St Louis Real Estate News - Page 34 of 109 - Daily St. Louis real estate news, market analysis, home prices, and mortgage rate updates from local industry professionals.

St Louis Condo Sales Flat In 2020 but Prices Up

By Dennis Norman, on January 15th, 2021

Yesterday, I reported that St Louis area home sales and prices were both up about 8% during 2020 from 2019 so today we’ll take a look at how condominium sales and prices compared during the same period.

As the STL Market Report shows (available exclusively from MORE, REALTORS®), in the 5-County Core St Louis market there were 3,567 condominiums sold during 2020, 10 condominiums less than the 3,577 condominiums sold during 2019. The median price of condos sold in 2020 in this St Louis market was $163,900, an increase of 5.74% from 2019 when the median price was $155,000.

The Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales And Prices Both Up About 8 Percent in 2020 From 2019

By Dennis Norman, on January 14th, 2021

In spite of the challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, stay at home orders, a shaky economy and a fair amount of social unrest, 2020 still managed to be a good year for residential real estate! As the STL Market Report shows (available exclusively from MORE, REALTORS®), in the 5-County Core St Louis market there were 28,131 homes sold during 2020, an increase of 8.27% from 2019 when there were just 25,982 homes sold. The median price of homes sold in 2020 in this St Louis market was $232,000, an increase of 7.93% from 2019 when the median price was $214,950.

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Newly written contracts on homes start off year up 20%

By Dennis Norman, on January 13th, 2021

During the final days of December and the first couple of January, there were 393 new contracts written on homes that were for sale, an increase of 20% over the same period a year ago. As the New Contracts Report below shows (availablle exclusively from MORE, REALTORS®) all 5 counties in the 5-County Core St Louis market saw an increase in new contracts written over the same period a year ago. Franklin County saw the largest increase at 50%.

New Contracts On Homes For Sale

(click on report for live report)

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Rental Income Rebounding Somewhat After Taking a Dive

By Dennis Norman, on January 12th, 2021

As a result of the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, as well as the impact of eviction moratoriums and the like, residential rental income for the apartment sector in the U.S. took a nose dive during the 2nd quarter of 2020. As the chart below shows, the total revenue for businesses from Rental and Leasing, dropped to $156 Billion during the 2nd quarter of last year, a decline of 16% from the quarter before when the total revenue was nearly $186 Billion. During the 3rd quarter however, rental revenue rebounded to nearly $180 Billion.

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Total Revenue For Continue Reading →

St Louis Existing Condo Sales Down Slightly During Past 12-Months From Prior 12-Months

By Dennis Norman, on December 10th, 2020

As the STL Market ReportTM below shows, there were 3,419 existing condominiums sold in the 12-month period ended November 30, 2020, a decrease of 0.23% from the prior 12-month period. The median price of condos sold during the past 12-months was $159,900, an increase of 5.2% from the prior 12-month period. To make sure the data represents the market as accurately as possible, distressed home sales and new construction were excluded from the data. As the report shows, the current inventory of condos for sale is just 1.2 months.

STL Market Report – St Louis 5-County Area – Condos

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St Louis Existing Home Sales Up 7 Percent During Past 12-Months From Prior 12-Months In Spite Of Low Inventory

By Dennis Norman, on December 8th, 2020

As the STL Market ReportTM below shows, there were 26,675 existing homes sold in the 12-month period ended November 30, 2020, an increase of 7.13% from the prior 12-month period. The median price of homes sold during the past 12-months was $225,580, an increase of 7.42% from the prior 12-month period. To make sure the data represents the market as accurately as possible, distressed home sales and new construction were excluded from the data. The increase in home sales is almost hard to imagine given how low the inventory of homes for sale has been. As the report shows, the Continue Reading →

Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Increase Maximum Loan Amounts

By Dennis Norman, on December 2nd, 2020

Last week, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)announced that effective January 1s, 2021, the maximum loan amounts for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loans will be increased from $510,400 to $548,250. Once a home buyers loan amount exceeds the Fannie and Freddie limits, their loan is considered a “jumbo” loan and typically less attractive terms, so an increase in the Fannie and Freddie limits is definitely helpful to home buyers in higher price ranges.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are also increasing the loan limits for loans to purchase multi-family properties as well. The multi-family property limits for 2021 Continue Reading →

