St Louis Real Estate News - Page 64 of 110 - Daily St. Louis real estate news, market analysis, home prices, and mortgage rate updates from local industry professionals.

St Louis Home Prices Increased Four Percent In Past Year on Fewer Sales

By Dennis Norman, on June 23rd, 2014

St Louis Home Prices rose 4 percent from May 2013’s median sales price of $150,000 to May 2014’s median price of $156,000 for the 5-county core St Louis housing market which consists of the City of St Louis and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin, according to the latest data released by MORE, REALTORS. As the table below shows, the city of St Louis saw the biggest gain in median home prices with the median sales price increasing over 27% from May 2013 to May 2014.

St Louis Home Sales are still Continue Reading →

The St Louis Luxury Home Market

By Dennis Norman, on June 20th, 2014

The St Louis Luxury Home Market is concentrated within the central corridor of the St Louis area with the highest median home prices (of homes listed) currently being found in Frontenac, with a median price of $1,326,654, followed by Ladue, Town and Country, Clayton and Creve Coeur.

Like the rest of the St Louis real estate market, The St Louis Luxury Home Market suffered when the housing bubble burst a few years ago but is it on the road to recovery like the bulk of the St Louis housing market? To address this, I looked at the market from several Continue Reading →

New Home Building Permits Increase During May in the Midwest

By Dennis Norman, on June 17th, 2014

New home building permits issued in the Midwest region of the U.S. in May was up 1 percent (seasonally adjusted) from a year ago and increased 7.3 percent from the month before, accordion to the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a national level, new home building permits issued in May were down 0.8% from the year before but were up 3.7% from April, according to the report.

As the chart below from the Fed Reserve shows, building permits issued in St Louis are definitely on the rise but are still at levels much lower than back during Continue Reading →

Mortgage Default Rates Fall Almost 30 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on June 17th, 2014

Mortgage default rates, as tracked by the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices, on first mortgages were at .92 in May 2014, down from 1.01 the month before and down almost 30% (29.7%) from May 2013 when the first mortgage default rate index was at 1.31. The default rate index on second mortgages is improving as well with the index for May 2014 at .57, down from .63 in April and from .60 in May 2013, according to the report.

This is good news for the housing market and consistent with the trend we have seen lately of lower delinquencies and Continue Reading →

St Louis’ Hottest Real Estate Markets In June

By Dennis Norman, on June 16th, 2014

St Louis’ Hottest Real Estate Markets for this month looks very similar to this time last month however the 63021 area of Ballwin has now moved to the top of list of hot markets based upon our “Market Action Index” scoring a 51 out of a possible 60. Valley Park came in second, followed by the 63011 area of Ballwin, Chesterfield and Glendale.

As the table below shows, all of the top 5 hot markets, with the exception of Valley Park, are also very low on the months supply of homes for sale with all of them just having a Continue Reading →

St Louis Inventory of Homes For Sale Drying Up In Many Areas

By Dennis Norman, on June 13th, 2014

The inventory of homes for sale in several St Louis neighborhoods is down to the lowest level we have seen in years. It would be great if that was the result of skyrocketing home sales however, it’s really a combination of home sales and a lack of sellers. While there are many different reasons people are not choosing to sell right now, I believe it is a lack of equity that is holding back many homeowners from selling, particularly in the lower price ranges. Last month I did an article about the fact that 40 percent of St Louis homeowners Continue Reading →

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

By Dennis Norman, on June 12th, 2014

St Louis home prices have, in some areas, recovered to around 95% of home prices during the peak of the housing bubble. Get the specifics on this as well as much more in our June 2014 5-Minute Market Update Video below.

Many areas of St Louis have become sellers markets due to increasing demand and lack of inventory. If you have considered selling, or perhaps tried and failed in the past year or so, now is the time to consider it again. Give us a call and we’ll be happy to let you know the value of your home in Continue Reading →

UMSL Biz College Dean Hoffman Puts Lake Manse on Market For $5.895 Million

By Dennis Norman, on June 11th, 2014

Charles Hoffman, dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Missouri in St Louis has listed his 11,000+ square foot home that sits on 1.5 acres in Sunrise Beach at Lake of the Ozarks for sale for $5,895,000. According to the listing agents description, this is the “Deal of the Century”. Mr. Hoffman, prior to becoming Dean at UMSL, was, according to Wikipedia, President and CEO of Covad Communication Group and is known as a turnaround artist for struggling companies.

