Real Estate Market - St Louis Real Estate News

Number of Seriously Underwater St Louis Homeowners Down Fifty-Percent From 4 Years Ago

By Dennis Norman, on February 9th, 2018

The percentage of homeowners with a mortgage in the St Louis MSA that were seriously underwater in the last quarter of 2017 was 13.8%, about half the rate from 4 years earlier, according to data just released by ATTOM Data Solutions. For this report, a homeowner is considered “seriously underwater” when the total of their home mortgage(s) is equal to, or greater than, 125% of their home’s current value.

Also shown on the table below is the percentage of equity-rich homewners in the St Louis MSA. An “equity-rich” homeowner is at the other end of the spectrum from an underwater Continue Reading →

Looking Back – 2017 Was A Good Year For Real Estate In The St Louis Area

By Dennis Norman, on February 4th, 2018

Last year was a good year for the St Louis real estate market evidenced by increased home prices and sales in all counties in and around St Louis from the year before, with the lone exception being Franklin County which saw a decline in both home sales and prices from the year before.

As the table below illustrates, the St Louis MSA as a whole saw median home prices increase 2.99% in 2017 from the year before and home sales increase 4.14% during the same period. Date for the other counties is shown as well by clicking on the table.

Continue Reading →

St Louis Area Cities Where Homes Sold The Slowest In 2017

By Dennis Norman, on January 31st, 2018

In spite of the strong real estate market in 2017 in St Louis, there were cities in St Louis where home’s sold slower than in others. As the counter to the previous article published, where we listed the fast selling cities, today we will identify the St Louis towns and cities where it took the longest to sell a home in 2017.

Where in St Louis did homes sell the slowest in 2017?

As our table below shows, Edgar Springs, a small town in Phelps County MO with a population of just over 200, was Continue Reading →

St Louis Area Cities Where Homes Sold The Fastest In 2017

By Dennis Norman, on January 30th, 2018

The St Louis area real estate market had a good year in 2017 with strong sales and sustainable home price growth throughout the area. One of the challenges to the market was a result of a low inventory of homes for sale which forced home buyers to move quickly when a new listings hit the market. This resulted in homes selling very quickly in popular areas and areas of high demand.

Where in St Louis did homes sell the quickest in 2017?

As our table below shows, Grantwood Village, a quaint Village with about 900 residents Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – January 2018

By Dennis Norman, on January 23rd, 2018

The St Louis real estate market closed out 2017 with an increase in both home sales and prices from the year before, both at a healthy and, hopefully, sustainable rates. Find out more, as well as get information on some of St Louis’s best resources for home buyers and sellers in our just-released market update video. In our MORE, REALTORS, 5 Minute St Louis Real Estate Market Update video below, you can quickly and easily get the latest information on home prices, home sales, trends and more for the entire St Louis area!

Sell Your Home For Continue Reading →

Want To Sell Your Home? We Know The Name Of The Likely Buyer!

By Dennis Norman, on January 4th, 2018

When you interview real estate agents to consider them to list your home there are all sorts of claims they can make as to what they will do different, or how they will get your home sold quicker, for more, etc. But how about this one? I can tell you the name of the person likely to buy your home!

Well, maybe I should add a caveat or two…

I can tell you that, in an analysis of over 4 million home sales during 2017 done by ATTOM Data Solutions, it was revealed where there were the largest increases, Continue Reading →

St Charles County Home Sales Trend Downward Over Past 12 Months- Prices Trend Upward

By Dennis Norman, on December 31st, 2017

Home sales and home prices in St Charles County during the 12-month period ending November 30, 2017, are trending in opposite directions. Home sales in St Charles County have, as the chart below reveals, declined 5.7% from 6,155 home sales for the 12 month period ended November 30, 2016 to 5,806 home sales for the period ended November 30, 2017. The median price per foot for homes sold during these same periods however have increased 2.4% from $127 per foot for the period ended November 2016 to $130 per foot for the period ended November 30, 2017.

