By Dennis Norman, on October 9th, 2014
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) just announced that Wells Fargo Home Mortgage has agreed to a $5 Million settlement to resolve allegations that Wells Fargo discriminated against women who were pregnant, or had recently given birth, and were on maternity leave. (Click HERE for settlement agreement)
There have been a total of 190 maternity leave discrimination complaints filed with HUD against lenders in the past 4 years and those complaints have resulted in 40 settlements for a total of $1.5 million, prior to today’s settlement with Wells Fargo.
(We work hard on this and sure Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 8th, 2014 Millenial’s (people that are roughly 18 to 33 years old) are not as interested in buying homes today as their baby-boomer parents were at their age and, while there are probably some lifestyle issues that play a large part of it, the debt they are piling up in student loans may have something to do with their decision not to take on mortgage debt as well. According to information provided by TransUnion, the percentage of Millenial’s debt that is attributed to student loans is 36.8% today, an increase of over 185% from 2005 when student loans were responsible for just Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 7th, 2014 If you are one of the many parents of college-bound kids that is considering investing in a property to provide housing for your college student rather than waste money or dorms or rent, then this newly released info will help. Below is a list of the best college towns for renting property as well as the best college towns for flipping property, as compiled by RealtyTrac. St Louis didn’t make either list, actually nothing in Missouri did, however, many of the colleges and universities listed have plenty of kids attending from this area.
(We work hard on this and sure Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 3rd, 2014 St Louis short sales are definitely fewer and farther between than they were a couple of years back however, they are still out there and still often offer a great opportunity to a buyer. A short sale is where a home is being sold by it’s owner at a price less than the current mortgage on it in the hope that the lender will agree to accept the proceeds from the sale and release the loan since the equity is simply not there to sell the home and pay off the loan. Of course, there has to be some hardship Continue Reading →
By Shelly Clark, on October 2nd, 2014 You’ve owned your home for 20 years, and you’ve never been required to have flood insurance on your property. So why did you get a notice saying that you are required to have flood insurance or else your lender is going to impose it upon you now – after all these years?
Simply stated, The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) believes that your lot is now at risk for being flooded in the event of a 100 year flood. FEMA creates Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) which depict and show where it is calculated that the water will spread in Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 30th, 2014 The St Louis Foreclosure rate in July 2014 was 0.78 percent, down almost 30 percent from the same time last year when the St Louis foreclosure rate was 1.08 percent, according to data just released by Corelogic. The foreclosure rate for the state of Missouri in July 2014 was .64%, down from .89% a year ago.
On another good note, the serious mortgage delinquency rate (90+ days) for St Louis in July 2014 was 3.33%, down from 3.85% in July 2013. On the state level, the Missouri serious mortgage delinquency rate for July 2014 was 3.06% down from 3.52% the Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 29th, 2014 There were 2,017 Pending Home Sales in St Louis in August, down from 2,293 pending home sales in July and down 6.6% from August 2013 when there were 2,159 pending home sales,, according to MORE, REALTORS. There have been a total of 15,998 pending home sales in St Louis year to date through the end of August 2014 which is a decline a 4.9% from the same time last year when there were 16,829 pending home sales. Continue Reading →
By Peter Wright, on September 26th, 2014 Albert Einstein once said, “Nothing happens until something moves.” Well if you are looking to buy a home, lease a car, apply for credit cards or even look for a job…nothing happens until your credit score moves and moves up!
If you are have had credit issues in the past….simply ignoring what happened does not help. Ignoring a tooth-ache will not improve over time without treatment neither will your credit score!
If you have had credit issues in the past, it’s time you start establishing new (good) credit and start working on deleting old derogatory credit history like late payments, Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 24th, 2014 There are still some St Louis neighborhoods where home buyers have the upper hand even though in many St Louis neighborhoods the seller is clearly in charge. The table below shows St Louis buyer’s markets based upon our Market Action Index that scores a neighborhood based upon supply and demand and then determines whether the data is indicative of a seller’s market or a buyer’s market. An index of 30 indicates a balanced market not favoring buyers or sellers and below a 30 a buyer’s market. The lower the index goes, down to a low of 0, the colder that Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 23rd, 2014 St Louis software developer and owner of Nu-Calgon, Brian Butler and his wife Kelly have listed for sale their 11,000+ square foot English Country Home which sits on over 6 acres in St Albans and overlooks the Missouri River for a price of $4,400,000. The home, located at 508 Heron Court in the Bluffs at St. Abans was built in 1999 and was listed for sale for $3,975,000 on 4 previous occasions in 2012 and 2013 but did not sell. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 23rd, 2014 The City of St Louis was at the top of a list that you don’t really want to be on, the “Top 50 Counties with the Highest Prevalence of Man-Made Environmental Hazards“, just released this morning by RealtyTrac. The city of St Louis scored a 87.2, more than triple the score of Philadelphia (27.8) which occupies the number 2 spot on the list.
