St Louis Real Estate News - Page 64 of 107 - Daily St. Louis real estate news, market analysis, home prices, and mortgage rate updates from local industry professionals.

St Louis Home Sales Rise 12 Percent In 2013; Prices Up Too

By Dennis Norman, on January 21st, 2014

St Louis homes sales (the 5-county core market*) for 2013 increased from 24,134 for the 2012 to 26,979 for 2013, an increase of 12%, according to the latest data available from MORE, REALTORS. St Louis home prices rose in 2013 to a median sales price of $149,900 an increase of over 11% from 2012 when the median home price was $135,000.

For the past few months I have been saying that the St Louis real estate market is definitely in a recovery and the home sales data continue to support this notion.

(We work hard on this and sure would Continue Reading →

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Fair Housing

By Dennis Norman, on January 20th, 2014

Today, as we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is hard for me to believe that, during my lifetime, there was a time when it was legal to refuse to rent or sell a house to someone because of their race or skin color, but it was. However, the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also referred to as the “Fair Housing Act of 1968”, which was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson, just one week after Dr. King’s assassination, corrected this and made it illegal to refuse to rent or lease a home to someone based upon their race. Continue Reading →

Foreclosures in St Louis Metro Area Down Over 40 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on January 16th, 2014

Foreclosures in the St Louis metro area during the 4th quarter of 2013 were down 13.79% from the prior quarter and down 40.64% from the 4th quarter of 2012, according to a report released today by RealtyTrac. As the table below shows, the foreclosure rate for 3 of the 5 core St Louis counties declined in the 4th quarter from the prior quarter and all declined from the year before.

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St Louis Home Prices and Sales Market Update VIDEO-January 2014

By Dennis Norman, on January 14th, 2014

Recovery is underway!

Yes! St Louis home prices are on the rise and the St Louis real estate market is recovering! Find out why I feel this way and where the market is headed in my newly published 5 minute video update below.

Thinking of selling and want to know if your neighborhood is a seller’s market? Contact us and we’ll answer that question for you.

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St Louis Foreclosures For Sale – Slideshow

By Dennis Norman, on January 13th, 2014

St Louis foreclosures are on the decline, however there are still some “deals” out there for buyers on homes that were previously foreclosed upon. Presently, there are 714 bank-owned or government owned homes in the St Louis 5-county core area (city of St Louis and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) listed for sale in the St. Louis area MLS. St Louis foreclosures typically sell at a discount of 25% – 40% off retail, and sometimes even more, however you can bank on the fact that the better the price is the more work Continue Reading →

More than 1 in every 4 St Louis homeowners still seriously underwater on mortgage

By Dennis Norman, on January 10th, 2014

Over 1 of every four St Louis homeowners (28%) with a mortgage are seriously underwater on their mortgages, meaning the current value of their home is at least 25 percent less than the total of their mortgages as of December 2013, according to a report just released by RealtyTrac. On a national level, in December 19% of the homeowners with a mortgage were considered seriously underwater.

At the other end of the spectrum, 11 percent of St Louis homeowners with a mortgage are “equity-rich“, meaning their mortgages total less than 50% of the current value of their home. On a Continue Reading →

St Louis’ Top Ten Neighborhoods For Home Price Increases

By Dennis Norman, on January 9th, 2014

Where in St Louis are home prices rising the fastest? As the St Louis real estate market settles into what appears to be a sustainable recovery, home prices are on the rise in most St. Louis neighborhoods. The table below shows the 10 St Louis neighborhoods where home prices have increased the most over the past year. Keep in mind, this data is based upon the asking price of homes for sale and does not necessarily indicate an increase in the property values of all homes in the areas shown, however, in general, if the prices of homes for sale Continue Reading →

St Louis Neighborhoods Poised For Strong Spring Housing Market

By Dennis Norman, on January 6th, 2014

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that home prices typically rise in the spring as the St Louis real estate market heats up however, it is more of a challenge to find those areas that may out perform the others. So, which St Louis neighborhoods are poised for a strong spring housing market?

As I wrote about earlier this week, a recovery of the St Louis real estate market is underway, however, some areas will fare better than others of course. For some home buyers the “investment” aspect of their next home is secondary as the school district, Continue Reading →

Important Changes to FHA Home Loans Now In Effect

By Tyler Frank NMLS # 942420, on January 3rd, 2014

Tyler Frank,Paramount MortgageNMLS ID 942420

The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) has made some changes for 2014, which took effect January 1 and affect FHA home loans. First and foremost, you will see a drop in the maximum allowable loan. In the St. Louis metro area, for example, the new max loan amount for a single-family home has been lowered to $271,050 from $281,250.

Other items of note regarding FHA have not changed; so as a refresher let’s look at FHA qualifications and rules:

Borrower must put 3.5% down based on sales price. 100% of the buyer’s contribution Continue Reading →

St Louis Housing Market Recovery Underway

By Dennis Norman, on January 2nd, 2014

It’s hard to believe that it has been over 5 years since the housing market bubble burst but, as we begin this new year, it is good to continue to see market data that supports a St Louis housing market recovery is underway!

