There were 3,920 building permits issued for new single-family homes in the St Louis area during the 12-month period ended March 31, 2023. This represents a decrease of 16.58% from the prior 12-month period, during which 4,699 permits were issued, according to the latest data from the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri (St Louis HBA). Six of the seven counties covered in the report saw a decline in building permits from the previous period, with five of them experiencing double-digit declines. In contrast, Franklin County saw an increase of over 4%, marking the 20th consecutive month Continue Reading →
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First and foremost, let me emphasize that home selling methods and practices are not a “one size fits all” approach. There are certainly situations where a different or unique strategy is required, including, in extreme cases, one that may not be in the seller’s best financial interest but favors a higher priority for the seller. For instance, I once handled a home sale for a woman with a stalker ex-husband who wanted her home sold discreetly – no sign, no ads, no MLS, etc. In her case, privacy and conducting the sale “under the radar” for her personal safety were Continue Reading → What strange and confusing times we live in! Some seemingly credible predictions made by qualified experts suggest that our banking system could collapse, our currency may become worthless, and our country may face a significant downturn. Meanwhile, others claim that there is no cause for alarm. Here in St. Louis, the real estate market continues to thrive as if everything is great in our economy, despite the fact that interest rates have doubled in the past year. I have been in this business for 43 years, and although I have seen many ups and downs in the market, I have Continue Reading → The headline of this article is not clickbait nor sensationalism. In fact, it’s based on something that’s about to happen. Fannie Mae, which, along with Freddie-Mac, is involved in almost two-thirds of the home loans in the United States, is set to release a new Loan Level Price Adjustment Matrix (LLPA) on May 1, 2023. The LLPA is used by lenders to determine the cost (interest rate) of a loan for a borrower, and it’s not entirely new, as there’s an existing one already in effect. The new LLPA is similar to the current one, as it also charges varying Continue Reading → A report released today by Redfin reveals that the median U.S. home sale price in March was $400,528 marking a 3.3% decline from March 2022 when the median home price was $414,196. However, the situation in St. Louis is quite different. According to the STL Market Chart (available exclusively from MORE, REALTORS®) below the median price of homes sold in St Louis in March was $260,000, which represents an increase of 4% from March 2022 when the median home price was $250,000. The chart also depicts the 12-month home sales trend for St. Louis, indicated by the dark green line, Continue Reading → Recently I wrote a lengthy article about various current issues that are likely to bring significant changes to the real estate industry. These changes will also affect the process of buying or selling a home for consumers. Although I may be in the minority within the industry, I strongly believe that most, if not all, of the changes will benefit both consumers and real estate professionals. One of the first changes that may happen is the elimination of the requirement for sellers to pay the commission to the buyer’s agent in order to list their property in the REALTOR® MLS Continue Reading → Below is our St Louis Real Estate Market Report for March 2023 for the City and County of St Louis combined. You can access the full infographic, containing data for St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin Counties as well by clicking on the image below. Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Louis Upcoming OPEN HOUSES St Louis Real Estate Report for March 2023 (click on infographic for complete report including other counties) Earlier this week I wrote an article addressing some of the current issues that will likely significantly impact the residential real estate business. IIn the article, I suggested that, as a result of the various challenges to present-day practices, sellers may no longer be required to pay commissions to the buyer’s agent in the near future. Does this mean the role of the buyer’s agent in a transaction is going away and that buyer’s agents are not needed? The short answer is no, buyer’s agents are not going away. So, buyer agents won’t be impacted by these changes? Wait, I Continue Reading → Let me begin by saying that I’m not a sensationalist, nor am I an advocate for everything I write about. Additionally, I am not an attorney, so this not a legal opinion. I am simply a real estate broker that has been very active in the profession and industry for over 40 years now. I strive to stay on top of industry and market changes so that the agents in our firm, MORE, REALTORS®, and their clients can avoid surprises and be prepared. Another reason I do this is to share what I have learned with consumers. I believe that Continue Reading → According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 estimates of population and components of change report released yesterday, Lincoln County was the Missouri county that experienced the highest percentage gain in population from 2020 – 2022. As the list below shows, Lincoln County saw a 6.0% increase in popular during the period from 2020 to 2022, with Wright County coming in 2nd at 5.3% and another St Louis MSA county, Warren County, coming in 3rd on the list with a 4.8% increase in population. At the other end of the list was the City of St Louis which saw a 5.0% Continue Reading → There were 4,170 building permits issued