Coming Soon To A REALTOR® Near You – Commission Transparency

By Dennis Norman, on December 1st, 2020

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) has come under attack over the past few months as a defendant in two class-action lawsuits, Christopher Moehrl v The National Association of REALTORS® and Joshua A. Sitzer and Amy Winger v The National Association of REALTORS® filed in March and April of 2019 respectively, and, most recently, a complaint brought by the Department of Justice, United States v National Association of REALTORS® filed this month. The latter came with a pre-arranged proposed settlement with NAR. I should also mention the two class-action lawsuits have as additional defendants Realogy Holdings Corp (the own and Continue Reading →

New Listings Of St Louis Homes For Sale Trailing Sales Slightly

By Dennis Norman, on November 30th, 2020

Yesterday, I wrote an article titled “St Louis Home Sales – No end in sight?” in which one of my caveats had to do with listing inventory, noting the obvious that no matter how many homebuyers are out there, if there is nothing for them to buy, St Louis home sales will fall. As promised, I did an analysis of new listings and inventory using proprietary software we have developed at MORE, REALTORS to enable our agents to fully comprehend the market and be able to use that knowledge to serve their clients.

The first table below is our leading Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales – No end in sight?

By Dennis Norman, on November 29th, 2020

I think just about everyone that is trying to buy or sell a home in St Louis or even thinking about it, is well aware that we have been in a strong real estate market here in St Louis for some time now. The St Louis real estate market has favored sellers for the past several years largely due to a low supply of homes for sale and continuing demand by home buyers. The question I’m often asked though, especially right now with so much going on in our country right now that could impact the economy (COVID-19 and the Continue Reading →

New Home Building Permits In St Louis Area Increase Nearly 10 Percent In August

By Dennis Norman, on October 8th, 2020

There were4,628 building permits issued for new single-family homes in the St Louis area during July, an increase of 9.56% from a year ago when there were 4,224 permits issued, according to the latest data from the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri (St Louis HBA). For the second month in a row, Five of the seven counties covered in the report saw an increase in building permits from a year ago with three of them in the double digits. Franklin County saw the largest increase at 25.69% and Lincoln County experienced the largest decrease at 13.97%.

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Franklin County Sees Biggest Increase In New Home Permits Again In July

By Dennis Norman, on September 3rd, 2020

There were 4,573 building permits issued for new single-family homes in the St Louis area during July, an increase of 7.0% from a year ago when there were 4,271 permits issued, according to the latest data from the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri (St Louis HBA). For the second month in a row, Franklin County saw the largest percentage increase in building permits from a year ago with an increase of 27.59% from July 2019. St Louis County, which a decrease in permits last month from a year ago, so nearly an 11% increase in July Continue Reading →

CDC Issues Order Halting Residential Evictions Through Year-End

By Dennis Norman, on September 2nd, 2020

Yesterday, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the issuance of an order temporarily halting all residential evictions in the United States through December 31, 2020. The CDC indicated this action was being taken “to prevent further spread of COVID-19”.

Details of the order….

Under the order, a landlord or other owner of residential property, “shall not evict any covered person from any residential property in any jurisdiction to which this Order applies during the effective period of the Order.” So, it’s pretty simple, if you own a residential property in the U.S. that has a tenant in Continue Reading →

St Louis Area Vacant Property Rate and Zombie Foreclosure Rate On The Rise

By Dennis Norman, on August 28th, 2020

Zombies are on the rise in St Louis! I’m referring, of course, to Zombie foreclosures and not the spooky creatures from scary movies. A zombie foreclosure is a property that is in “pre-foreclosure” meaning it is in the foreclosure process but has not been yet foreclosed upon and is vacant or abandoned by the current owner. We saw the levels of zombie foreclosures rise significantly after the housing bubble burst back in 2008 but then fall around 2012 as the market began its recovery. For the 3rd quarter of 2020, according to ATTOM Data Research, 10.8% of the homes in Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Trending Downward Last 12-Months- Not So In St Charles and Jefferson County

By Dennis Norman, on August 21st, 2020

Given the impact of COVID-19 on the St Louis real estate market, particularly during the late winter/early spring months as well as a low-inventory market already, it should not come as a surprise that St Louis area home sales have trended downward somewhat during the past 12-months. As our STL Market Report below shows, for the 5-county core St Louis real estate market, there were 26,723 homes sold during the 12-month period ended July 31, 2020, a decline of 0.88% from the prior 12-month period when there were 26,960 homes sold. That very modest decline I think is actually very Continue Reading →

