St Louis Real Estate NewsDaily St. Louis real estate news, market analysis, home prices, and mortgage rate updates from local industry professionals. |
The thrill of buying or selling a home can quickly come to an end when you have a bad moving experience or, worse yet, get ripped off by a dishonest moving company. How do you avoid a dishonest mover? The U.S. Department of Transportation has published 8 “red flags” to be on the lookout for to avoid getting ripped off:
“RED FLAGS” to be on the lookout for:
St Louis Residential Construction Gets Boost From Apartment Construction
St Louis residential construction activity is on the rise with building permits increasing by almost 75 percent in the past year in the immediate St Louis area. As the table below shows, the largest increase in residential building permits came in multi-families with a 154 percent increase in permits in the area in the past year. During the same period, single family permits in St Louis were up just over 50 percent.
Tyler Frank,Paramount MortgageNMLS ID 942420
Home Prices Nationwide Shooting Up Faster Than Anyone Thought Possible Not Long Ago
The US housing market has broken out of a deep slump, and prices are shooting up faster than anyone thought possible a year ago.
Prices of existing homes rose 10% in February nationally from a year ago. What is causing this increase?
“Nationwide, we’re not in a bubble,” says Glenn Kelman, CEO of online real estate company Redfin, however Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego may be headed that direction, according to Redfin’s data. Redfin is not in St Louis so our city was not on their list but in the coming weeks I plan to do an analysis of the St Louis market in the same manner they did of other markets and will publish what I find at that time. In the meantime, here’s the info from Redfin.
St Louis Real Estate Market Turns Into Seller’s Market!
The St Louis Real Estate Market has become a seller’s market, according to the latest market data from MORE, REALTORS. The inventory of homes for sale is on the decline while buying activity is up which makes for a competitive market for buyers.
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.
To get the latest St Louis Real Estate Stats and the latest, best and most comprehensive St Louis Real Estate Data, check out our 5-minute Continue Reading →
St Louis Foreclosures on 4,252 Properties During 1st Quarter 2013
St Louis Foreclosures declined 11.96 percent during the first quarter of 2013 from a year ago, according to a newly released report by RealtyTrac. According to the report, 4,252 properties in St Louis received a foreclosure filing (default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions) during the first quarter of 2013 which is a decline of 9.88 percent from the 4th quarter of 2012 and a 11.96 decline from the 1st quarter of 2012.
Has St Louis Become A Sellers Market?
As the news about the St Louis real estate market becomes more optimistic, the question being asked has become “Is It A Sellers Market In St Louis?”. To answer that question, I put together some market data from that last couple of years to show how the market is changing in the St. Louis area and produced our latest infographic illustrating what I found.
To find out if it is a sellers market in St Louis check out the infographic by clicking here.
Tyler Frank,Paramount MortgageNMLS ID 942420
Free Credit Scores are Not Part of the Free Annual Credit Report Consumers Currently Receive
Consumers currently have the right to request their free credit report once a year, but a credit report does not include free credit scores. These two items are often confused to be the same, which they are not.
You generally must pay to see your credit score. It’s a three-digit grade that predicts how risky you are to a lender.
Earlier this month, bills were introduced in the House and Senate to allow all consumers Continue Reading →
Barely over 3 month supply of homes for sale in St Louis
Home sales in the U.S. fell slightly in February from the month before, according to the National Association of REALTORS’ pending home sales index. The index slid to 104.8* in February from 105.2 in January however was still 8.4 percent higher than a year ago and at the second highest level in nearly three-year. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR, said “limited inventory is holding back the market in many areas” and that “only new home construction can genuinely help relieve the inventory shortage…”
As the Continue Reading →
New Home Sales In Midwest Outperform The National Market!
New home sales in the Midwest were at an adjusted annual rate of 58,000 homes in February, an increase of 13.7 percent from January’s rate of 51,000 homes, according to data released this morning by the Census Bureau. The Midwest was the only region in February with an increase in new home sales from January and the Midwest and West region were the only two regions with an increase in new home sales from a year ago.
New home sale prices rose in February to $246,800 from $239,600 the month before, Continue Reading →
Making Sense of Confusing Real Estate Terms
If you are buying, selling or refinancing a home you will come across real estate terms and industry lingo that may sound foreign to you. To help address this issue, below you will find definitions for the most common real estate terms that you are likely to come across when buying, selling or refinancing a home. If you have other questions about title insurance, or the role of the title company in these transactions, please contact me and I’ll be happy to help.
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Does your house have the features that are important to home buyers?
Every year the National Association of REALTORS conducts an extensive survey of recent home buyers to gain an understanding into what are important features to home buyers. The results of the 2013 survey have now been released revealing what home buyers are looking for today. So what did the typical buyer buy? According to the survey, the typical buyer bought an 1,860 square foot, 3 bedroom home with two baths that was built-in 1996. So there you have it, if that describes your home, take comfort in knowing Continue Reading →
St. Louis County Home Values Dropped In 22 of 23 School Districts
St. Louis County Home Values declined seven (7) percent from 2011 to 2013 according to the preliminary report issued by St. Louis County Assessor, Jake Zimmerman who said “while some individual properties and neighborhoods have seen value increases, most of St. Louis County real estate has continued to experience declines.” The school district with the largest decline in property values was the Riverview Gardens school district where home values fell 23.90 percent from 2011-2013, followed by the Normandy-Wellston school district with a 15.4 Continue Reading →
St. Louis Real Estate Market Gaining Steam!
The St. Louis Real Estate Market is getting close to becoming a seller’s market in many neighborhoods. The inventory of St Louis homes for sale is down from a year ago while sales are increasing paving the way for what could be a somewhat robust selling market this spring.
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.
