St Louis Real Estate News - Page 67 of 110 - Daily St. Louis real estate news, market analysis, home prices, and mortgage rate updates from local industry professionals.

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.

(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 →

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.

Continue Reading →

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.

Continue Reading →

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 →

St Louis Rental Vacancy Rate For 3rd Quarter Hits Lowest Level Of The Year

By Dennis Norman, on November 8th, 2013

The St Louis rental vacancy rate dropped to the lowest level of 2013 in the 3rd quarter coming in at 13.1 percent for the St. Louis metro area, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau. This year started off with a vacancy rate of 15.6 percent for the first quarter, the same rate 2012 started out with as well, however, in 2012 the vacancy rate fell to just 8.2 percent during the 3rd quarter. Due to holidays and weather, the 4th quarter usually sees a significant increase in vacancy rates from the 3rd quarter so we Continue Reading →

Majority of Sellers Are Lowering Asking Prices On Homes In Many St Louis Neighborhoods

By Dennis Norman, on November 7th, 2013

Sellers in most St Louis neighborhoods have had to lower the asking price of their homes in the past 90 days and, in fact, as of today, 11 St Louis neighborhoods have seen more than half the sellers lower their prices, according to MORE, REALTORS.

As the table below shows, almost 75% of sellers in the 63122 zip code area of Des Peres have lowered their home price in the past 90 days (this list is real-time and “live” so, depending upon when you are reading this, the data may have changed). Next on the list are three zip codes, Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices Rose Twelve Percent In Last 12 Months

By Dennis Norman, on November 5th, 2013

St Louis home prices (core market) rose 12 percent rose from a median price of $125,000 for homes sold in September 2012 to $140,000 for homes sold in September 2013, according to MORE, REALTORS. The core market for St Louis includes the city of St Louis as well as the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin.

Home price appreciation during the past year in the core St Louis market, at 12%, was right in line with national home prices which, according to a report released today by CoreLogic, rose 12% as well during the same period. Continue Reading →

Over 1 in 4 St Louis Home Sales In October Were Cash Sales

By Dennis Norman, on November 4th, 2013

More than 1 of every 4 (28%) St Louis home sales in October was a cash sale, according to the latest data, according to MORE, REALTORS. This is the highest rate of cash sales in St. Louis since March 2013 when cash sales made up almost a third (31%) of St Louis home sales.

There were 2,438 homes sold in St Louis in October 2013, an increase of almost 19 percent from a year ago.

Continue Reading →

Less Competition And Lower Prices On Older Homes In St Louis

By Dennis Norman, on October 31st, 2013

I decided to take a look at the age of homes in the St Louis area and determine if older homes in St Louis sell for lower prices than newer homes. My idea to do this was prompted by a report RealtyTrac published this morning revealing that 71 percent of the homes in the U.S. were built before 1990 and that there was less demand for these older homes thereby making prices more affordable than on their newer counterparts.

My research shows that the city of St Louis and St Louis county have a larger percent of older (pre-1990) housing Continue Reading →

St Louis’ Cheapest Homes (Slideshow)

By Dennis Norman, on October 30th, 2013

Since I occasionally publish a slideshow of St Louis’s most expensive homes for sale, it only seemed fair to do a slideshow of St Louis’ cheapest homes for sale as well. Would you believe that, at the time of publication, there are actually two homes for sale for the price of $1.00? That’s right, one buck! Granted, they don’t look like much (actually they look like you should be paid to take it) but what do you expect for $1.00?

So, here goes:

Continue Reading →

18 Percent Of St Louis Homes Sold In Under Two Weeks In First Half of October

By Dennis Norman, on October 29th, 2013

Nearly one of every five (18%) St Louis homes sold in the first half of October 2013 sold within the first two weeks of hitting the market, according to the latest data from MORE, REALTORS. Of the five counties included in the St Louis 5-county core market (see table below), Jefferson County, with 22 percent of it’s homes selling in the first two weeks of coming on the market, had the highest percentage and Franklin County, at 1 percent, the lowest percentage of homes sold in under two weeks.

(We work hard on this and sure would appreciate a “Like”)[iframe Continue Reading →