Two Mid-town St Louis City Zip Codes Have Highest Percentage of Equity-Rich Homeowners

By Dennis Norman, on August 7th, 2020

During the second quarter of 2020, 32.3% of the homeowners with a mortgage within the 63110 zip-code, were equity-rich on their mortgage, meaning their mortgage balances were less than 50% of the value of their homes, according to data just released by ATTOM Data Research. As the table below shows, the zip codes of 63112 and 63143 were not far behind 63110, with equity-rich percentages of 31.6% and 30.0% respectively.

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St Louis Equity-Rich Homeowners

(Click on table for the complete list)

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Over 40 Percent Of Homeowners With Mortgage In 3 North St Louis Zip Codes Are Underwater

By Dennis Norman, on August 6th, 2020

During the second quarter of 2020, 45.5% of the homeowners with a mortgage within the 63115 zip code, were underwater on their mortgage, meaning they were in a negative-equity position, according to data just released by ATTOM Data Research. As the table below shows, the north county zip codes of 63137 and 63136 were not far behind at 45.1% and 41.3%, respectively. Of the 10 St Louis-area zip codes with the highest rate of underwater homeowners, 7 were in St Louis County and 3 in the City of St Louis.

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St Louis Underwater (Negative-Equity) Homeowners By Zip Code Continue Reading →

Percentage of Underwater Homeowners In St Louis Drops To Lowest Level in Over 7 Years

By Dennis Norman, on August 6th, 2020

During the second quarter of 2020, 9.8% of the homeowners in St Louis with a mortgage, were underwater on their mortgage, meaning they were in a negative-equity position, according to data just released by ATTOM Data Research. As the table below shows, this is the lowest level of St Louis homeowners that are seriously underwater since 2013 when this data was first tracked. In spite of financial difficulties and hardships that people may be suffering as a result of COVID-19, the downward trend of underwater homeowners in St Louis that began during the 3rd quarter of 2019 continues.

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St Louis New Home Construction Still On The Rise -Perimeter counties are the big winners

By Dennis Norman, on July 29th, 2020

There were 4,468 building permits issued for new single-family homes in the St Louis area during June, an increase of 5.9% from a year ago when there were 4,219 permits issued, according to the latest data from the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri (St Louis HBA). However, the increase in new home construction activity was not shared equally around the St Louis area as the counties of St Charles, Jefferson, and Franklin all saw double-digit increases while the other four counties saw declines.

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

St Louis Rental Vacancy Rate Hits Lowest Level In Over 15 Years!

By Dennis Norman, on July 29th, 2020

The St Louis MSA rental vacancy rate during the 2nd quarter of 2020 was 4.4%, the lowest rate in over 15 years, according to data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. During the 2nd quarter of last year, the St Louis rental vacancy rate was 7.6%..

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St Louis Rental Vacancy Rates – 2005 – Present

(click on table for complete data from 2005 – present)”

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St Louis Has 13th Highest Homeownership Rate of Major Metros In 2nd Quarter

By Dennis Norman, on July 28th, 2020

The homeownership rate in the St Louis MSA for the second quarter of this year was 74.0%, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. This is an increase from 68.4% for the first quarter and moves St Louis from having the 22nd highest homeownership rate of the 75 largest MSAs in the US to the 13th highest!

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Homeownership Rates By MSA – 2nd Quarter 2020 Continue Reading →

Home Sales Data In St Louis Reveals The Impact Of COVID-19

By Dennis Norman, on July 23rd, 2020

After the COVID-19 pandemic hit St Louis and greatly curbed real estate activity back in March and April, the market was quick to recover and has come back in a pretty robust way. The impact is starting to show more though in home sales in the year-over-year and year to date numbers, however. As our STL Market Report for the St Louis MSA below shows, for the 12-months ended June 30, 2020, there were 36,657 homes sold throughout the St Louis metro area, a decline of just over 1% from a year ago when there were 37,040 homes sold during Continue Reading →

Have Home Prices Increased Too Much Too Fast? Is A Correction Coming?