for new single-family homes in the St Louis area during the 12-month period ended February 28, 2023, a decrease of 10.69% from the same period a year ago when there were 4,669 permits issued, according to the latest data from the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri (St Louis HBA). Six of the seven counties covered in the report saw a decline in building permits from the same period a year ago with four of them experiencing double-digit declines. Franklin County, on the other hand, saw an increase of nearly 19%. For the past several months there have been many reports anticipating the moves of the Federal Reserve regarding interest rates then followed by tons of articles, blog posts and videos analyzing then predicting the impact of the Fed’s decision on the economy. The other popular topic in this area is the “Money Supply”, usually M2 money supply and whether it’s increasing or decreasing as well as the impact on the economy. Should St Louis homeowners and potential home buyers really care about the Fed Funds rate or M2 money supply? First, let’s talk about the Fed Funds rate and what Continue Reading → The State of Missouri received $138 million from the U.S. Treasury’s Homeowners Assistance Fund (HAF) and are using those funds to help qualified homeowners that are struggling to make their house payments. Missouri State Assistance for Housing Relief (SAFHR) is responsible for paying out these funds to help individual homeowners. Who is eligible for assistance from SAFHR? According to the SAFHR program guidelines, to qualify for SAFHR for Homeowners assistance, an individual or household must: Earn no more than 150% of the area median income for the region where the property is located, as set forth in the HUD income Continue Reading → 
What happens when you pair up Ted Gottlieb, Certified Senior Advisor® (CSA®) that’s a real estate broker with a real estate broker (me) that’s Smart Home Certified? You end up with solutions for older adults that allow them to live more efficiently, for longer, in their current home by increasing safety, security, accessibility and independence. Before I get to the Smart Stuff, let me explain what a CSA® is and how rare it is for a REALTOR® to also be a CSA®. Ted is the first, and only as of this article, in Missouri to achieve this. A Certified Senior Continue Reading → Note: I’m generalizing …….. Seniors don’t want to leave their homes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told “I want to be carried out feet first”. For most, the thought of selling the home is overwhelming – often paralyzing. Maybe it’s the memories, the years of accumulated “stuff”, lack of energy or the fear of what comes next. No matter the reason, just like you and me, older adults want to be where they feel safe. Enjoying their “independence” – when many times they are anything but. So, it’s status quo until a life event Continue Reading → Should I rent or buy a home in St Louis? This is a question St Louis REALTORS® are often asked, especially in the past few years while homes appeared to be increasing weekly, there were often more than a dozen offers on a listing and generally the market seemed out of control. Granted, some of that pandemonium has eased somewhat lately given the increase in interest rates and questions about the economy but the question still remains. While there are many non-financial reasons people choose to buy their own home or condo versus rent, we’ll just look at the cost Continue Reading → There were 28,500 homes sold in the St Louis 5-county core market during the 12-month period ended February, 28, 2023 a decline of 16.80% from the prior 12-months when 34,256 homes were sold according to MORE REALTORS® exclusive STL Market Report below. As the report below shows, the median price of homes sold in St Louis increased 7.62% during the same period. While the supply of St Louis homes for sale is still historically very low, it has increased significantly over the past two years rising from under a 1-month supply to the current 1.64 month supply of homes currently Continue Reading → 
In Missouri real estate transactions, a “marital waiver” may come into play when one spouse is not on title but still has legally protected property rights. While it may sound like a simple workaround, it’s anything but. A marital waiver is a legal document that can significantly impact a person’s rights and should never be handled casually. For homeowners, signing a marital waiver without proper legal counsel can be risky. These waivers often release homestead or marital rights in real estate and are typically required to complete a sale when only one spouse is on the title. However, in Continue Reading → There were 4,147 building permits issued for new single-family homes in the St Louis area during the 12-month period ended January 31, 2023, a decrease of 13.48% from the same period a year ago when there were 4,793 permits issued, according to the latest data from the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri (St Louis HBA). Six of the seven counties covered in the report saw a decline in building permits from the same period a year ago with four of them experiencing double-digit declines. Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Louis New Continue Reading → 