As we have been reporting here on St Louis Real Estate News, over the past few months we have seen a solid recovery trend in the St Louis real estate market. Home prices have increased as have home sales, the new home market continues to make progress with new home construction and sales on the rise and Continue Reading →

Happy New Year!

By Dennis Norman, on January 1st, 2014

In What St Louis Neighborhoods Have Home Prices Increased?

By Dennis Norman, on December 27th, 2013

The table below shows the top 25 St Louis neighborhoods where the prices of homes listed for sale have increased in the prior 90 days. This could be an indicator of rising home prices in the area or could be an indicator of a lot of investor or speculator activity resulting in homes being purchased and immediately put back out on for sale to “flip” it at a higher price. This is why it is always important to look at more than just one statistic when trying to determine what is going on in a particular market and why it Continue Reading →

Midwest New Home Sales Plummet In November

By Dennis Norman, on December 26th, 2013

After a 34 percent increase in October from the month before, Midwest new home sales gave back a chunk of the gain in November, falling 26.6 percent from October. New home sales in the midwest region of the U.S. in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 47,000 homes, down from a rate of 64,000 homes the month before however up slightly from a year ago in November when the rate of new home sales was 44,000 homes.

Looking at actual home sales and not “seasonally adjusted annual rates” we find that, through the end of November 2013, Continue Reading →

Merry Christmas!

By Dennis Norman, on December 25th, 2013

Wishing you and your family a very Blessed and Merry Christmas!

St Louis Home Sales Increase In Past Year; Buck National Trend

By Dennis Norman, on December 20th, 2013

St Louis homes sales (the 5-county core market*) for the 12 month period ending November 30, 2013 increased 4 percent from the same period a year ago, in contrast to national home sales which are down 1.2 percent from a year ago. As the table below shows, St Louis distressed home sales (foreclosures, bank-owned and short sales) have declined by more than a third and are currently responsible for just 5 percent of the overall home sales.

St Louis home prices are increasing too with the median home price for the past year coming in at $149,600, an increase of Continue Reading →

St Louis Area New Home Construction Up 25 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on December 19th, 2013

St Louis area new home construction activity continues to gain momentun with building permits issued for new homes for the period ended November 30, 2013 increasing 25% from the same period the year before. As the table below shows, all St Louis area counties saw increases in building permits for the period.

Nationally, there were 577,000 permits for new single family homes issued for 2013 through November 30th, an increase of almost 21% from a year ago when the year to date total was 477,700 permits.

See St Louis Area New Homes For Sale – Click HERE

(We Continue Reading →

What is QM?

By Tyler Frank NMLS # 942420, on December 13th, 2013

Tyler Frank,Paramount MortgageNMLS ID 942420

On January 10, 2014 the mortgage world is going to go through some changes. These changes will affect consumers and their ability to qualify for a home loan. Is it doom and gloom? Not really.

A “Qualified Mortgage” or QM, is something we at Paramount Mortgage have been doing for a while. It is all about the consumer having the ability to repay the loan and verifying, to the best of our ability, through paperwork, all the facets of a loan approval. It is very possible additional paperwork may be requested Continue Reading →

St Louis Foreclosures Down About 50 Percent From A Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on December 12th, 2013

St. Louis foreclosures have declined roughly 50 percent from a year ago, according to the latest data from RealtyTrac. As the table below shows, the foreclosure rate for the 3 main counties of St Louis (city of St Louis, St Louis County and St Charles county) was down from the month before (or about the same for the city), however Franklin and Jefferson county saw an increase from the month before. All five counties have seen a significant drop in foreclosure rate from a year ago.

St Louis Home Prices and Real Estate Market Update for December 2013

By Dennis Norman, on December 10th, 2013

Recovery is underway!

The St Louis real estate market is definitely showing signs of a sustained recovery trend for the market based upon the latest market contained in our St Louis Real Estate Market update video below.

Invest just 5 minutes of your time watching our market update, and you will be smarter than the average bear about the St Louis real estate market!

Thinking of selling and want to know if your neighborhood is a seller’s market? Contact us and we’ll answer that question for you.

You can now subscribe to our ITUNES Podcast Channel to receive our updated Continue Reading →

Which St Louis Area County Had The Best Home Value Appreciation Pre-Bubble to Post-Bubble?

By Dennis Norman, on December 10th, 2013

St Louis, like the rest of the country, began the build up to the housing bubble around 2000 only to see the bubble burst in 2008 and then where we find the St Louis market today; in recovery mode. So, during this period , which St Louis area county saw the most home value appreciation overall? Well, the “winner” isn’t even a county per se, it’s the City of St Louis with a 86.85 percent increase in median home values from 2000 to 2012, according to data from the US Census Bureau. As the table below shows, the Continue Reading →

St Charles County Most Expensive Homes For Sale

By Dennis Norman, on December 9th, 2013

In the thirty year period from 1980 to 2010 the number of housing units in St Charles county tripled from 49,523 units to 141,016 units. St Charles’ growth has been fueled in part by an abundance of affordable new homes but that doesn’t mean St Charles county doesn’t have it’s share of luxury homes though! According to the latest housing data from the US Census Bureau, about 3 percent of the housing units in St Charles, or about 3,300 units, are valued at $500,000 or above.

