St Louis City & County Home Sales This Year On Track To Top Last Year – Prices & Inventory Up Slightly Also

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Home sales in the city and county of St Louis this year have pretty consistently, from month to month, been at a pace roughly 5 percent higher than at the same time last year. As our chart below illustrates, we began this year with 747 homes sold (not including distressed sales) in St Louis city and county, an increase of 5.2% from January 2016 when there were 710 homes sold. As of the end of October, there were 12,824 homes sold this year, an increase of 5.6% from the same time last year Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – November 2017

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Will home sales this year fall short of last years total? Have home prices risen too much in St Louis? Is there still a shortage of homes for sale in St Louis? Find the answers, data behind the answers, as well as complete, and up to date, home price and sales data for the entire St Louis market, in our just released market update video.

In our MORE, REALTORS, 5 Minute St Louis Real Estate Market Update video below, you can quickly and easily get the latest information on home prices, home sales, Continue Reading →

St Louis Neighborhoods Where Homes SOLD The Fastest In Last 30 Days

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As we head into the holidays and winter months, the St Louis real estate market is slowing as is typical, however, it is still going fairly strong. Below are the 10 St Louis metro area cities where homes sold the quickest, based upon the days it too homes to sell that closed in the last 30 days. The time it took homes to sell has only dropped slightly since we last published this list in late August. In late August the number 1 city on the list took 11 days to sell and Continue Reading →

St Louis Rental Vacancies At Lowest Rates In Over A Decade

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The vacancy rate for rentals in St Louis during the third quarter of this year was 9.8%, significantly lower than the median vacancy rate of 11.5% for that quarter since 2004. The year to date median vacancy rate for 2017, through the first 3 quarters, is 8.1% which is tied with last years rate, the lowest in more than a decade. So it’s a good time to be a landlord in St Louis! (We work hard on this and sure would appreciate a “Like”)[iframe http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FStLouisRealEstateNews&send=false&layout=standard&width=50&show_faces=false&font&colorscheme=light&action=like&height=35&appId=537283152977556 100 35 ] Search Rental Property For Sale Continue Reading →

Home Mortgage Lending In Low and Moderate Income Areas On The Rise

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There is little doubt that lower-income individuals and, subsequently, lower-income neighborhoods, were impacted more negatively by the housing market bubble burst in 2008 than other areas. This resulted in extremely high mortgage delinquency rates, high foreclosure rates, and declining home values. Afterward, citing “loose” lending standards, sub-prime mortgages, etc, the mortgage market tightened the reins on mortgage lending making it more difficult for everyone to get a loan, but particularly, those folks in the lower income brackets.

As time has passed, home loan requirements have eased and it is now easier to obtain Continue Reading →

St Louis Homeownership Rate Hits Highest Level In Two Years

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The homeownership rate in St Louis, during the 3rd quarter of this year was 68.0 percent, the highest level since the 3rd quarter of 2015 when the rate was 70.3 percent, according to data just released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Homeownership Rate St Louis MSA

(We work hard on this and sure would appreciate a “Like”)[iframe http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FStLouisRealEstateNews&send=false&layout=standard&width=50&show_faces=false&font&colorscheme=light&action=like&height=35&appId=537283152977556 100 35 ] Search St Louis Homes For Sale   All The St Louis Open Houses Scheduled For This Weekend

The homeownership rate for the State of Missouri during the 3rd quarter of 2017 was Continue Reading →

Number of St Louis Homeowners With Negative Equity Continues To Drop In Most Areas

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Over the past couple of years, as the St Louis real estate market has continued performing well, mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures have continued to decline. Rising home value has also caused the number of “underwater” homeowners, also known as homeowners in a negative-equity position (meaning their mortgage balance exceeds their homes current value) to decline as well. As the table below shows, 5 of the seven St Louis area counties listed saw a decline in the number of underwater properties in the 3rd quarter of this year from a year ago. The largest Continue Reading →

New Home Construction On The Rise In Warren County And Other Outlying Counties

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New home construction in the St Louis and surrounding areas for the first three quarters of this year is up slightly from the same time last year, according to the latest permit data from the Home Builders Association of Greater St Louis. However, as the table below shows, only 4 of the 7 counties reviewed had an increase in building permits while the other three, including the county with the greatest number of building permits, St Charles County, saw a decline.