St Charles County Continue Reading →

St Louis City & County Home Sales Trend Downward Over Past 12 Months- Prices Trend Upward

By Dennis Norman, on December 30th, 2017

Home sales and home prices in St Louis city and St Louis County during the 12-month period ending November 30, 2017, are trending in opposite directions. Home sales, for these two areas combined, have, as the chart below reveals, declined 4.2% from 44,823 home sales for the 12 month period ended November 30, 2016 to 42,958 home sales for the period ended November 30, 2017. The median price per foot for homes sold during these same periods however have increased 3.7% from $107 per foot for the period ended November 2016 to $111 per foot for the period ended November Continue Reading →

Top Ten St Louis Zip Codes Where Homes Sell For Highest Price Per Foot

By Dennis Norman, on December 28th, 2017

If you have read any of my articles here about home prices previously, you will probably know that I feel price per foot is the best way to compare home prices. Looking at home prices in this manner makes it easier to do apples to apples comparison on home prices. Speaking of apples, they are a good analogy. Apples generally are sold by the pound, which makes it easier to figure out whether the 3lb bag for $5.25 or the 12 lb bag for $19.20 is a better deal. On the surface, if we just went by the gross sales Continue Reading →

St Louis Homes Are Still Selling Fast! What Areas Are Selling the Fastest?

By Dennis Norman, on December 21st, 2017

With just a few days before Christmas and Thanksgiving less than a month ago, this is normally known as the “slow season” for real estate however, homes in St Louis continue to sell in record time! Below are the 10 St Louis metro area cities where homes have sold the fastest, based upon the average days it took homes to sell that closed within the last 30 days. The fastest selling city today is Rock Hill at 12 days which is only 1 day slower than the #1 city on the list back in late August. You can click on Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – December 2017

By Dennis Norman, on December 14th, 2017

St Louis home sales are on pace to top last year! The inventory of homes for sale continues to be low and home price appreciation over the past year has been at at good, sustainable rate. Find out more, as well as get information on some of St Louis’s best resources for home buyers and sellers in our just-released market update video. In our MORE, REALTORS, 5 Minute St Louis Real Estate Market Update video below, you can quickly and easily get the latest information on home prices, home sales, trends and more for the entire St Louis area!

Continue Reading →

Home Flipping In St Louis Hits Lowest Level In A Year

By Dennis Norman, on December 8th, 2017

St Louis flipped homes accounted for 6.6% of home sales in the St Louis MSA during the 3rd quarter of 2017, the lowest level since the 3rd quarter of 2016 when flips made up 6.3% of the St Louis home sales. For the purposes of this report, a “flip” was defined as a property that was sold in an arms-length sale for the second time within a 12-month period.

Slow times are good flip times…

As the table below shows, with very few exceptions, for the 17 year period covered in the table, home flips have accounted for a larger Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices Have Increased Thirty-Four Percent In Past 6 Years….Too much, too fast?

By Dennis Norman, on December 3rd, 2017

After the housing bubble burst in 2008, home prices finally hit bottom in the St Louis metro area, as they did in most areas of the U.S., during 2012. Since then, home prices in most areas have not only regained the post-bubble burst losses but have appreciated handsomely as well. For the St Louis MSA, the median price of homes sold has increased 34% from 2012 through today, an annual growth rate of 4.98%. The steady and fairly significant, increase in home prices in St Louis has caused some to ask if it is “too much, too fast?”. In other Continue Reading →

Eight-Five Percent Of People That Move In St Louis Stay In Missouri…Only 7 Percent Move out of Midwest

By Dennis Norman, on November 25th, 2017

The US Census Bureau recently released “Mover Rate” data which showed who moves, how frequently, the demographics of those who have moved as well as the geography of where they move. While they don’t have the data published at the city or county level, I did pull the data for here in the Midwest Region of the country and have compiled some of the more interesting tidbits in tables at the bottom of this article. (We work hard on this and sure would appreciate a “Like”) Search St Louis Homes For Sale All The St Louis Open Houses Scheduled For Continue Reading →

Black Friday Home Sales In St Louis

By Dennis Norman, on November 24th, 2017

Ok, everyone knows Black Friday is a huge shopping day, historically the largest shopping day of the year, but is it a big day to shop for a home as well? Well, based on our data from last year, maybe not so much. As our tables show below, while there were 35 homes and condos sold in the core St Louis market (the city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) that was just over half as many as were sold the Friday before, and the Friday after, Black Friday. So, it appears on Continue Reading →

St Louis City & County Home Sales This Year On Track To Top Last Year – Prices & Inventory Up Slightly Also

