By Dennis Norman, on October 13th, 2016
Last month the median price of homes sold in the St Louis MSA was a very-affordable $169,000 however, during past 12 months, homes have sold for as much as over 50 times that amount in St Louis. That’s right, during the past year there was a home that sold for $9,000,000 in St Louis, over 53 times the median St Louis home price. The $9,000,000 St Louis home that was sold was at 2105 South Warson and sold in November of last year for $9,000,000. The next highest home sale was a $4,000,000 one at 760 Kent Road, followed by 2 more Ladue homes. In all, 13 of the 31 homes that sold in St Louis for more than $2,000,000 (based upon MLS data) were in Ladue, 7 were in Clayton (3 of those being condo’s), 3 in Town & Country, 2 in Huntleigh, 2 in Chesterfield, 2 in Creve Coeur and 2 in the Central West End (both were condos at the Private Residences in Chase Park Plaza). Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 7th, 2016
Over the past 5 years or so I have written a few articles on the topic of the mortgage interest deduction (MID) and how, in spite of what many others in the industry say, I didn’t think it was that critical to the housing industry. All the while, the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) (of which I’m proud to be a member, just happen to disagree on this topic) has staunchly supported the MID and warned that if the deduction went away the housing market and home buyers would suffer. NAR published a fact sheet on the topic stating:
Repealing Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 5th, 2016
Yes, it is October and yes, home sales, and prices, do tend to soften around this time of year as we head into the winter months, but, having said that, it can still be a great time to sell a home, especially if you are in one of the areas I’ve identified below! Why? Well, for one, there is VERY LITTLE COMPETITION but good demand from buyers. So, even though the St Louis housing market, including home prices, can be following suit with the weather and cooling off, when you are in a market with good demand and no competition, you can sell your home for more than you could under normal conditions this time of year. Plus, it’s a lot easier to please a buyer and motivate a buyer to act when there aren’t many homes to choose from and the buyer feel’s they’ll miss out if they don’t act quick enough. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 27th, 2016
There were 184 distressed homes (short-sales and foreclosures) sold in St Louis (the 5-county core market) during the month of August, an increase of 44 percent from July when there were just 128 distressed home sales. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 26th, 2016
New home sales in the midwest region of the U.S. during August 2016, increased 39.7 percent to a seasonally-adjusted, annual rate, of 81,000 new homes from a rate of 58,000 homes a year ago. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 24th, 2016
Existing home sales in St Louis during August 2016 were up 9.2 percent from August 2015, according to the latest data from MORE, REALTORS. There were 3,230 existing homes sold in the St Louis MSA during the month of August, an increase of 2.7 percent from the prior month, when there were 3,143 homes sold. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 20th, 2016
New home construction in August increased in the midwest region of the U.S. by 10.5 percent from a year ago to a seasonally-adjusted, annual rate of 116,000 homes. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 19th, 2016
For some time now, if you are a home buyer wanting to buy a home in St Charles County, you didn’t have a lot to choose from and had to move fast when you did find a home and, for at least the near future, it doesn’t appear this will change. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 16th, 2016
Last week, National Mortgage News, published an article on a report which indicated home prices and homeownership rates are “out of whack”. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 15th, 2016
The inventory of homes for sale is creeping up, but still low! In this month’s video you will see that the St Louis real estate market remains strong as we close out the summer selling season and head into fall. The inventory of homes for sale has risen slightly, which is to be expected this time of year, but, overall, the market still favors sellers. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 9th, 2016
For couples planning to get married before you spend the time doing the bridal registry thing at stores, picking out housewares, china and perhaps some other things you don’t really need or won’t use, consider putting a house on your list! Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 2nd, 2016
One of the more controversial topics to discuss within the REALTOR community is the topic of agent bonuses, a bonus that a seller, by way of the listing broker, would pay to the agent that sells their home, over and above the normal sales commission. Sometimes seller’s, or their listing agents, see this as a way to draw more attention to their listing and to encourage buyer’s agents to show it and sell it. However, there are many conflicting opinions on this topic within the industry which creates some confusion for seller’s (and buyer’s for that matter), so I thought I would take some time to discuss it. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 31st, 2016
If you are a home buyer looking to buy a house in Ellisville, you better move quick as the homes there are selling fast! As the table below shows, the average time it took to sell a home, for sales closed within the past 30 days, was just 13 days in Ellisville and, in fact, was below 30 days for all of the cities on the top 15 list. You can see where you city ranks by click on the table to see the current, complete list. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 31st, 2016
St Louis area home prices, for the 12-month period ending July 31st, have increased from a year ago in all of the St Louis counties that make up the core St Louis market. As the table below shows, the median home price in the St Louis MSA for this period was $164,000, an increase of 5.81 percent from the same period a year ago. Two counties, Lincoln and Franklin, saw home prices increase at a higher rate than the MSA with increases of 7.88 percent and 7.69 percent respectively. The 3 top counties on the list are all outlying counties, Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 30th, 2016
Home sales in the St Louis area, for the 12-month period ending July 31st, are up from a year ago in all of the St Louis counties that make up the core St Louis market. As the table below shows, in spite of the fact that the St Louis MSA saw home sales fall 4.2% during the period from 33,840 homes sold to 32,415, all of the counties in and around the St Louis area on the Missouri side of the river saw increases. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 25th, 2016