Below is a slide show revealing St Charles County Most Continue Reading →

St Louis Short-Sales Dwindling

By Dennis Norman, on December 6th, 2013

“Short-sale” is a term that was relatively unknown until the real estate market bubble burst in 2008. After the bubble burst the term quickly became a common topic of conversation among homeowners that found themselves “underwater” in their homes, meaning they owed more on their homes than they were worth, and also among potential home buyers and investors looking to snag a good deal.

If you are one of those buyers wanting to snag a deal, you may have missed the boat as the volume of short sales in St Louis has fallen dramatically. While, overall, this is good news Continue Reading →

Midwest New Home Sales In October Up Over 20 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on December 4th, 2013

Midwest new home sales in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 63,000 homes, a 34.0 percent increase from September and an increase of 21.2 percent from a year ago, according to data just released by the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD. Nationally, new home sales in October were at an annual rate of 444,000 homes, an increase of 25.4 percent from the month before and an increase of 21.6 percent from a year ago.

New homes sold during the month of October 2013 were sold for a median price of $245,800, a decrease of 4.5 percent from Continue Reading →

St Louis Short Sales Plummet While REO’s on the Rise

By Dennis Norman, on November 26th, 2013

St. Louis short sales accounted for just 1 percent of the overall home sales activity during October in the core market of St. Louis (the city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin), according to the latest data from RealtyTrac. As the table below shows, Jefferson County had the largest percentage of short sales in October at 7% and St Charles and Franklin both the lowest at 0%. REO sales (prior foreclosures that are now bank owned) on the other hand, made up 7 percent of St Louis area home sales in October, an Continue Reading →

St Charles County Most Expensive Homes For Sale – Slideshow

By Dennis Norman, on November 22nd, 2013

St Charles county’s most expensive homes for sale can be found from Augusta in the southern part of the county to Wentzville in the north, from Foristell to the city of St Charles and come in all shapes and sizes. The live, real-time, slide show below shows the variety of million dollar plus homes currently for sale in St Charles county.

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St Louis Luxury Home Sales Increase For 5th Consecutive Year

By Dennis Norman, on November 21st, 2013

St Louis luxury home sales (home sales of $1Mil or above) increased in the past 12 months almost 8 percent from the year with 182 homes being sold for $1 million or more in the St Louis core area (city of St Louis and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin). Luxury home sales in St Louis peaked between 11/06 and 11/07 when there were 268 homes sold. St Louis luxury home prices have not kept pace with sales with the average luxury home price declining for the past two years, however, thanks to increased sales, the Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Increase Slightly In October…Distressed Sales Share Drops By Third In Past Year

By Dennis Norman, on November 20th, 2013

St Louis homes sales (the 5-county core market*) increased slightly in October 2013 to 2,211 sales from 2,207 sales the month before. However, as the table below shows, a couple of key things worth noting are that October home sales increased 6.76 percent from October 2012 and, in October 2013, distressed sales (foreclosures, short sales, REO’s) accounted for just a little over 20% of total home sales, down from almost 31% a year ago.

St Louis home prices, as the chart below shows, have steadily risen in the past year from a median price of $130,000 in October 2012 to Continue Reading →

St Louis Neighborhoods Where Homes Are Selling Fast

By Dennis Norman, on November 19th, 2013

All 10 of the St Louis neighborhoods where homes are selling the quickest are found in St. Louis County, according to the latest data available from MORE, REALTORS. As the table below shows, the 63040 zip in Grover has the lowest median time homes for sale have been on the market at just 35 days.

The chart below the table shows the number of homes that were sold during October 2013 in each of these zip codes that made the top ten list for fastest selling St Louis neighborhoods. Ballwin saw the most home sales with almost 70 in the Continue Reading →

St Louis Foreclosure Activity Spikes in October

By Dennis Norman, on November 15th, 2013

St. Louis foreclosure activity shot up in October from the month before for the metro area as a whole with foreclosure actions occurring on 1 of every 923 housing units, according to the latest data from RealtyTrac. Even with the increase, October’s foreclosure activity rate for the St Louis metro area was down over 20% from a year ago. Foreclosure activity varied widely across the St Louis metro area with St Louis county seeing a 77% month over month increase and St. Charles and Franklin county both seeing declines in month over month as well as year over year rates.

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What features are home buyers looking for today?

By Dennis Norman, on November 13th, 2013

Heraclitus of Ephesus, a noted Greek Philosopher from the 6th Century said “the only constant is change” and, while that applies to many things today, it doesn’t really apply much to what features home buyers are looking for in homes they buy today. According to the results of the National Association of REALTORS 2013 Home Features Survey, which asked people that bought homes during 2012 to identify those features they were looking for in a home, reveals home buyers are still focused on many of the same features that, over the past several years, have been typical of what Continue Reading →