Real Estate Market - St Louis Real Estate News

St Louis’ Top Ten Neighborhoods For Home Price Reductions

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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Pending Home Sales Slip In St Louis and Throughout Midwest

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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St Louis Distressed Home Sales Drop Thirty Percent In November From Year Ago

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 →

St Louis Home Sales Fall While Prices Rise In November

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 →

Merry Christmas!

By Dennis Norman, on December 25th, 2014

Wishing you and your family a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!

Photo by: John Pavelka

St Louis’ Best Seller’s Market Neighborhoods

By Dennis Norman, on December 22nd, 2014

The improving real estate market, as well as low inventory, has led to the majority of St Louis neighborhoods becoming sellers market’s, according to our Market Action Index. As of today, St Louis’ best seller’s Market can be found in the 63021 zip code area of Ballwin, followed by Des Peres and Valley Park. The complete list of the top 15 seller’s markets in St Louis can be found below. Continue Reading →

St Louis’ Best Buyer’s Market Neighborhoods

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 →

Congress Passes Extension of Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act

By Dennis Norman, on December 17th, 2014

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 5771, the “Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014”, which had been passed by U.S. House of Representatives on December 3, 2014 and is now headed to President Obama’s desk for his approval. Assuming President Obama signs the act into law, it will be good news for homeowners that sold their homes in a short sale in 2014 or in some other way was forgiven on mortgage debt during this year. The Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 extends the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 through December 31, 2014 and makes it retroactive to January 1, 2014 so there is no gap in coverage from when the last extension expired. Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices and Sales Market Update VIDEO-December 2014

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 →

St Louis Foreclosure Activity Continues Downward Trend

By Dennis Norman, on December 11th, 2014

St Louis foreclosure activity continued to decline in November with the number of foreclosure actions decreasing in all of the St Louis core counties from the month before, according to a report just released this morning from RealtyTrac. The St Louis MSA as well as the core counties that make up the bulk of the St Louis market in Missouri, also saw double digit declines in foreclosure activity in November from the year before with the exception being Jefferson County which, as the table below shows, saw an increase of almost 90%.

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Mortgage Delinquency Rate Forecasted To Drop To Pre-Bubble Rates Next Year

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 →

Help For Underwater Homeowners-FHA Short Refinance

By Dennis Norman, on December 5th, 2014

In 2010, in an effort to “help responsible homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than the value of their property”, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) began a program that allowed lenders to offer refinancing options to underwater borrowers that included a reduction in the principal amount of their mortgage to get it more in line with the current value.

This program, called the “FHA Refinance of Borrowers in Negative Equity Positions (Short Refi) Program”, has helped only about 4,000 people or so reduce their loan balances, in spite of the fact that when announced Continue Reading →

St Louis Metro Area 14th Lowest Performing Real Estate Market

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 →

Who Lives In Ferguson?

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 →

St Louis Distressed Home Sales Down Dramatically In Past Year

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 →

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Dennis Norman, on November 27th, 2014

Thanksgiving Proclamation By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish Continue Reading →

St Louis New Home Sales Slip Slightly In October

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 →

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Told To Allow Foreclosed Homeowners To Buy Their Home Back

By Dennis Norman, on November 25th, 2014

Today, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) told Fannie May and Freddie Mac to change their policies to allow foreclosed homeowners the opportunity to buy their home back at the property’s fair-market value, just like any other purchaser can. Currently, if a foreclosed homeowner wanted to buy their home back from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac they would be required to pay the entire amount owed on their previous mortgage although a non-related purchaser, not buying the home for the benefit of the former homeowner, only has to pay the current fair market value.

“This is a targeted, but important Continue Reading →

Will Millennials Fuel Home Sales Next Year?

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 →

Will The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 Be Extended?

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 →

New Home Construction Slows In The Midwest

By Dennis Norman, on November 19th, 2014

New Home Construction in the Midwest Region of the U.S. slowed in October with new home building permits being used at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 102,000 homes, a decline of 3.8% from September but a 4.1% increase from October 2014, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD. Year to date for 2014, through October, there have been 89,100 permits issued for new homes, down very slightly from the same time last year when there had been 89,400 new home permits issued.

New Home Starts Fall Dramatically In The Midwest In October-

Construction began on Continue Reading →

St Louis’ 15 Top Buyer’s Market Neighborhoods

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 →

St Louis Foreclosure Activity Increases In October But Down Overall

By Dennis Norman, on November 14th, 2014

St Louis Foreclosure Activity was on the rise during the month of October with a big spike in foreclosure activity from the month before in St Charles and Franklin Counties as well as the St Louis MSA as a whole, according to newly released data from RealtyTrac. As the table below shows, St Charles County saw an increase of over 3,000% in foreclosure activity during the month of October from September, and over a 400% increase in activity from October 2013, however, this is the result of a large influx of REO property in October. When you look at the Continue Reading →

Missouri Supreme Court Strikes Down St Louis County Foreclosure Mediation Ordinance

By Dennis Norman, on November 13th, 2014

Yesterday, the Missouri Supreme Court handed down it’s decision in the case “Missouri Bankers Association, Inc., and Jonesburg State Bank v. St. Louis County, Missouri, and Charlie A. Dooley” ruling in favor of the Appellants (Missouri Bankers Association and Jonesburg State Bank) and against the Respondents (St Louis County and Charlie A. Dooley) by reversing an lower courts decision that ruled the Banker’s suit was moot. The original suit was filed after St Louis county enacted its “Mortgage Foreclosure Intervention Code” which, among other things, required mediation prior to a bank or other lender proceeding with a foreclosure on a Continue Reading →

St Louis’ Most Expensive Neighborhoods

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 →

How To Sell Your Home For The Highest Price In The Shortest Time

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 →

St Louis Home Sales and Prices Market Update VIDEO-November 2014

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 →

Brinkmann Constructor’s Founders’ St Albans La Charette Estate Hit’s Market

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 →

St Louis Area Cash Home Sales On The Decline

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 →

Top Real Estate Exec’s Thoughts On The Housing Market

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: