St Louis Real Estate News - Page 24 of 108 - Daily St. Louis real estate news, market analysis, home prices, and mortgage rate updates from local industry professionals.

Does it Matter??

By John Donati, on August 31st, 2023

Definitely a philosophical question but here we are talking about Smart Homes. Indeed, the adoption and implementation of the Matter Protocol could end up having a substantial impact within the real estate industry and all its intertwined industries. Before I get into why that is let me tell you what Matter is. In the context of smart homes, a protocol like Matter would define the rules and specifications for how smart devices, such as lights, thermostats, door locks, and more, communicate with each other over a network within a single ecosystem. So, here’s why I think it could have Continue Reading →

Most People Prefer Larger Homes with Larger Yards Over Walkability

By Dennis Norman, on August 31st, 2023

According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, 57% of Americans say they would prefer living in a community where the houses are larger and farther apart even though schools, stores and restaurants are several miles away. ¬†This is down from 60% when the same survey was done in 2021 and up from 53% from the 2019 Survey.

Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Louis Upcoming OPEN HOUSES Majority of Americans Prefer Big Houses Over Walkability

Continue Reading →

National Association of REALTORS Faces More Challenges This Week

By Dennis Norman, on August 29th, 2023

As I’ve previously discussed, the National Association of REALTORS¬Æ (NAR) is grappling with a myriad of challenges. These range from multiple class-action lawsuits to scrutiny from the Department of Justice (DOJ). This past week, the organization faced two more setbacks.

First, a scandal erupted involving NAR’s President, Kenny Parcell. Reports suggest that Parcell was accused of sexually harassing women within the organization. While this news began circulating about a week ago, it gained significant momentum when the New York Times published an expos√© last Saturday. The report prompted industry-wide calls for Parcell’s resignation. Consequently, Kenny Parcell stepped down as President Continue Reading →

St. Louis City Considers New Ordinance Targeting Landlords

By Dennis Norman, on August 22nd, 2023

Last month, city of St Louis mayor, Tishaura Jones, signed into law a new ordinance which provides “access to legal representation for tenants facing eviction or equivalent proceedings”. Surprisingly, it does not appear that the tenant needs to show a final hardship or need for “full legal representation” to be provided at no cost as the bill defines a “covered individual” as “any residential tenant who occupies a dwelling located within the City under a claim of legal right, other than the legal property owner of the dwelling.” Another interesting thing in the ordinance is that it appears to include Continue Reading →

St Louis Mortgage Interest Rates Hit Highest Level in over 21 years

By Dennis Norman, on August 15th, 2023

As the chart below illustrates, mortgage interest rates on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage hit 7.125% yesterday, the highest rate since April 5, 2002 when the rates were at 7.13%.

If you go back far enough in history, you’ll feel better about todays’ rates…

There is probably very little comfort in this for current home buyers but while we are experiencing the highest mortgage rates in over two decades, if we go back a couple of more decades or so in history we’ll see the current rates aren’t so bad. As the bottom chart below illustrates, over the 52-year period Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Report for July 2023 with accurate data you can trust

By Dennis Norman, on August 14th, 2023

Below is the St Louis Real Estate Market Report for July 2023 for the City and County of St Louis combined from MORE, REALTORS®, one of the most trusted sources for St Louis real estate market data and information. You can access the full infographic, containing data for St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin Counties as well by clicking on the image below.

The current St Louis real estate market leaves little room for errors…

The real estate market today is like a tough game where making wrong decisions based on poor information can cost you. With few homes listed and Continue Reading →

St Louis Mortgage Interest Rates Stuck In the 7 Percent Range

By Dennis Norman, on August 7th, 2023

As the chart below illustrates, since returning to 7% around the third week in May, the interest rate has pretty well stayed at the 7% level for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage with the rates for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage about 1/2% better.

Historically-speaking, it’s not that bad….

This won’t necessarily make you feel better if you are a home buyer today but, if we look at the bigger picture (like the bottom chart that goes back to 1971) we’ll see that our current mortgage interest rates are not as bad as they seem, historically speaking. . In fact, Continue Reading →

Missouri Ranks 29th In U.S. For Lowest Property Tax Rates

By Dennis Norman, on July 27th, 2023

According to a study released earlier this year by WalletHub, Missouri property tax rates are the 29th lowest in the U.S. To determine the tax rates for this list, WalletHub took the median property tax payment for each state and divided it by the median property value to determine the effective tax rate. For Missouri, the median home price was $171,800 and median property tax was $1,676 resulting in an effective tax rate of 0.98%. Hawaii was the state with the lowest tax rate coming in at a scant 0.29% and New Jersey the highest at 2.47%.

WalletHub also compared Continue Reading →

St Louis New Home Building Permits For The Past 12-Months Decline in all Counties Except Franklin

By Dennis Norman, on July 26th, 2023

There were 4,017 building permits issued for new single-family homes in the St Louis area during the 12-month period ended June 30, 2023. This represents a decrease of 11.05% from the prior 12-month period, during which 4,516 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 the City of St Louis and Lincoln County experiencing double-digit declines.

Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Continue Reading →

St Louis Ranks as the Third-Best Metro For Homeownership

By Dennis Norman, on July 25th, 2023

According to a newly released report by Lending Tree, St Louis is the third-best metro area in the U.S. for homeownership. The report ranks homeownership in metro areas based upon the Median ratio of housing costs to household income for owner-occupied homes.

Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Louis Upcoming OPEN HOUSES Best Metro Areas In The U.S. For Homeownership

(click on infographic below for the complete list with details)

Continue Reading →

Two St Louis Metro Area Cities Make The “Safest Cities In The U.S.” List

By Dennis Norman, on July 15th, 2023

In Ridgefield, Connecticut you only have a 1 in 510 chance of being a victim of crime, according to recent FBI data. This makes Ridgefield, CT the safest city in the U.S.! This is based upon the crime rate for crimes of arson, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, murder, rape, armed robbery, and aggravated assault for cities with a population of at least 25,000 people. As the map below shows, the St Louis metro area has two cities that made the list, Ballwin, Missouri (#41) and Edwardsville, Illinois (#33).

See all homes for sale, and recently sold homes in Ballwin Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Report for June 2023 with accurate data you can trust

By Dennis Norman, on July 14th, 2023

Below is the St Louis Real Estate Market Report for June 2023 for the City and County of St Louis combined from St Louis Real Estate Search (the Official site). You can access the full infographic, containing data for St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin Counties as well by clicking on the image below.

In the relentless tug-of-war that characterizes today’s real estate market, it’s imperative not to base your choices on misguided data!

The present property market leaves little room for errors, thanks to a deficit of listings and aggressive buyer interest. A combination of these factors has sparked not Continue Reading →

St Louis YTD Foreclosure Activity Up Slightly From Last Year

By Dennis Norman, on July 13th, 2023

So far this year, up until June 30, there have been 1,973 properties with foreclosure filings in the St. Louis MSA, according to the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report by ATTOM Data. This marks a 5% increase in St. Louis foreclosures compared to the same period last year, a surge of 119% from 2021, and a 5% uptick from 2020.

Now, let’s turn our attention to the counties in Illinois with the most significant increases in foreclosures: Macoupin and Bond…

As depicted in the table below, Macoupin County in Illinois experienced a 63% rise in foreclosure activity this year compared to Continue Reading →

Seventy-Eight Percent of Consumers Say Now is a Bad Time to Buy a House

By Dennis Norman, on July 10th, 2023

Every month Fannie Mae surveys consumers to gauge their sentiment toward whether its a good time to buy or sell a home and publishes the result in their Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI). In the most recent HPSI report, 78% of the people surveyed said they felt now was a bad time to buy a home, this is a decline from 80% in May. Conversely, 22% of consumers think now is a good time to buy a home up from 19% the month before. Interestingly enough, everyone had an opinion as the percentage of those that did not Continue Reading →

St Louis 12-Month Home Sales Trend Drops to Lowest Level in over 8 Years

By Dennis Norman, on July 5th, 2023

For the 12-month period ended June 20, 2023, there were 23,074 homes sold in the St Louis 5-county core market which, as the STL Market Report below (available exclusively from MORE, REALTORS®) shows, is nearly a 20% decline in home sales from the the prior 12-month period when there were nearly 29,000 homes sold. The median price of homes sold during the most recent 12-month period was $270,000, an increase of 5.47% from the prior 12-month period.

St Louis home sales trend continues to fall….

Below the market report is a STL Market Chart showing (also available exclusively from Continue Reading →

St Louis New Home Building Permits For The Past 12-Months Declined in all Counties-by double digits in 6

By Dennis Norman, on July 3rd, 2023

There were 3,820 building permits issued for new single-family homes in the St Louis area during the 12-month period ended May 31, 2023. This represents a decrease of 17.28% from the prior 12-month period, during which 4,618 permits were issued, according to the latest data from the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri (St Louis HBA). All seven counties covered in the report saw a decline in building permits from the previous period, with all but one of them experiencing double-digit declines.

Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Louis New Homes For Sale Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Report for May 2023 with accurate data you can trust

By Dennis Norman, on June 15th, 2023

Below is the St Louis Real Estate Market Report for May 2023 for the City and County of St Louis combined from St Louis Real Estate Search (the Official site). You can access the full infographic, containing data for St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin Counties as well by clicking on the image below.

In this competitive market don’t make decisions based upon bad data!

Today’s real estate market is unforgiving for homebuyers, driven by a scarcity of inventory and robust buyer demand. This, coupled with not just bidding wars but “terms wars”, has made it challenging for many. In an Continue Reading →

FEMA’s New Risk Rating 2.0 Fully In Effect Now and Impacting Flood Insurance Rates

By Dennis Norman, on June 13th, 2023

As of April 1, 2023, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has put into action the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) Risk Rating 2.0, a newly devised pricing methodology. According to FEMA, this contemporary approach to flood risk assessment uses state-of-the-art technology and conforms to industry’s highest standards. The aim of this new model is to ensure that FEMA provides flood insurance rates that are not only actuarially justified, but also more equitable and comprehensible, and most importantly, they accurately represent the flood risk associated with a specific property.