By Dennis Norman, on July 2nd, 2020

Not only has it become common today for homes to sell as soon as they hit the market but receiving offers from multiple buyers and at prices that equal or even exceed the asking price is common as well. While this is an illustration of Economics 101, the rule and supply and demand, when the demand exceeds the supply (such as in the housing market in many price ranges and areas), prices increase this can also be a reminder of times past when home prices rose quickly for several years, then retreated rather abruptly. The most recent example of Continue Reading →

More New Listings In St Louis Added Last Week Than Year Ago But Not Keeping Pace With Sales

By Dennis Norman, on June 20th, 2020

Yesterday, I shared a report on new sales of listings in the St Louis MSA which showed sales were up 10% for the week from a year ago. Today, I created the report below which shows new listings during the same week, and while the number of new listings was up 8% for the week from a year ago, they still didn’t keep pace with the new sales. As the report reveals, there were 1155 new listings in the St Louis MSA last week and, as yesterday’s report showed, 1245 sales, so nearly 8% more new sales than new listings.

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New Sales Of Listings Last Week In St Charles County Up Over Thirty Percent From Last Year

By Dennis Norman, on June 19th, 2020

COVID-19 who? While it’s still around, it’s impact on the St Louis real estate market has dissipated to the point that we are seeing activity at levels higher than this time last year. For example, as the report below shows, there were 1,245 new sales of residential listings in the St Louis MSA last week, an increase of 10 percent from the same time a year ago. St Charles County was the county with the second-highest number of sales with 217 for the week which was a 32% increase from a year ago! St Louis County, the county with the Continue Reading →

Flipped Houses In St Louis Jumps Nearly 14 Percent During First Quarter

By Dennis Norman, on June 17th, 2020

There were 542 homes “flipped” in the St Louis metro area during the first quarter of 2020, or 8.5% of the total number of homes sold in the St Louis metro area during the quarter, according to data just released by ATTOM Data Solutions. This is an increase of 13.8% from the prior quarter and is a decrease of 2% from a year ago. The median gross profit was 52,900 a 60.8% gross ROI.

Definition of a “flipped” home…

For the purposes of this report, a flipped home is considered to be any home or condo that was sold during Continue Reading →

New Home Construction On the Rise In St Charles and Jefferson Counties

By Dennis Norman, on June 16th, 2020

There were 4,4,83 building permits issued for new single-family homes in the St Louis area during April, an increase of 4.28% from a year ago when there were 4,299 permits issued, according to the latest data from the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri (St Louis HBA). However, the increase in new home construction activity was not shared equally around the St Louis area and, in fact, really only favored St Charles County and Jefferson County again.

Of the seven counties reported on by the St Louis HBA, 5 saw a decline in building permits from a Continue Reading →

St Louis Housing Market Stays Steady In Spite of COVID-19

By Dennis Norman, on June 9th, 2020

The St Louis real estate market slowed when the effects of COVID-19 hit the St Louis area in early March but after continuing at a slower pace for a few weeks has quickly shifted gears to a faster pace. The St Louis market has improved to the point that, for the 12-month period ended May 31, 2020, St Louis home sales were down just 1.84% from the prior 12-month period. The median price of homes sold during the past 12-months was $213,000, an increase of 6.55% from the prior period.

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St Louis 5-County Core Market Home Sales and Continue Reading →

Showings Of Listings In St Louis Last Week Over 12 Percent Higher Than Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on May 30th, 2020

COVID-19 lingers on but the real estate market in St Louis has made a quick recovery from the negative impact it had on the market. The data supports the idea that home buyers are tired of waiting for everything to come back to “normal” (or whatever variation of normal the new normal is) and have been out looking at and buying homes. This is evidenced by the chart below which depicts showings of listings this year and compares each 7-day period with the year before. As you can see, showings this year (the orange line) we down, significantly from last Continue Reading →

New Sales Of Residential Listings In St Louis In Past 7 Days Almost Back To Last Years Numbers

By Dennis Norman, on May 26th, 2020

While COVID-19 has not released it’s grip on us, it has eased the grip and certainly, this is true with regard to the St Louis real estate market. As I’ve written about recently, showings of listings have increased to the point they have outpaced the same time as last year and now, the number of new contracts on listings is just about there as well!

As the table below shows, the number of new contracts on residential listings in the last 7 days that have been reported is, for the St Louis MSA, down just 3% from the same time Continue Reading →