After struggling for years, new home construction in the Midwest finished out 2014 with a little more home building activity than the prior year and on a pace that makes me feel pretty optimistic about 2015 for the home building industry. Continue Reading →
The 63376 zip code area of St Charles County, which includes the City of St. Peters and a portion of Cottleville, had the most homes sold in 2014 of any other zip code area in St Louis with 1,145 homes sold. For the zip area with the second most homes sold in 2014 we jump to the east side of the Missouri river with the 63021 area of St Louis County, comprised of Ballwin, Manchester and Ellisville, with 856 homes sold. The chart below shows the top 20 zip areas in the St Louis area and then the charts that Continue Reading →
St Louis New Home Sales in November 2014 increased 12.5% from November 2013 and, as would be expected given the time of year, decreased about 8% from the month before. New home sales in St Louis out performed new home sales in the Midwest Region as a whole as the region saw 4,000 new home sales in November 2014, the same as a year ago, and a decrease of 20% from the month before, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD.
The median price of new homes sold in November 2014 was $235,900, an Continue Reading →
New home construction starts in the Midwest during November occurred at a seasonally adjusted, annual rate, of 107,000 homes, an increase of 5.9 percent from the month before and a decline of 10.1 percent from November 2013, according to the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Year to date through the end of November, there have been 97,800 single family homes started, an increase of 2 percent from this time last year when construction had started on a total of 95,700 new single family homes.
Only half the new homes built are for sale-
One of the things Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
As the look, size, price and location of homes we live in has changed over the years so the typical buyer of these homes. The best way to find out what the typical home buyer is like and what they are looking for in a home is to turn to the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) annual survey of Home Buyers and Sellers. Annually, NAR produces the results of the massive survey they conduct and just today they released the 2014 survey results which I will highlight below.
(We work hard on this and sure would appreciate a “Like”)[iframe Continue Reading →
St Louis new home building permits issued in September increased by 6 percent from a year ago for the 5-county core area of St Louis (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin), according to data just released by the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri. On a year to date basis, as the table below shows, the city of St Louis is up 13 percent from the same period last year, St Louis county is up 2 percent and the rest of the counties are running behind last years numbers.
St. Louis new home sales in September 2014 increased 3.26% from September 2013 while the average St Louis new home sales price increased 10.97% during the same period, according to the latest data from Maris.
On a national level, new home sales in September 2014 were up 17% from September 2013 and in the Midwest region sales were up 6.7% during the same period. The average new home sales price in the U.S. in September 2014 was $259,000, a 4% decline from a year ago when the average price was $269,800, according to the U.S. Census Bureaiu.
See St Louis Continue Reading →
Around this time of year every year, people start asking me “Where is the real estate Market headed next year?” The real estate market is affected by so many factors that predictions on what the market will do are hard, however there are some basic fundamentals that can be looked at to make a good educated guess. One of the industry experts out there that I think does a good job at this and, offers a somewhat less biased look at the market than some, is Frank Nothaft, Chief Economist at Freddie Mac. Below are highlights of his most recent report on the outlook of the housing market along with my comments relating his projection to our St Louis market: Continue Reading →
The number of new home building permits in St Louis dropped in August 12 percent from July and were down 2 percent from August 2013, according to the latest date from the Home Builders Association for St Louis and Eastern Missouri. There were a total of 287 permits issued for the 5-county core market consisting of the city of St Louis and Counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin, down from 327 the month before and 292 a year ago.
Looking for a new home in St Louis? Click here to see all for sale
The new home market is improving and home builders indicate they have more confidence in the new home market now than they have had since November 2005, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. According to the HMI, home builders confidence is presently at 59, the highest level the index has been at since November 2005.
The HMI is comprised of several components including builder’s opinions of current sale conditions, buyer traffic and future sales. The response from builders indicate they feel optimistic about current sale conditions and very optimistic about future sales, Continue Reading →
New home sales in the midwest region of the U.S. slipped in July with new home sales coming in at the seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 52,000 homes, down 8.8% from a rate of 57,000 homes the month before and down 1.9% from July 2013, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Year to date, through July, there have been 36,000 new homes sold (not seasonally adjusted) down 2.7% from the same time last year when there were 37,000 year to date new home sales.
On a national level, in July new home sales were at a seasonally-adjusted Continue Reading →
A new study by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reveals for each $1,000 increase in the price of a new home (median-priced new home) forces 206,000 prospective home buyers out of the market. Continue Reading →
Today’s new home buyer’s most important features are the kitchen and master bedroom, according to a survey conducted by PulteGroup. The kitchen was chosen as the most important feature in a new home by 29% of those surveyed, followed by the master bedroom with 22% picking that as their top feature. So, the bottom line is, the most important thing to new home buyers is to eat and sleep! ;)
As for kitchen features that new home buyers are looking for, 23% aid a large eat in area was the most important feature of the kitchen, followed by 22% that Continue Reading →
Home ownership rates have been on the decline and, in fact, reached a 19 year low the first quarto of this year when the home ownership rate in the U.S. fell to 64.8%. However, for people 65 years and older, the rate of home ownership has been on the rise. As the chart below shows, while the rate of home ownership declined for the U.S. overall, the rate for those persons aged 65 and over has continued to rise.
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Looking for Continue Reading →
New home sales in the midwest region during May 2014 increased 5.7 percent from a year ago, according to the latest information from the U.S. Census Bureau. New homes sales in the midwest region of the U.S. were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 74,000 homes during May. New home sales for the month before, April 2014, were adjusted downward to an annual rate of 73,000 homes after first being reported at a rate of 84,000 homes.