As the region’s only Smart Home Certified broker*, I’ve been asked many times how smart technology can benefit a homeowner’s energy usage so here are a few brief examples: Energy Monitoring: Smart home devices such as smart thermostats, smart lighting, and smart appliances can help monitor energy usage and identify areas where energy is being wasted. Automated Energy Management: Smart technology can automate tasks such as adjusting thermostat settings and turning off lights and appliances when not in use, thereby reducing energy consumption. Energy Efficiency: Smart devices can optimize energy usage by adjusting heating and cooling systems based on occupancy Continue Reading → Below is our St Louis Real Estate Market Report for February 2023 for the City and County of St Louis combined. You can access the full infographic, containing data for St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin Counties as well by clicking on the image below. Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Louis Upcoming OPEN HOUSES St Louis Real Estate Report for February 2023 (click on infographic for complete report including other counties) A new report just released by ATTOM Data revealed that nearly one of every four homeowners (24.3 %) in the city of St Louis that have a mortgage, are underwater on equity (meaning property owner owes at least 25% more on their home than the current value). At the other end of the spectrum was St Charles County where just 3.9% of homeowners with a mortgage are underwater. Below is a list of the larger counties in the St Louis MSA and the percentage of the mortgages in the respective county that was underwater during the 4th Continue Reading → Allied Van Lines just released its Allied Magnet States Report which revealed that, across the U.S., fewer people moved in 2022 than in 2021. The report shows the number of people moving to or from a State as well as for the metropolitan areas located in that state. For last year, Missouri was considered a “balanced” state with the numbers of inbound and outbound movers being about the same at 52.3% and 47.7% respectively. Our neighbor to the east, Illinois, didn’t fair as well. Illinois was labeled as a “high outbound” state for 2022 with 66.1% of the moves being Continue Reading → During the 4th quarter of 2022, 7,622 home buyers in St Louis applied for a home mortgage according to the latest report from ATTOM Data. According to the report, this is the lowest number of mortgage applications in a quarter from home buyers in St Louis since the 1st quarter of 2011 when there were just 5,629 applications. Mortgage applications to purchase a home peaked in St Louis in the 3rd quarter of 2005 when there were 18,002 applications. As the chart below illustrates, the drop in St Louis homeowners refinancing their mortgage is even more dramatic. During the last Continue Reading → Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a reduction in the mortgage insurance premium charged to borrowers on FHA loans. The mortgage insurance premium is a charge over and above the interest on the loan that is the fee to HUD for insuring the loan. Currently, the FHA mortgage insurance premium varies from 0.45% to 1.05% of the loan amount depending upon the loan term (15 or 30 years) and the LTV (loan to value). Effective with FHA mortgages endorsed for insurance by FHA on or after March 20, 2023, the rate will be reduced by Continue Reading → There have been a fair number of reports about the increase in distressed home sales in various markets around the country and on the national level. However, in St Louis, distressed home sales are on the rise, they are still at levels that are historically quite low. Distressed home sales that involve some sort of distress or other condition that would typically result in the home not selling for a normal “retail” price like it would if it were a typical listing in market ready condition with normal marketing time allowed. The chart below shows distressed home sales in the Continue Reading → Last week, there were 405 new listings of homes for sale in the St Louis 5-county core market, according to the STL Real Estate Trends Report from MORE, REALTORS®. During the same week, there were 365 new sale contracts written on homes for sale resulting in a new listing to new contract ratio of 1.11. As the tables below illustrate, the only county that had more new sales last week than new listings was Franklin County with 16 new sales and 15 new listings. Listing supply remains low… As the table at the bottom shows, as of today, there is Continue Reading → Last month, there were 307 properties with foreclosure filings in the St Louis MSA, according to ATTOM Data’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. This represents an increase of 25% in St Louis foreclosures from January 2022 to January 2023. It’s not as bad as it sounds… While a 25% increase sounds bad, the chart below, which shows foreclosure filings for the St Louis MSA since 2006, puts it in perspective. Last year, there were 4,066 total foreclosure actions for the year so even if our foreclosure activity for 2023 would continue to be 25% higher than last years level, it would Continue Reading → Last week, there were 350 new listings of homes for sale in the St Louis 5-county core market, according to the STL Real Estate Trends Report from MORE, REALTORS®. During the same week, there were 442 new sale contracts written on homes for sale resulting in a new listing to new contract ratio of 1.26. So while new contracts are still out numbering new listings, last weeks margin was much lower than a year ago during the same week. As the tables below show, last year during the same week there were only 266 new listings of homes for sale Continue Reading → According to data released by ATTOM Data Research, during the fourth quarter of 2022, 42.37% of the homeowners with a mortgage within the 63376 zip code, were “equity-rich” meaning their mortgage balance was just 50% or less of the current value of their home. The table below shows the 10 St Louis zip codes with the highest percentage of equity-rich mortgages. Half of zip codes on the list are located within the St Charles County, four in St Louis County and one in Jefferson County Also shown on the table is the percentage of homeowners with a seriously-underwater mortgage, meaning Continue Reading → |
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