There has been a fair amount of negative reports about the Continue Reading →

St Louis Foreclosures Increase 36 percent In May from prior month

By Dennis Norman, on June 8th, 2023

Last month, there were 460 properties with foreclosure filings in the St Louis MSA, according to ATTOM Data’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. This represents an increase of 36% in St Louis foreclosures from April 2023 to May 2023 and a 28% increase from a year ago.

Counties of Macoupin, St Charles and St Louis see biggest increases…

As the table below shows, Macoupin County in Illinois saw an increase of 113% in foreclosure activity in May from the month before, St Charles County a 71% increase and St Louis County a 67% Increase.

[xyz-ips snippet=”Foreclosures-For-Sale-and-Homes-For-Sale”]

St Louis Foreclosures – May Continue Reading →

St Louis New Home Building Permits For The Past 12-Months Declined in all Counties

By Dennis Norman, on June 7th, 2023

There were 3,882 building permits issued for new single-family homes in the St Louis area during the 12-month period ended April 30, 2023. This represents a decrease of 16.34% from the prior 12-month period, during which 4,640 permits were issued, according to the latest data from the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri (St Louis HBA). All seven counties covered in the report saw a decline in building permits from the previous period, with all but one of them experiencing double-digit declines. Also worth noting is this month marked the end to Franklin County’s streak of increased Continue Reading →

Are Homebuyers Today Grossly Overpaying for Homes and Making Decisions They’ll Regret?

By Dennis Norman, on June 2nd, 2023

I’ve been in the real estate business since I was 17, which means it has been 45 years of experiencing various market conditions, including recessions, inflation, 18% mortgage rates, the burst of the housing bubble, and a myriad of other good and bad things. However, I can confidently say that I have never witnessed a real estate market quite like the one we have been experiencing in the past couple of years.

So, what makes the current real estate market so unique? First and foremost, I’ve pondered this question extensively, and I honestly can’t recall a time in this industry Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Mortgage Originations Drop To Lowest Level In Over 23 Years

By Dennis Norman, on June 1st, 2023

This might not come as a surprise, given that St. Louis home sales experienced a nearly 20% decline in the past 12 months compared to the previous year, coupled with 30-year fixed-rate loan interest rates approaching 7%. However, mortgage loan originations in St. Louis during the first quarter of this year have reached their lowest level since ATTOM Data began tracking them in the first quarter of 2000. As depicted in the chart below, both home purchase mortgages and total mortgage originations (including purchases and refinances) hit record lows in the first quarter of this year.

During the first quarter, Continue Reading →

National Association of REALTORS and Big Brokerages Dealt Another Blow In The Moehrl Class Action Lawsuit Today

By Dennis Norman, on May 25th, 2023

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit denied a motion by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) and other defendants in the Moehrl v. The National Association of Realtors lawsuit. The motion sought to appeal the decision certifying this case as a class action lawsuit. As a result of this denial, the lawsuit will be allowed to proceed.

Click here or on the image below to see the full ruling.

Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices Have Increased by 112 Percent Since 2000; Rental Rates Rise by 68 Percent

By Dennis Norman, on May 24th, 2023

As the infographic below illustrates (which is available exclusively from MORE, REALTORS®) the median price of a home in St Louis (the 5-county core market) has increased 112% since 2000, from $124,900 in 2000 to $265,000 in 2022. During the same time period, the median lease rate, or rental rate, for a St Louis home has increased by just 68%, moving from $955 in 2000 to $1,600 in 2022.

Leasing a home is obviously a better deal, right?

If we set aside the benefits (and responsibilities) of homeownership and the long-term investment aspects, simply looking at the monthly cost might Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Report – April 2023

By Dennis Norman, on May 12th, 2023

Below is our St Louis Real Estate Market Report for April 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 April 2023

(click on infographic for complete report including other counties)

Continue Reading →

St Louis New Home Building Permits For The Past 12-Months Declined in 6 of Seven Counties

By Dennis Norman, on May 10th, 2023

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 →

Why Most Sellers Should Ensure Their Listing is in the MLS and Not “Office Exclusive”

By Dennis Norman, on May 8th, 2023

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 →

When will the St Louis real estate market crash?

By Dennis Norman, on April 27th, 2023

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 →

A new twist on lending…The cost of a home loan will go down for bad credit scores and increase for good credit scores…

By Dennis Norman, on April 26th, 2023

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 →

Report Says U.S. Home Prices Dropped 3% in March, the Biggest Annual Decline in Over a Decade; However, This Was Not True in St. Louis

By Dennis Norman, on April 19th, 2023

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 →