To get the latest St Louis Real Estate Stats and the latest, best and most comprehensive St Louis Real Estate Continue Reading →
Of the 6.8 million homes sold during the past two years, almost half of them (46 percent) were sold to first-time home buyers according the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). This is up significantly from 2005 and 2007 when only 35 percent of the homes sold were bought by first-time buyers and is even higher than in 2009, the middle of the home buyer tax credit period, when first time buyers made up 41 percent of the market. Continue Reading →
What to do if you are facing foreclosure and losing your home. Continue Reading →
Existing home sales are expected to hit the 5 million mark in 2013, according to Kiplinger’s Economic Outlook published yesterday. Kiplinger is predicting a 7.5 percent increase in existing home sales in 2013 over last years 4.65 million home sales. Continue Reading →
“McMansions”, which Wikipedia defines as “a large, new house in a sub-division of similarly large houses, which all seem mass produced and lacking distinguishing characteristics” and became popular in the 80’s and 90’s, are not appealing to today’s younger home buyer, according to a survey conducted by Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate. According to the survey, “Millennial’s” which, for the sake of this survey was considered to be people between the ages 18 and 35, are looking for a home that is distinctly different than that of their parents generation which, for many of them, are the baby boomers. This group of young home buyers are not looking for stereotypical and prototypical luxury homes (ie: McMansion) but instead want homes that are different and suit their personal lifestyle. Continue Reading →
Attorney General Chris Koster today filed a lawsuit against two related businesses that purported to provide loan modification and mortgage relief to desperate homeowners. Koster’s suit is against Legal Helpers Debt Resolution, LLC and Mortgage Law Group, LLC, as well as the companies’ managing partner, Jason Edward Searns; senior partner, Thomas Macey; and senior partner, Jeffery Aleman. Continue Reading →
Real estate professionals are definitely showing more confidence in the housing market today, with over eighty percent (84 percent) of them thinking that 2013 will bring more home sales and higher prices than 2012, according to the results of a survey by Market Leader (FWIW I agree). This represents a 28 percent increase in confidence in the market from a year ago when a similar survey was conducted. Continue Reading →
Nationwide 30-year fixed mortgage rates have climbed to their highest level of the last five weeks according to last week’s rate survey conducted by Bankrate.com. Continue Reading →
If you are a homeowner then it is probably good that St. Louis did not make the list of best markets for buying short sales, but if you are a buyer hoping to get a good deal on a home then it may be a disappointment not to see St. Louis on the list. While we do have plenty of short sale opportunities here in St. Louis, our city did not make RealtyTrac’s list of the top 15 markets in the U.S. for buying short sales, but the top 15 are listed in the chart below:
St. Louis car dealer Bommarito Auto Group’s tag line is “where price sells cars”….well, according to the results of a newly released survey, I think the same is true about the current real estate market…it’s “where price sells homes”. The number one reason given for choosing the home purchased by first-time home buyers was price, according to the recently released 2011 American Housing Survey (AHS) by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Thirty-eight (38) percent of first-time home buyers said price was their key concern, followed by thirty (30) percent who gave proximity to work as their chief concern. Continue Reading →
Almost one of every five (19.9 percent) St. Louis home sales in 2012 was a distressed sale, about 5 percent more than 2011 and 2.65 percent fewer than in 2010, according to a report released this morning by RealtyTrac. During 2012 there we 8,932 foreclosure sales in St. Louis at an average price of $93,699 or a discount of almost 40 percent (39.66 percent) compared to non-distressed home sales. Continue Reading →
The St. Louis foreclosure rate declined in December 2012 to 1.29 percent of outstanding home loans, a 25 percent drop from a year ago when the foreclosure rate was 1.72 percent, according to a newly released report from Corelogic. In addition, the St. Louis mortgage delinquency rate for December was 4.39 percent, down 12.5 percent from the year before when 5.02 percent of the outstanding St. Louis home loans were 90 days or more delinquent. Continue Reading →
It is more important now than ever, as a result of increasing regulation and scrutiny of the mortgage industry, to plan ahead when you are planning on obtaining a mortgage loan to buy a house or refinance an existing loan to ensure that the process will go smoothly and as expected. Your loan approval is subject to the financial information you provide at the time of your loan approval. Any subsequent changes in your financial situation before the actual date of closing could jeopardize your loan approval and delay your closing. Continue Reading →
New home sales in January were at a seasonally adjusted rate of 437,000 homes, an increase of 15.6 percent from the month before and an increase of 28.9 percent from a year ago, according to the new home sales report for January 2013 just released by the Commerce Department. The median price of new homes sold in January 2013 was $226,400 and the inventory of new homes for sale at the end of the month worked out to a 4.1 month supply. Continue Reading →
More than half (52 percent) of current renters said they anticipate buying a home in the next five years, according to a survey conducted by ORC International. Tenants with children under 13 are most likely to buy a home with 69 percent of them responding that they anticipate becoming a homeowner in the next five years followed by single family tenants in general, with 60 percent of those tenants anticipating buying a home and just 44 percent of apartment renters planning on buying a home within five years. Continue Reading →
There were 23,348 fewer St. Louis homeowners underwater on their mortgage (owe more than the current value of their home) or, in other words are in a “negative equity” position, at the end of 2012 than there were at the beginning of the year, according to the Zillow® Negative Equity Report for 4th quarter 2012. Continue Reading →
Over 84 percent (84.1) of the homes sold in St Louis during the 4th quarter of 2012 were affordable to a family earning the St. Louis median income of $70,400, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) that was just released. This is actually the lowest the affordability index for St. Louis has been since the 3rd quarter of 2011 when it was 81.5 but is significantly better than it was a little over 5 years ago, in the 3rd quarter of 2007 when only 70.4 percent of the homes sold in St Louis were affordable to a family with a median income. Continue Reading →