Lake of the Ozarks (Camden County) Luxury Homes For Sale – $5,000,000+

Piqued your Continue Reading →

New Home Construction Needs to Increase to Match Job Growth According to REALTORS®

By Dennis Norman, on June 10th, 2014

New home construction is not keeping up with demand in most of the U.S. and could even lead to “persistent housing shortages and affordability issues unless housing starts increase to match up with local job creation”, according to a newly released analysis by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, discussed in the report the relationship between new jobs and increased demand for housing saying “Historically, there’s one new home construction for every one-and-a-half new jobs,”. Yun goes on to say “Our analysis found that a majority of states are constructing too few homes in relation Continue Reading →

Almost Half Of Consumers Surveyed Think Home Prices Will Rise In Next Year

By Dennis Norman, on June 9th, 2014

Forty-eight percent of Americans surveyed feel home prices will increase in the next twelve months and only 7 percent think home prices will decline, accordion to Fannie Mae’s May 2014 National Housing Survey which was just released. As for the economy, consumers weren’t so optimistic as, according to the report, 57% of those surveyed feel the economy is headed the wrong direction.

Other highlights from the Fannie Mae National Housing Survey for May 2014:

(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 ]

Continue Reading →

Nine Credit Score Myths

By Tyler Frank NMLS # 942420, on June 6th, 2014

Tyler Frank,Paramount MortgageNMLS ID 942420

We hear lots of advice these days about how to improve a credit score. However, not all advice is good advice. Here are nine credit score myths that could actually do more harm than good:

Myth #1 – Closing out old, inactive accounts will help your score. Thirty percent of your credit score is based on your utilization rate – your total balances versus the total amount of credit available to you. Canceling old accounts reduces the total amount of your available credit, changing that ratio. Any balance will Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices Close to Recovering Lost Ground After Peak

By Dennis Norman, on June 5th, 2014

St Louis Home Prices are close to regaining what was lost after home prices peaked during the boom and then crashed and burned, according to the latest data from MORE, REALTORS. As the table below shows, home prices in the three major St Louis counties (St Louis, St Charles and the city of St Louis) have recovered to about 95% of what they peaked at during the boom. The outlying counties of Jefferson and Franklin have been slower to recover.

Find your home’s market value online in LESS THAN A MINUTE!

(We work hard on this and Continue Reading →

St Louis Hills Most Expensive Homes for Sale – Slide Show

By Dennis Norman, on June 4th, 2014

St Louis Hills is arguably one of the most popular neighborhoods in South St Louis and is rich in history. According to the St Louis Hills Neighborhood association website, St Louis hills encompasses an area of 700 acres and was originally developed by Cyrus Crane Willmore. The street names in St Louis Hills, as well as much of the architecture of the older homes, reflects Willmore’s English heritage.

St. Louis Hills Homes For Sale – $300,000+

See ALL Homes for sale in St Louis Hills

Piqued your interest? If you would like more information on Continue Reading →

Characteristics of New Homes Built in 2013

By Dennis Norman, on June 4th, 2014

There were 569,000 new homes (single-family) completed in the U.S. last year. So what are popular features and finishes in new homes today? What does the “typical” new home have? Below is a summary of some of the characteristics of the new homes built in 2013 as detailed in a report by the U.S. Census Bureau: Continue Reading →

Where Are The Best Places To Flip Property?