By Dennis Norman, on November 22nd, 2017

Home sales in the city and county of St Louis this year have pretty consistently, from month to month, been at a pace roughly 5 percent higher than at the same time last year. As our chart below illustrates, we began this year with 747 homes sold (not including distressed sales) in St Louis city and county, an increase of 5.2% from January 2016 when there were 710 homes sold. As of the end of October, there were 12,824 homes sold this year, an increase of 5.6% from the same time last year when there were 12,145 in the city Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – November 2017

By Dennis Norman, on November 15th, 2017

Will home sales this year fall short of last years total? Have home prices risen too much in St Louis? Is there still a shortage of homes for sale in St Louis? Find the answers, data behind the answers, as well as complete, and up to date, home price and sales data for the entire St Louis market, in our just released market update video.

In our MORE, REALTORS, 5 Minute St Louis Real Estate Market Update video below, you can quickly and easily get the latest information on home prices, home sales, trends and more for the entire St Continue Reading →

St Louis Neighborhoods Where Homes SOLD The Fastest In Last 30 Days

By Dennis Norman, on November 8th, 2017

As we head into the holidays and winter months, the St Louis real estate market is slowing as is typical, however, it is still going fairly strong. Below are the 10 St Louis metro area cities where homes sold the quickest, based upon the days it too homes to sell that closed in the last 30 days. The time it took homes to sell has only dropped slightly since we last published this list in late August. In late August the number 1 city on the list took 11 days to sell and #10 on the list, 20 days. Today’s Continue Reading →

St Louis Rental Vacancies At Lowest Rates In Over A Decade

By Dennis Norman, on November 5th, 2017

The vacancy rate for rentals in St Louis during the third quarter of this year was 9.8%, significantly lower than the median vacancy rate of 11.5% for that quarter since 2004. The year to date median vacancy rate for 2017, through the first 3 quarters, is 8.1% which is tied with last years rate, the lowest in more than a decade. So it’s a good time to be a landlord in St Louis! (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 ] Search Rental Property For Sale In St Louis Search Multi-Family Properties for Continue Reading →

Home Mortgage Lending In Low and Moderate Income Areas On The Rise

By Dennis Norman, on November 3rd, 2017

There is little doubt that lower-income individuals and, subsequently, lower-income neighborhoods, were impacted more negatively by the housing market bubble burst in 2008 than other areas. This resulted in extremely high mortgage delinquency rates, high foreclosure rates, and declining home values. Afterward, citing “loose” lending standards, sub-prime mortgages, etc, the mortgage market tightened the reins on mortgage lending making it more difficult for everyone to get a loan, but particularly, those folks in the lower income brackets.

As time has passed, home loan requirements have eased and it is now easier to obtain a home loan. Some of the requirements Continue Reading →

St Louis Homeownership Rate Hits Highest Level In Two Years

By Dennis Norman, on October 31st, 2017

The homeownership rate in St Louis, during the 3rd quarter of this year was 68.0 percent, the highest level since the 3rd quarter of 2015 when the rate was 70.3 percent, according to data just released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Homeownership Rate St Louis MSA

(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 ] Search St Louis Homes For Sale All The St Louis Open Houses Scheduled For This Weekend

The homeownership rate for the State of Missouri during the 3rd quarter of 2017 was 70.4 percent, the highest level for the Continue Reading →

Number of St Louis Homeowners With Negative Equity Continues To Drop In Most Areas

By Dennis Norman, on October 30th, 2017

Over the past couple of years, as the St Louis real estate market has continued performing well, mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures have continued to decline. Rising home value has also caused the number of “underwater” homeowners, also known as homeowners in a negative-equity position (meaning their mortgage balance exceeds their homes current value) to decline as well. As the table below shows, 5 of the seven St Louis area counties listed saw a decline in the number of underwater properties in the 3rd quarter of this year from a year ago. The largest decline in underwater properties was St Charles Continue Reading →

City of St Louis Has Second Highest Vacant Property Rate In The U.S.

By Dennis Norman, on October 27th, 2017

As of the end of September, in the city of St Louis, 7,265 of the 104,288 residential properties in the city were vacant, giving the city a vacant property rate of 6.97 percent, the 2nd highest of all the counties in the U.S., according to a newly released report by ATTOM Data Solutions. The number of vacant properties in the city of St Louis increased 4.4% from the same time last year. Baltimore Maryland had the highest vacant property rate at 8.14 percent.