ATTOM Data Solutions just released their 2016 Natural Hazard Housing Risk Report, in which they score counties across the nation on risks posed to housing from natural hazards. As the heat map below illustrates, St Louis County has the highest natural hazard ranking in the St Louis area at 59.8, followed by the City of St Louis at 55.3. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 24th, 2016
There were 26,039 homes sold in St Louis during the 12 month period ending July 31, 2016 (5-county core St Louis market), an increase of 5.9 percent from the prior 12 month period. As the table below shows, the median sales price during the past 12 months was $174,900, an increase of 4.4 percent from the prior 12 month period when the median price was $167,500. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 19th, 2016
The St Louis real estate market is still going strong! As the video below illustrates, the St Louis real estate market continues to do well as we head into the end of summer. The inventory of homes for sale remains low in most areas, which is good news for seller who face less competition and pricing pressure often resulting in multiple offers and quick sales. From a home buyers perspective it may not be as fun as buyers find themselves often competing and frequently losing out to other buyers that either got their first or offered more. Let your heart Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 17th, 2016
New home construction in the midwest region of the U.S. occurred at a, seasonally-adjusted, annual rate of 112,000 homes in July, down 2.6% from the month before and down 6.7% from July 2015 when the rate of new home starts in the midwest was at 115,000 homes, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 16th, 2016
There were 956 foreclosure filings on homes in the St Louis metro area during July 2016, a decline of nearly 20 percent (19.93%) from a year ago, according to a report released by ATTOM Data Solutions. As the table below shows, during July 2016, foreclosure activity decreased from a year ago in 5 of the 7 Missouri counties included in report. Franklin County saw an increase in foreclosure activity of 21.43% and the city of St Louis saw an increase of 9.23% from a year ago. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 11th, 2016
The number of homeowners that are “seriously underwater”, or in a negative-equity position (meaning they owe more on their home than it is currently worth), increased during the 2nd quarter of this year, according to a report just released by Attom Data Solutions. During the 2nd quarter of 2106, 17.8% of the homeowners, with a mortgage, in the St Louis MSA were in a negative equity position, up from 16.6% the quarter before and up just slightly from 17.4% during the 2nd quarter of 2015. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 8th, 2016
If you are in the market for a 30,000 home with multiple guys suites, apartments for employees, bowling alley, racquetball court, spa, salon, 5,000 bottle wine cellar and a whole lot more on 4 pristine acres in Ladue, then you’re in luck! The home of Dennis Jones, the founder of Jones Pharma, Inc., and his wife Judy, just hit the market with a price tag of $10.75 million, making it the most expensive current listing in the St Louis area. In fact, according to MLS records, there has never been a home sold in St Louis for $10,000,000 with the highest being the home of Robert Fox at 2105 South Warson, which sold in 2015 for $9,000,000. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 30th, 2016
The St Louis metro area housing market continues to be a hot seller’s market with 35,703 homes sold during the 12 month period ended June 30, 2016, an increase of nearly 7 percent from the prior 12 month period. The median price of homes sold during the most recent period was $162,500, an increase of over 5 percent from the prior 12 month period. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 27th, 2016
New home sales in the midwest region of the U.S. , like the temperature during the period, soared during June 2016 to a seasonally-adjusted, annual rate, of 85,000 new homes, an increase of 44.1 percent from June 2015 when new homes in the midwest sold at an annual rate of 59,000 homes, according to a report just released by the US Census Bureau. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 21st, 2016
After the housing bubble burst in 2008 we saw several years of declining home prices before home prices finally reached bottom in late 2011 and early 2012. Due to the tremendous growth in foreclosure activity, as well as artificially inflated home prices as a result of sub-prime lending, many of St Louis’ lowest priced neighborhoods were hit the hardest. So, now that we have seen a solid real estate market in St Louis for a couple of years, and prices are recovering, how have home prices in these hard hit zips recovered? To determine this I have assembled the data Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 14th, 2016
If you are looking for a large home with a lot of space, in a good area, at a great price per foot, then an atrium ranch may be just the thing you need! Why? An atrium ranch takes advantage of the large foot print of a ranch style home to create a large amount of additional living space, typically 40% to 75% of the first floor space, in the lower level. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 14th, 2016
There were 4,935 foreclosure filings on homes in the St Louis metro area during the first six months of 2016, a decline of 27.1% from the second half of 2015 when there were 6,770 foreclosure filings and down 9.75% from the first half of 2015 when there were 5,468 filings, according to a report just released by RealtyTrac. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 13th, 2016
The inventory of homes for sale in St Louis remains low making it a great time to be a home seller! Home sales and prices are up in the St Louis area although we are beginning to see home prices rescind slightly as we near the end of the summer market and prices historically soften a little. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 9th, 2016
“Should I sell my home myself” is something that some sellers are asking today, particularly those in fast selling neighborhoods and areas where the inventory of homes for sale is low, after all, how hard can it be to sell a home if homes are in such high demand? Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 3rd, 2016
Ok, this is the list that, if you are a seller, you don’t want to be on however, if you are a buyer looking for an opportunity, here are some places to consider buying a home where the competition from other buyers is not as fierce. As of today, there are 30 cities/municipalities in the St Louis area that are on our “Slowest Selling Neighborhoods List”, below are the top 10 on the list (click on the list to see the current entire list). At the top of the list is Byrnes Mill, one of 3 cities in Jefferson County that made the top 10 list, where homes for sale have been on the market an average of over 600 days. Somewhat surprising is the fact that St Charles county, which has been a pretty has 4 cities on the list. Continue Reading →
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