 

St Louis Area New Home Building Permits – Year to Date Continue Reading →

City of St Louis Has Second Highest Vacant Property Rate In The U.S.

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As of the end of September, in the city of St Louis, 7,265 of the 104,288 residential properties in the city were vacant, giving the city a vacant property rate of 6.97 percent, the 2nd highest of all the counties in the U.S., according to a newly released report by ATTOM Data Solutions. The number of vacant properties in the city of St Louis increased 4.4% from the same time last year. Baltimore Maryland had the highest vacant property rate at 8.14 percent.

As the table below shows, St Clair County, Illinois was Continue Reading →

St Louis Has Higher Standard of Living Than 94 Percent Of All Metro Areas

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James Bullard, President, and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis gave a rather flattering report on St Louis during a presentation earlier this month. Speaking at the Bi-State Development annual meeting, Mr. Bullard’s presentation, “Living Standards across U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas” compared income, home prices as well as other economic data of 381 MSA’s across the country.

Highlights from the presentation:

St Louis ranks 7th of the 53 largest MSA’s for the ratio of real per capita personal income to U.S. average with a 1.13 (table 1 below) St Louis Continue Reading →

St Louis City & County See Home Sales Fall In September While Prices Spike

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The city and county of St Louis, collectively, accounted for nearly two-thirds of the home sales in the St Louis core-market during the past 12 months. There were 16,790 homes sold in the city and county of St Louis during the period October 1, 2016, through September 30, 2017, 61.0% of the 27,517 total number of homes sold in the 5-County Core St Louis real estate market during the period.

Home prices spike in St Louis City/County…

The median price of homes sold during the 12-month period ending September 30, 2017, was $174,900, Continue Reading →

St Louis County Dominates St Charles County In The Luxury Home Market

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Over the past 20 years, there have been 2.75 times more homes sold in St Louis County (250,486) than St Charles County (90,933). Given that the population in St Louis County at the beginning of this period was 4 times that of St Charles County and, even today is nearly 2.6 times more, St Charles County has definitely held it’s own in the housing market.

St Louis County dominates the $1mil+ home market…

St Charles County may be keeping up with St Louis county in the overall housing market, however, when we look Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – October 2017

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Is there a market correction coming to the St Louis real estate market? Find the answer, data behind it, as well as complete, and up to date, home price and sales data for the entire St Louis market, in our just released market update video.

In our MORE, REALTORS, 5 Minute St Louis Real Estate Market Update video below, you can quickly and easily get the latest information on home prices, home sales, trends and more for the entire St Louis area!

Sell Your Home For The Highest Price In Continue Reading →

New Kitchens Help Sell Homes, But New Roof & Windows Get Better Return

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The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) just released it’s 2017 Remodeling Impact Report, in which they rank Kitchen Renovation and Upgrade at the top of their list for appeal to buyers as well as for most likely value to the home for resale. Next on the list, in both categories, was Bathroom renovation.

According to the report:

The average cost of a kitchen upgrade was $35,000 and, on average, added $20,000 to the value of the home, for a recovery rate of 57% of the cost. The average cost of a complete kitchen Continue Reading →

St Louis Mortgage Delinquency Rate Continues To Fall

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On a national level, according to a report released by Corelogic, the foreclosure rate is at a 10-year low and, for the most part, mortgage delinquency rates continue to fall as real estate markets around the country continue to improve.

The state of Missouri, as well as it’s two big metro areas, St Louis and Kansas City, are following suit with improvements in mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates.