In scoring locations for this list, RealtyTrac only looked at counties with a population of 100,000 or more and then ranked them based upon the % of bad air quality days, the number of Superfund sites Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 22nd, 2014 St Louis Home Sales were down 5.21 percent in August 2014 from a year ago however St Louis home prices increased 6.44 percent during the same period, according the latest data available from MORE, REALTORS.
As the table below shows, Franklin County and Jefferson County saw an increase in home sales during the past year however the other counties that make up the core St Louis market did not. All of the five counties that make up the bulk of the St Louis real estate market saw an increase in home prices from last year with Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 19th, 2014 Mortgage Interest Rates rose this week to an average of 4.23 percent for a 30-year fixed rate home loan, up from 4.12 percent last week, marking the largest one-week jump in interest rates we have seen thus far this year, according to data just released by Freddie Mac. Mortgage interest rates for fixed-rate loans have now hit the highest level since May 1st.
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Mortgage interest rates from the Freddie Mac report:
30-year fixed rate mortgages averaged 4.23% Last week Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 18th, 2014 The number of new home building permits in St Louis dropped in August 12 percent from July and were down 2 percent from August 2013, according to the latest date from the Home Builders Association for St Louis and Eastern Missouri. There were a total of 287 permits issued for the 5-county core market consisting of the city of St Louis and Counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin, down from 327 the month before and 292 a year ago.
Looking for a new home in St Louis? Click here to see all for sale
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By Dennis Norman, on September 17th, 2014 The new home market is improving and home builders indicate they have more confidence in the new home market now than they have had since November 2005, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. According to the HMI, home builders confidence is presently at 59, the highest level the index has been at since November 2005.
The HMI is comprised of several components including builder’s opinions of current sale conditions, buyer traffic and future sales. The response from builders indicate they feel optimistic about current sale conditions and very optimistic about future sales, Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 16th, 2014 Nearly all of the 15 top sellers markets in St. Louis are in St. Louis County, with the only exceptions being number 12 on the list, Barnhart in Jefferson County, and number 15, O’Fallon in St Charles County, according to the latest data available from MORE, REALTORS. The list below is based upon MORE’S Market Action IndexTM which, among other things, looks at supply, demand and inventory for an area and then applies an index value to it.
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By Dennis Norman, on September 12th, 2014
According to a report just released by Corelogic, Florida has the highest risk of property damage from a natural hazard of any state in the country (shocker, right?). At the other end of the list is Michigan with the lowest risk and Missouri came in at 19th no doubt due to flood risk, tornadoes and the New Madrid fault that makes it’s home in the southeast portion of our state.
According to an updated map published by the folks at U.S. Geological Survey, an earthquake on the New Madrid fault could impact all of the State of Missouri with Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 11th, 2014 For the first time in a long time, there was an increase in St Louis Foreclosures with 497 foreclosure actions in August, equivalent to 1 foreclosure action for every 2,511 housing units, an increase of 2.47 percent from the month before. While up from the month before, St Louis Foreclosures in August 2014 were down 58.41% from August 2013. As the table below shows, St Charles County had a big decline in foreclosure activity in August and the city of St Louis a modest decline, but Jefferson County and Franklin County both saw increases in foreclosures over over 100% from Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 10th, 2014 One month ago yesterday, officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown and suddenly Ferguson, the little city where I grew up and began my career in real estate in 1979, became the focus of national news and headlines for days and weeks ahead. Unfortunately, the coverage of the shooting has cast Ferguson in a very negative light and no doubt will hurt the progress the city has made over the past several years to revitalize its city and make it an attractive place to live, work and start a business. This website is about real estate, so while I think this Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 9th, 2014 The number of St Louis Foreclosures (bank and government owned) continues to decline resulting in just 335 St Louis Foreclosures being sold during the month of August 2014 in the St Louis Core market, a decline of 44% from August 2013 when there were 598 St Louis Foreclosures sold. What hasn’t changed though is the fact that nearly two-thirds (62%) of the foreclosures sold were cash sales for both periods. For the St Louis real estate market as a whole, cash sales made up for fewer of the home sales in August 2014 with just 22% of all homes being Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 8th, 2014 St Louis home prices have increased 7 percent in the past year for the St Louis core market as a whole, but St Louis home sales have not followed suit and are on track for fewer home sales this year than last. You can find out more about this as well as get other useful information on the St Louis real estate market, including where the SELLERS MARKETS are in St Louis and the GOOD BUYERS MARKETS in our 5-Minute Market Update Video For September 2014 below.
