With the bidding wars we’ve seen on listings resulting in sold prices that exceed the asking price in St Louis over the past couple of years, it’s hard to imagine that home values could be lower today than a year ago. Now, before you call me crazy, I’m not saying that St Louis homes are SELLING for LESS now than a year ago. As our STL Market Chart below shows, the median price of homes sold in the St Louis 5-county core market was $254,950 in May 2021 and $270,000 last month, for an increase in sales price of 5.9%. However, given that, as the chart at the bottom shows, the inflation rate has increased 8.6% during the past 12-months, St Louis home prices have not increased as much as inflation, thereby leaving them worth less today than they were worth a year ago after adjusting for inflation.
Home prices last month would have needed to be $276,829 to keep pace with inflation…
In order to keep pace with inflation and make a median-priced St Louis home worth the same in today’s dollars as it was worth a year ago it would have be worth $276,829 today at the current rate of inflation.
If we look farther back it gets better….
If we look back a year further we’ll find that the median price of homes sold in the St Louis area was $224,000 in May 2020. To keep pace with inflation that home would need to be worth $255,366 today. With a current median price of $270,000, home buyers from 2 years ago and still realized an increased value of their home of 6.5% since purchase even after adjusting for inflation.
St Louis 5-County Core Market Home Prices and Sales Past 25 Months
(click on chart for live, interactive chart)
12-Month % Change in Consumer Price Index (CPI)
(click on chart for live, interactive chart)