State of Missouri- Mortgage Delinquency/Foreclosure Rates: 30+ day mortgage delinquency rate improved from 5.3% of all mortgage loans a year ago to 4.5% for July Continue Reading →

Mortgage Fraud Risk Report Shows Missouri In Top Five Increased Risk States

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CoreLogic just released it’s 2017 Mortgage Fraud Report in which Missouri made the list of the five states with the highest year-over-year risk growth for mortgage fraud. The two types of fraud Missouri made the list on were Transaction fraud risk and Undisclosed Real Estate Debt fraud risk.

Below are some national highlights from the report (all figures are based upon 2nd quarter 2017 compared with 2nd quarter 2016):

Occupancy Fraud Risk increased nationally 7% Transaction Fraud Risk increased 3.9% Income Fraud Risk increased 3.5% Property Fraud Risk decreased 1.9% Undisclosed Real Estate Continue Reading →

St Charles County Shows Most Improvement In Housing Affordability Of Missouri Counties During 3rd Quarter

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St Charles County had the biggest improvement in the housing affordability index during the 3rd quarter of this year of any major County in the state of Missouri, according to a newly released report from Attom Data Solutions. St Charles County, with an affordability index of 109 (above 100 is more affordable than historic average, below 100 is less affordable), saw a 6.5% improvement in housing affordability from the prior quarter but a 2.4% decline from a year ago when the housing affordability index for St Charles County was 112.

The table below Continue Reading →

Number Of St Louis Homeowners In Negative Equity Position Declines Nearly 20 Percent In Past Year

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In the St Louis area during the 2nd quarter of this year, there were 30,407 (5.4 percent of all residential properties) with negative equity, or underwater, according to a report just released by Corelogic. This is a decline of nearly 20 percent (19.89%) from a year ago when there were 37,581 St Louis homeowners in a negative equity position.

In addition to the homeowners that are underwater, or in a negative equity position, during the 2nd quarter of 2017 there were 9.660 homeowners, or another 1.7 percent of all homeowners with a Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales and Prices Continue On The Rise Throughout The Area

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For the 12-month period ending August 31, 2017, as the table below shows, there were 36,753 homes sold in the St Louis MSA an increase in home sales of 3.68% from the prior 12-month period. The median price of homes sold in the St Louis MSA during the past 12 months was $170,000, an increase in home prices of 2.92% from the prior 12 month period.

St Louis home sales and price summary by county (see tables below for details):

St Louis City and County Home Sales Up 5.18% Home Prices Up 3.31% Continue Reading →

Home Buyers; Do You Know What You’re Worth?

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Home buyers for sale! Buy one get one free!

Ok, it’s not quite like that but, if you are a home buyer, odds are you have been bought and sold whether you know it or not! Does this sound surprising to you? I’m guessing it probably does as I don’t think most home buyers realize that, just like the homes they are shopping for, there is a market for home buyers (and sellers, of course) as well. I’m talking about “real estate leads”.

How home buyers are bought and sold…

Before I go Continue Reading →

Flipped Homes Accounted For About One In 13 Home Sales In St Louis During 2nd Quarter

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Home flipping accounted for 7.3 percent of all the home sales in the St Louis MSA during the 2nd quarter of this year according to a report released today by Attom Data Solutions. This is a decrease of 15% from the prior quarter when 8.6% of the homes sold were flips and is an increase of 10.6% from a year ago when 6.6% of the homes sold in St Louis were flips, according to the report. For the purposes of this report, a “flip” was defined as a property that was sold in Continue Reading →

Like The Weather, St Louis Housing Market Cooling

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As we approach the fall season (officially referred to as “autumn”, it begins September 22nd) and the temperatures cool, St Louis home prices and sales are beginning to cool as well. There’s no reason for panic as this is normal due to the “seasonality” of the real estate market, however, we in the real estate business never like to see it arrive.