The midwest region had the smallest month over month, as well as year-over-year, increase in new home sales of the four U.S. regions Continue Reading →
New home building permits issued in the Midwest region of the U.S. in May was up 1 percent (seasonally adjusted) from a year ago and increased 7.3 percent from the month before, accordion to the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a national level, new home building permits issued in May were down 0.8% from the year before but were up 3.7% from April, according to the report.
As the chart below from the Fed Reserve shows, building permits issued in St Louis are definitely on the rise but are still at levels much lower than back during Continue Reading →
New home construction is not keeping up with demand in most of the U.S. and could even lead to “persistent housing shortages and affordability issues unless housing starts increase to match up with local job creation”, according to a newly released analysis by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).
Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, discussed in the report the relationship between new jobs and increased demand for housing saying “Historically, there’s one new home construction for every one-and-a-half new jobs,”. Yun goes on to say “Our analysis found that a majority of states are constructing too few homes in relation Continue Reading →
There were 569,000 new homes (single-family) completed in the U.S. last year. So what are popular features and finishes in new homes today? What does the “typical” new home have? Below is a summary of some of the characteristics of the new homes built in 2013 as detailed in a report by the U.S. Census Bureau: Continue Reading →
New home sales in the midwest in April increased 35.5 percent from a year ago, according to the latest information from the U.S. Census Bureau. New homes sales in the midwest region of the U.S. were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 84,000 homes, an increase of 47.4% from March’s rate of 57,000 homes.
The midwest region had the largest increase in new home sales in April from the month before and was the only region in the U.S. that had an increase in home sales in April 2014 from April 2013.
See St Louis New Continue Reading →
New home building permits issued in the St Louis metro area during the 1st quarter of this year were down slightly (4%) from the first quarter of 2013, according to the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the Census Bureau, there were 979 permits issued for new single family homes in the St Louis MSA during the first quarter of 2014, down 4 percent from the same period for 2013 when there were 1,024 permits issued. Continue Reading →
New home sales here in the midwest slid over percent (21.5) in March from the month before making the midwest the region of the US with the biggest decline in new home sales from February with the west being next with a decline of 16.7 percent. This is on the heels of a 36.7% increase in home sales in February from the month before. Nationally, new home sales in March 2014 were down 14.5 percent from the month before, according to a report just released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a year-over-year basis, new home sales in the Continue Reading →
New home sales in the midwest region of the U.S. shot up 36.7 percent in February from the month before and was up 1.5 percent from February 2013, according to a report just released by the U.S. Commerce Department. New home sales in the Midwest were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 67,000 homes, up from a rate of 49,000 homes the month before and up slightly from a year ago when new homes in the midwest were selling at at a rate of 66,000 homes per year.
Actual new home sales in the midwest for the first two months Continue Reading →
According to a survey just released by Pulsenomics LLC, almost one of every 11 renters in St Louis (9%) plan to buy a home in the next year and 5 percent of all households said they plan to buy. The survey, which covered 20 major metro areas in the U.S., calculated a “Housing Confidence Index” for each city based upon the survey responses and St Louis, with a 58.9 out of a possible 100, was at the bottom of the list for the 20 cities. However, on the “Homeownership Aspirations Index“, a barometer of the level at which current renters Continue Reading →
New Home Construction in the midwest region of the U.S. is off to a slow start for 2014, according to newly released new home construction report from the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the report, new home construction starts of single-family homes in the midwest during February was at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 76,000 homes, down 19.1% from a year ago when the rate was 94,000 homes. Building permits for single-family homes in the midwest issued during February were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 88,000 homes, down 5.4% from a year ago when the rate was 93,000 homes. Continue Reading →
St Louis area new home construction in 2013 was still very low compared with the normal rate of home construction, however increased 25% from the year before and saw the highest level of sustained activity in years. The decreased levels of new home construction over the past 6 years is leading to a shortage of homes in some areas throughout the country and setting the stage for a somewhat robust recovery of the new home market. Here in St Louis new home recovery will come at a slower pace due to our low levels of population growth here however at Continue Reading →
What is the St Louis real estate market outlook for 2014? Where are home prices and sales headed? Are we out of the slump and on the path to recovery in the St Louis housing market? What about St Louis new home construction activity and St Louis new home sales?
I had the pleasure this morning of discussing this and much more with Kristi Carson, host of “Today’s Issues” , her show that airs on KSHE 95, Classical 107.3, KHITS 96.3, 105.7 The Point and FM NewsTalk 97.1. In case you don’t catch the show on the radio, you can get it here.
It’s hard to believe that it has been over 5 years since the housing market bubble burst but, as we begin this new year, it is good to continue to see market data that supports a St Louis housing market recovery is underway!
As we have been reporting here on St Louis Real Estate News, over the past few months we have seen a solid recovery trend in the St Louis real estate market. Home prices have increased as have home sales, the new home market continues to make progress with new home construction and sales on the rise and Continue Reading →
After a 34 percent increase in October from the month before, Midwest new home sales gave back a chunk of the gain in November, falling 26.6 percent from October. New home sales in the midwest region of the U.S. in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 47,000 homes, down from a rate of 64,000 homes the month before however up slightly from a year ago in November when the rate of new home sales was 44,000 homes.
Looking at actual home sales and not “seasonally adjusted annual rates” we find that, through the end of November 2013, Continue Reading →