By Dennis Norman, on June 3rd, 2014

The best places to flip property in the U.S. are, with the exception of Wright County Minnesota, all east of the Mississippi extending from as far north on the east coast as New York to as far south as Florida, according to a report just released by RealtyTrac. For this report, RealtyTrac looked at property that was “flipped” (bought and then resold within the same period…often times done by an investor for profit) during the one-year period from April 2013 through March 2014, and ranked the counties based upon the gross return on investment made in those flips. One thing to keep in mind, this is just a “gross margin” or simply the difference between what the house was bought for and then resold for during the period without taking into account the expenses involved in the acquisition and sale, cost of rehab and improvements that were done or carrying cost. Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices Have Risen and Fallen In Past Year – Varies By Zip

By Dennis Norman, on June 2nd, 2014

St. Louis home prices have risen in the past year for the metropolitan area as a whole somewhere around 8 percent, according to Clear Capital’s home price index. As the chart below shows though, St Louis home prices over the past year have performed quite differently in different zip codes. As the chart shows, the highest performing zip codes in the St Louis area saw home prices increase about 20% in the past year while the lowest performing zip codes saw prices fall by a couple of percent in the last year.

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

Retired Rams QB Marc Bulger Puts House On Market For $7.5 Million

By Dennis Norman, on May 30th, 2014

Retired Rams quarter back Marc Bulger has listed his 11,587 square foot house that sits on over 6.5 acres at 2701 South Lindbergh in Huntleigh for sale for a cool $7,499,000. Mr. Bulger acquired the home for $3,550,000 in 2007 from it’s former owner, Marilyn Schnuck.

Known as the “Percy Orthwein House”, Mr Bulger’s house was designed by famed architects Maritz and Young. You can see this home, as well as other St Louis area homes on the market for $7,000,000+ in the slide show below.

St. Louis Luxury Homes For Sale – $7,000,000+

Piqued your Continue Reading →

Distressed Home Sales in St Louis Metro Area Fall Almost 30 Percent From A Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on May 29th, 2014

Distressed home sales in St Louis accounted for just under eleven percent (10.7%) of all home sales in the St Louis MSA in April 2014, according to data released just this morning from RealtyTrac. This is a decline of 29.1% from April 2013 when distressed home sales in St Louis were responsible for 15.1% of all home sales. Distressed home sales include short-sales (when sellers sell for less than they owe with the agreement of their lender), REO’s (bank-owned real estate acquired through foreclosure and now being resold) and foreclosure auction sales (when homes are actually sold at foreclosure).

Since Continue Reading →

Today Kicks Off The Start of Busiest Moving Season Of The Year

By Dennis Norman, on May 28th, 2014

According to the US Census Bureau data today, May 28th, kicks off the busiest moving season of the year. According to Census Bureau data, one of every eight people will change their address this year with almost two-thirds of the people moving staying within the same country. Fewer than 5% of movers move to another state.

Young people (in their 20’s) are most apt to move, usually driven by wanting a better place to live, marriage, the birth of a child or a job change. Not surprising is that renters are more likely to move than homeowners.

As for state Continue Reading →

St Louis Area Home Prices Rose Just Over 2 Percent in Past Year

By Dennis Norman, on May 27th, 2014

St. Louis area home prices (the five county “core” market consisting of St Louis city and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Franklin and Jefferson) increased 2.2% from April 2013 to April 2014. The median home sales price in April 2013 for the 5 county core St Louis housing market was $139,900 and in April 2014 the median sales price was $143,000.

When we drill down to the county level, as the table below shows, the city of St Louis fared the best in the past year with the median sales price of homes increasing 32.62% and Franklin County Continue Reading →

New Home Sales In the Midwest Up 35 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on May 26th, 2014

New home sales in the midwest in April increased 35.5 percent from a year ago, according to the latest information from the U.S. Census Bureau. New homes sales in the midwest region of the U.S. were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 84,000 homes, an increase of 47.4% from March’s rate of 57,000 homes.

The midwest region had the largest increase in new home sales in April from the month before and was the only region in the U.S. that had an increase in home sales in April 2014 from April 2013.

See St Louis New Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Lagging Behind Last Year

By Dennis Norman, on May 22nd, 2014

St Louis Home Sales this year continue to be at a slower pace than last year with a total of 7,946 homes sold through the end of April, a decline of 11.5% from the same period last year when there were 8,978 homes sold in the St Louis core market (city of St Louis and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin). During April 2014, there were 22,457 homes sold in the St Louis core market, a decline of 9% from a year ago when there were 2,710 homes sold.