As the tables below for the St Louis MSA, as well as the counties that make up the St Louis real estate market, show, the St Louis real estate market as Continue Reading →

If You Live In These Neighborhoods You Should Move Now!

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If you own a home in Maplewood, Warson Woods, Shrewsbury, Crestwood, or Bridgeton you should sell now before it’s too late! No, there’s nothing bad about to happen to those areas (as far as I know) but these areas are currently suffering from a shortage of homes for sale and are failing to meet the markets current demand. Each of these areas has less than a one-month supply of homes for sale making this a great time to sell!

Below, is a list of the top 10 St Louis municipalities with a shortage Continue Reading →

Do Homes Sell Over Labor Day Weekend?

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As we head into Labor Day weekend many people will be having friends and family to their homes for barbecues, parties and other get-togethers while other people may just be looking to a quiet weekend at home with family. In either event, if you have your home listed for sale, a showing, or showings, can be disruptive, to those plans and may prompt to you consider taking your home off the market for the weekend, or at least not permitting showings for the next 3 days. After all, it’s a holiday weekend, so Continue Reading →

St Louis Neighborhoods That Sold The Fastest In The Last 30 Days

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The St Louis real estate market typically hits its peak during the spring months then continues strong into summer. Come August, the housing market in St Louis tends to slow as families squeeze in vacations and school begins. After Labor Day we normally see an increase in activity until the market goes into something reminiscent of hibernation for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

Even though Labor Day is just a few days away, home sales that closed within the past 30 days show that homes are still selling quickly in St Louis. Continue Reading →

Home Sales and Prices Continue Upward Trend Throughout St Louis Area

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For the 12-month period ending July 31, 2017, as the table below shows, there were 36,741 homes sold in the St Louis MSA an increase in home sales of 13.35% from the prior 12-month period. The median price of homes sold in the St Louis MSA during the past 12 months was $170,000, an increase in home prices of 3.66% from the prior 12 month period.

St LouisHome sales and price summary by county (see tables below for details):

St Louis City and County Home sales Up 6.06% Home prices Up 4.79% St Continue Reading →

Homes Listed By Agents Net The Owner More Than For Sale By Owner- Even After Deducting Commission

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Inman News, a popular source of industry news for real estate agents, recently published an article title “Agents sell homes for more than FSBOs: study”. In this article, the author cited a study done by Collateral Analytics which revealed that homes sold by real estate agents sold for a mean of 5.5% more than FSBO’s (for sale by owner’s).

Being the usual skeptic that I am and also being unwilling to promote industry propoganda just because it sounds good, I decided to attempt to do an analysis of my own based upon Continue Reading →

Why Would You Do Business With Movement Mortgage?

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Unfortunately today, when we see a headline such as the one in this article, we almost immediately think something bad…its’ hard not too. Considering everything we witness in life and see in the media day in and day out, it’s become normal to think “what have they done?..what are you going to tell me that is bad about them? What’s the dirt?”.

Well, I’m happy to say, I don’t have anything bad to say, I don’t have any dirt on them nor scandalous information but, please don’t stop reading because of that.:) Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – August 2017

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The St Louis real estate market continues to be strong… Get the latest information on St Louis area home prices, sales and the market, as well as why this information is important and even a quick example of how we use this type of information to help our clients, in our just released market update video.

In our MORE, REALTORS, 5 Minute St Louis Real Estate Market Update video below, you can quickly and easily get the latest information on home prices, home sales, trends and more for the entire St Louis area! Continue Reading →

Should You Offer A Selling Agent Bonus When Selling Your Home?

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This is another one of those topics where there are plenty of varying opinions however, for the sake of this article I’m going to take a look at it from purely a data-driven standpoint which, perhaps, is a little more objective approach. While it’s not that common, especially in a sellers market like a huge chunk of the St Louis real estate market has experienced for some time now, there are currently just 185 active listings in the St Louis MSA offering an agent bonus so just a tad over 1 percent of Continue Reading →