Many areas of St Louis have become sellers markets due to increasing demand Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 5th, 2014 In spite of improvements in the St Louis real estate market and many areas becoming Seller’s markets due to low inventory and high demand, there are sill neighborhoods in St Louis where the market favors buyers. The top ten buyer’s markets in St Louis, listed in the table below, are in a variety of locations with two areas within the city of St Louis, and the rest in Jefferson and Franklin county. Absent from the list are buyers markets in St Louis county and St Charles county.
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By Dennis Norman, on September 5th, 2014 Local pediatric physician, Dr. Randall Sterkel who, according to the Childrens Hospital website, is “consistently recognized in “The Best Doctors in America” list”, including the most recent list for 2013, just put his nearly 15,000 square foot (14,776) French Country Style home on the market with an asking price of $5.75 million. According to the St Louis County tax records, Dr. Sterkel’s home, located at 9746 Litzsinger in Ladue, sits on 3.11 acres, had a tax bill of $50,854 for 2013 and indicates the home was purchased by Randall and Stephanie Sterkel on June 7, 2002 from Dan and Doris Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 3rd, 2014 I’ll be honest, there was a time, and perhaps not that long ago, when I wouldn’t have thought I would have used “Valley Park” and “Hottest Market in St Louis” in the same sentence but the day may have come! No, I have nothing against Valley Park, it’s just it has struggled in the past with perception issues but it appears it has overcome much of that and people today are seeing the value offered in this west county alternative to higher priced neighboring communities.
According to our Market Action Index (see below for the top 10 list) which looks Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 29th, 2014 Flipping property in the St Louis area has paid off for investors over the past year provided they have stayed out of the City of St Louis. “Flipping” or a “Flip” is a term used today to describe when a property is bought and then re-sold within a short time period. In St Louis County, the 3rd quarter of 2013 and the 3rd quarter of 2014, there were 658 properties flipped at an average gross profit of nearly 25 percent (24.56%) , according to a newly released report from RealtyTrac. During the same period there were 203 properties flipped in Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 28th, 2014 St Louis Pending Home Sales slipped in July falling to a total of 2,654 pending home sales for the 5-county core area of the St Louis market, down 7.8 percent from the month before when there were 2,877 pending home sales, according to MORE, REALTORS. Year to date through the end of July, there have been 16,789 St Louis Pending Home Sales, down 4.6 percent from the same time last year when there were 17,603 St Louis Pending Home Sales. On a positive note, pending home sales for the month of July 2014 were slightly higher than they were for Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 26th, 2014 The Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID) is often a topic of much debate often around whether or not it truly helps promote home ownership or is just a another tax break for higher income tax payers. The interesting thing is, the best I can tell, when the deduction for interest was first established it actually had nothing to do with promoting home ownership but instead was intended to benefit proprietors and small business owners. Few realize that the deductibility of interest goes back to 1913 when Congress ratified the Sixteenth Amendment to the constitution which gave the government the right to Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 25th, 2014 New home sales in the midwest region of the U.S. slipped in July with new home sales coming in at the seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 52,000 homes, down 8.8% from a rate of 57,000 homes the month before and down 1.9% from July 2013, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Year to date, through July, there have been 36,000 new homes sold (not seasonally adjusted) down 2.7% from the same time last year when there were 37,000 year to date new home sales.
On a national level, in July new home sales were at a seasonally-adjusted Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 22nd, 2014 St Louis Home Sales were down slightly in July 2014 (2.25%) from a year ago however St Louis home prices increased 3.3% during the same period, according the latest data available from MORE, REALTORS.
As the table below shows, St Charles County and Franklin County both saw an increase in home sales in July 2014 from July 2014 while the other 3 counties in the core market saw a decrease in home sales during the same period. Home prices increased in the counties of St Louis, St Charles and Jefferson and declined slightly in the City Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 21st, 2014 Property flipping, which is basically buying a property and then reselling it immediately, or shortly thereafter, is occurring less frequently now in St Louis than it was, according to a report released today by RealtyTrac. According to the report, there were 289 houses flipped in the St Louis metro area during the 2nd quarter, down 44% from the first quarter and down 17% from the 2nd quarter of 2013. During the 2nd quarter of this year, 3.3% of all St Louis home sales were “flip” deals which, for the purpose of this report, were homes that were bought, then resold Continue Reading →
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