St Louis Home Continue Reading →

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

By Dennis Norman, on May 21st, 2014

The St Louis real estate market continues to show signs of improvement with lack of inventory begin the biggest problem in many markets. If you have considered selling, or perhaps tried and failed in the past year or so, now is the time to consider it again. Give us a call and we’ll be happy to let you know the value of your home in today’s market or, try our new online home valuation site and find your homes value in under a minute – go to StLouisHousePrices.com and find your home’s value now! Get complete information on the market Continue Reading →

Over 40 Percent Of St Louis Homeowners In Bottom Price Tier Underwater

By Dennis Norman, on May 20th, 2014

While the St Louis housing market is improving, unfortunately the homeowners that can afford it the least are the ones that are still the hardest hit with 41.5% of all homeowners with a mortgage on a home in the bottom price tier (the 25% lowest valued homes in St Louis) being underwater on their mortgage, meaning they owe more than their homes are worth. This is according to the newly released Zillow Negative Equity report which shows that, at the opposite end of the spectrum, in the top tier, only 11% of St Louis homeowners are underwater, or in a Continue Reading →

Mortgage Default Rate Hits Lowest Level In Almost Eight Years

By Dennis Norman, on May 20th, 2014

Indicating continued stabilization of the housing market, the first mortgage default rate dropped in April to 1.01%, the seventh-consecutive monthly decline and the lowest level seen since July 2006, according to the just-released S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indice report. In April, 2013, the first mortgage default rate was 1.31%.

St Louis’ Hottest Housing Markets

By Dennis Norman, on May 19th, 2014

St Louis’ Hottest Housing Markets are pretty well concentrated into an area within 3 zip codes and 3 municipalities, with the exception of Valley Park which is actually number on the list in terms of our Market Action Index. As the Hot Markets table below shows, after Valley Park, the next 4 markets are both zips in Ballwin, and then the 63122 zip area of Glendale and Kirkwood. The months inventory table gives a clue as to at least part of the reason these markets are hot as the inventory of homes is very low with all the aforementioned areas Continue Reading →

St. Louis Metro Foreclosure Activity Down 20 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on May 16th, 2014

St. Louis Metro Foreclosure Activity declined in April with 1 of every 1,013 housing units in the St Louis metro area having a foreclosure action on it during the month, a decline of 16.56 percent from the month before and a decline of 20.36% from April 2014, according to the latest data released today by RealtyTrac.

As the table below shows, all the counties that make up the core of the St Louis real estate market (on the Missouri side of the river) had decreased foreclosure activity in April from the month before. Three of the five counties saw double Continue Reading →

Retired Cardinal Pitching Legend Chris Carpenter’s Ladue Manse Is Up For Sale

By Dennis Norman, on May 6th, 2014

UPDATE 10/10/14 -You missed out, it’s sold! The sale of Chris Carpenter’s house closed today for the price of $3,000,000.

UPDATE 7/02/14 -If price was holding you back from buying Chris Carpenter’s house, maybe this will help…today he lowered the asking price to $3,500,000!

Click on the photo to view all photos and details. Cardinal pitching legend Chris Carpenter has listed his 8,000+ square foot home on a acre lot in Ladue for sale at $3,650,000. The home, at 809 South Warson, sits at the end of a secluded private drive of only 3 homes and boasts some outstanding features Continue Reading →

New Home Building Permits In 2014 Off To Slower Start Than 2013

By Dennis Norman, on May 5th, 2014

New home building permits issued in the St Louis metro area during the 1st quarter of this year were down slightly (4%) from the first quarter of 2013, according to the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the Census Bureau, there were 979 permits issued for new single family homes in the St Louis MSA during the first quarter of 2014, down 4 percent from the same period for 2013 when there were 1,024 permits issued. Continue Reading →

Assessor’s Property Values Can Be Appealed This Year

By Dennis Norman, on May 2nd, 2014

Do you think the assessor’s property value on your house, or other real property, too high thereby making your property taxes higher than they should be? If so, then now is your chance to do something about it by filing an appeal the valuation. Many homeowners I talk with think that because property value reassessment is only done by the assessors office every two years on the “odd” numbered years, that you are stuck with your value until the next reassessment but that is not the case.

Missouri state law requires all assessors in the state to “determine the fair Continue Reading →