a great start for 2020! Home sales year to date has outpaced sales from the same time a year ago and everything points to 2020 being a good year for real estate! The $64 question is, however, what effect the Coronavirus may have on the market. Only time will tell, but my thoughts are that while there will no doubt be some negative impact on the St Louis housing market as a result of Coronavirus (COVID-19) its impact will be much less than what we have seen of late in the Continue Reading →

Mortgage Interest Rates Hit All-Time Low!

By Dennis Norman, on March 7th, 2020

Mortgage interest rates hit a record low this week with an average interest rate of 3.29% on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey. As the chart below shows, interest rates came close to this level at the end of 2012 but then quickly shot up to over 4.5% shortly after.

Now is the time to buy or at least refinance!

Anyone that has been thinking of buying a home should, if able, shift into high geat and find one now to take advantage of the low rates and the increased buying power that Continue Reading →

Mortgage Interest Rates….How low can they go??

By Dennis Norman, on March 4th, 2020

For quite a while now we have enjoyed the positive effects on the real estate market from low mortgage rates but it looks like it’s going to get even better! Yesterday’s announcement by the Fed of the emergency step of lowering the benchmark U.S. interest rate by one-half of one percent, in an effort to offset the negative effect tot eh financial markets from the coronavirus will likely lead to even lower mortgage interest rates.

What’s the connection between the federal funds rate and mortgage interest rates? This is something often asked not only by homebuyers but is even within Continue Reading →

St Louis’ Fastest Selling Zip Codes

By Dennis Norman, on February 29th, 2020

It may still be winter, which most people know is the “slow-season” for real estate, however, there are still plenty of areas in St Louis where homes are selling fast! Below is the list of the fastest-selling zip codes (only available from MORE, REALTORS on their St Louis Real Estate Search® site, which reveals the 63144 zip code in St Louis county as the fastest-selling zip with an average time of just 21 days on the market for active listings. The second zip on the list, and just a day behind the average for the Brentwood area of 63144, si Continue Reading →

Home Sales In St Louis 5-County Core Market Have Trended Upward Last 3 Years – Time To Sale Rises Sharply

By Dennis Norman, on February 28th, 2020

Home sales in St Louis have trended upward over the past 3 years with 25,450 homes sold during 2017 (non-distressed sales only), 25,804 during 2018 and 25,962 homes during 2019. As the chart below shows, the days on market (time to sell a home) was 19 days in 2017, declined to 17 days in 2018 and then jumped sharply to 32 days during 2019. The bottom chart shows data for the past 12-months and, as it reveals, the time to sell a home has continued to upward during 2020 thus far with the time in January rising to 47 days.

Continue Reading →

Nearly One In Five Properties In 63113 Are Vacant

By Dennis Norman, on February 27th, 2020

Of the 4,531 residential properties located within the 63113 zip code in the City of St Louis, over 18 percent of them are vacant (824), according to a report just released today by Attom Data Solutions. As the table below shows, six of the ten zip codes in the St Louis MSA with the highest rate of vacant property are located within the City of St Louis and the remaining 4 in St Louis County.

Nine of the 10 zip codes with the highest rate of vacancy have double-digit vacancy rates. Franklin County has the most zip codes with no Continue Reading →

Home Ownership Rate Hits Highest Level In Six Years

By Dennis Norman, on February 27th, 2020

During the 4th quarter of 2019 the homeownership rate in the U.S. hit 65.1%, the highest level since the 4th quarter of 2013 when the rate was 65.2%, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Homeownership by Race and Ethnicity:

As the table below shows, according to the Census Bureau data, homeownership by race and ethnicity was as follows:

White, Non-Hispanic – 73.7% – the highest level in 8 years. Black – 44.0% – the highest level in 7 years. Hispanic (of any race) – 48.1% – the highest level in just under 2 years. Home Continue Reading →

Ten Years Later…Update On The Homeowner Sentenced To Jail For Yard Art (Updated Photos Too)

By Dennis Norman, on February 26th, 2020

Nearly ten years ago I first wrote about the owner of a property in Ballwin that was sentenced to 20 days in jail after he had refused to make changes to the art displayed in his yard that officials for the city of Ballwin had deemed to be dangerous. The property owner, Lewis Greenberg, had decorated his home and filled his yard with a variety of items he referred to as “art” that was to make a statement about the Holocaust.

After hearing of this back in May 2010, I decided to check out his home at 977 Morena Court, Continue Reading →

St Louis Metro Area Home Sales Increase Nearly 2 Percent In Past 12 Months

By Dennis Norman, on February 25th, 2020

There were 35,702 homes sold in the St Louis metro area in the 12-month period ended January 31, 2020, an increase of nearly 2 percent (1.97%) from the prior 12-month period when there were 35,013 homes sold. As MORE, RELATORS exclusive STL Market Report below shows, the median price of homes sold in St Louis during the most recent period was $195,000, an increase of 4 percent from the prior 12-month period.

Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Louis Upcoming OPEN HOUSES Home Sales St Louis MSA – Past 12 Months vs Prior 12 Months

Continue Reading →

New Rule Will Require REALTORS Put All Listings In The MLS Or Not Market Them

By Dennis Norman, on February 21st, 2020

Over the past couple of months, I have written a couple of articles about a new policy approved by the National Association of REALTORS® in November 2019 known as the “Clear Cooperation Policy”. While I’m not sure how closely consumers are watching, or if they even care at all about the policy at this point, REALTORS® have definitely been following the policy and have been pretty vocal about their thoughts on the policy, both for and against.

Before I go on, I should disclose that I currently serve as Chairman of the Board for MARIS (Mid-America Regional Information Systems) which Continue Reading →