As the table below shows, St Clair County, Illinois was the next St Louis area county on Continue Reading →

St Louis Has Higher Standard of Living Than 94 Percent Of All Metro Areas

By Dennis Norman, on October 26th, 2017

James Bullard, President, and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis gave a rather flattering report on St Louis during a presentation earlier this month. Speaking at the Bi-State Development annual meeting, Mr. Bullard’s presentation, “Living Standards across U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas” compared income, home prices as well as other economic data of 381 MSA’s across the country.

Highlights from the presentation:

St Louis ranks 7th of the 53 largest MSA’s for the ratio of real per capita personal income to U.S. average with a 1.13 (table 1 below) St Louis was one of just two cities (Nashville Continue Reading →

St Louis City & County See Home Sales Fall In September While Prices Spike

By Dennis Norman, on October 24th, 2017

The city and county of St Louis, collectively, accounted for nearly two-thirds of the home sales in the St Louis core-market during the past 12 months. There were 16,790 homes sold in the city and county of St Louis during the period October 1, 2016, through September 30, 2017, 61.0% of the 27,517 total number of homes sold in the 5-County Core St Louis real estate market during the period.

Home prices spike in St Louis City/County…

The median price of homes sold during the 12-month period ending September 30, 2017, was $174,900, a rather modest, but sustainable, 2.94% from Continue Reading →

St Louis County Dominates St Charles County In The Luxury Home Market

By Dennis Norman, on October 22nd, 2017

Over the past 20 years, there have been 2.75 times more homes sold in St Louis County (250,486) than St Charles County (90,933). Given that the population in St Louis County at the beginning of this period was 4 times that of St Charles County and, even today is nearly 2.6 times more, St Charles County has definitely held it’s own in the housing market.

St Louis County dominates the $1mil+ home market…

St Charles County may be keeping up with St Louis county in the overall housing market, however, when we look at the luxury home market, homes selling Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – October 2017

By Dennis Norman, on October 13th, 2017

Is there a market correction coming to the St Louis real estate market? Find the answer, data behind it, as well as complete, and up to date, home price and sales data for the entire St Louis market, in our just released market update video.

Sell Your Home For The Highest Price In The Least Amount of Time! See how- Continue Reading →

New Kitchens Help Sell Homes, But New Roof & Windows Get Better Return

By Dennis Norman, on October 12th, 2017

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) just released it’s 2017 Remodeling Impact Report, in which they rank Kitchen Renovation and Upgrade at the top of their list for appeal to buyers as well as for most likely value to the home for resale. Next on the list, in both categories, was Bathroom renovation.

According to the report:

The average cost of a kitchen upgrade was $35,000 and, on average, added $20,000 to the value of the home, for a recovery rate of 57% of the cost. The average cost of a complete kitchen renovation was $65,000 and, on average, added Continue Reading →

St Louis Mortgage Delinquency Rate Continues To Fall

By Dennis Norman, on October 10th, 2017

On a national level, according to a report released by Corelogic, the foreclosure rate is at a 10-year low and, for the most part, mortgage delinquency rates continue to fall as real estate markets around the country continue to improve.

The state of Missouri, as well as it’s two big metro areas, St Louis and Kansas City, are following suit with improvements in mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates.

State of Missouri- Mortgage Delinquency/Foreclosure Rates: 30+ day mortgage delinquency rate improved from 5.3% of all mortgage loans a year ago to 4.5% for July 2017; 90+ day mortgage delinquency rate improved Continue Reading →

Mortgage Fraud Risk Report Shows Missouri In Top Five Increased Risk States

By Dennis Norman, on October 7th, 2017

CoreLogic just released it’s 2017 Mortgage Fraud Report in which Missouri made the list of the five states with the highest year-over-year risk growth for mortgage fraud. The two types of fraud Missouri made the list on were Transaction fraud risk and Undisclosed Real Estate Debt fraud risk.

Below are some national highlights from the report (all figures are based upon 2nd quarter 2017 compared with 2nd quarter 2016):

Occupancy Fraud Risk increased nationally 7% Transaction Fraud Risk increased 3.9% Income Fraud Risk increased 3.5% Property Fraud Risk decreased 1.9% Undisclosed Real Estate Debt Fraud Risk decreased 2.7% Identity Fraud Continue Reading →