St Louis Foreclosures Increase in January

St. Louis foreclosure activity in January 2012 increased 1.11 percent from the month before but was down 21.58 percent from year before, according to RealtyTrac’s foreclosure market report that was just released. Of the 5 largest Missouri counties within the St Louis MSA, Jefferson County saw the largest increase in foreclosures in January at 16.51 percent, following closely by St Charles County at 15.08 percent, St. Louis County at 10.4 percent and the City of St Louis with a modest 2.17 percent increase. Continue Reading →

New home construction activity picking up

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for January 2012 showing an increase in single-family home building permits from the month before of 0.9 percent and a 1.0 percent decrease in new home starts compared to the month before. Continue Reading →

St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update; Survey shows 8 in 10 people still say home ownership is a good investment

In a presentation given at the International Builders Show, Jill Waage, Editorial Director for Home Content for Better Homes and Gardens revealed survey results about consumer attitudes towards home ownership, upkeep and renovations, design and personalization, and more. A primary point revealed in the presentation shows that, despite continuing economic uncertainty, consumer thoughts toward home ownership remain strong with 8 in 10 saying home ownership is still a good investment and an important part of the American Dream. Continue Reading →

Victims of bad foreclosure practices get more time to apply for review and possible compensation

Last November I wrote about how victims of wrongful foreclosure could apply for an independent review of their file and possibly receive compensation under a new presented by acting Comptroller of the Currency, John Walsh. The deadline to apply for this was to be April 30, 2012, however, today, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced they have extended the deadline to apply three months until July 31, 2012. Continue Reading →

REALTORS tell President Obama his budget proposal will harm housing and homeowners

Today, Moe Veissi, President of the National Association of REALTORS, issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s budget proposal: “As the leading advocate for housing and homeownership, NAR is strongly opposed to elements of President Obama’s budget proposal that would limit itemized deductions, including the mortgage interest deduction, for thousands of families.” Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate Market and Home Prices Update; February 10, 2012

Below is a video update on the St. Louis Real Estate Market that I prepare weekly. In this video I do a quick recap of the news in the St Louis real estate market for the week as well as an overview of the St Louis housing market itself. The update includes charts with up to the date data on the St Louis housing market including St Louis home prices, average time to sell a home in the St Louis area as well as other data and charts to show where the St Louis real estate market is and where it is headed. (Check out all our market update videos on our YouTube Channel – click here. Continue Reading →

Foreclosures in 2011 down 24 percent from 2010

According to a report just released by CoreLogic, there were 830,000 foreclosures completed during the year in 2011, a 24 percent decrease from 2010 when there were 1.1 million. For the month of December, there were 55,000 foreclosures, down 3.5 percent from November when there were 57,000 and down 17.9 percent from December 2010 when there were 67,000 foreclosures completed. Continue Reading →

St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update; What are "loan-level" price adjustments?

“Ballparking” mortgage rates just is not the same anymore. Home buyers who obtain online quotes from popular websites and “shopping” mortgage rates on the phone are receiving nothing more than a starting point for what their final mortgage rate will be. This is due to a government-led pricing scheme called loan-level pricing adjustments or LLPAs.” Continue Reading →

Should the buyer and seller close at the same title company?

In most parts of the country, when a home is sold, the closing is handled by one title insurance company at which both the buyer and seller close at. In St Louis, “split-closings” are common, meaning that the buyer and seller close at different title companies. Is this bad, or a risky move for them? To answer this, I turned to Wendy Cromer, Vice-President of Marketing for Security Title Insurance Agency, LLC and the current President of the Missouri Land Title Association for her perspective. Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate Market and Home Prices Update; February 3, 2012

The update includes charts with up to the date data on the St Louis housing market including St Louis home prices, average time to sell a home in the St Louis area as well as other data and charts to show where the St Louis real estate market is and where it is headed. (Check out all our market update videos on our YouTube Channel – click here. Continue Reading →

St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update; The Do’s and Dont’s when financing your home

As the mortgage industry continues to adjust to new financial regulations, it is more important than ever to ensure that the financing (or refinancing) of your home goes smoothly. Your loan approval is subject to the financial information you provide at the time of your loan approval. Any subsequent changes in your financial situation before the actual date of closing could jeopardize your loan approval and delay your closing. Continue Reading →

Houses and the human body have a lot of similarities

Have you ever thought about the similarities between houses and the human body? For example as our bodies age, things are not quite as straight, square and firm as they once were in our younger years. At one time I had a 44 inch chest and now with age it seems that chest dimension is closer to my waist line. In most cases, this aging in homes translates into floors not being totally level and windows and doors being skewed slightly or not latching. While this may create slight operational issues these conditions are quite common in older homes, some more so than others depending on the age, floor plan, design etc. While one could, in theory go through and re-level the floors, in my opinion in most cases this would be an unnecessary expense and cause additional problems. Quite frankly many look at these conditions as part of the “character” and “charm” of an older home. Continue Reading →

St Louis Foreclosures decline in November after four months of increases

The St Louis foreclosure rate was 1.69 percent for November 2011, down from 1.75 percent the month before and only up slightly from a year ago when the rate was 1.67 percent, according to newly released data from CoreLogic. As usual, the St Louis foreclosure rate is significantly lower than the national foreclosure rate, which was 3.41 percent in November 2011. Continue Reading →

St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update; Should you Rent or Buy a Home?

Until recently, home ownership was no bargain compared to renting, according to Paul Diggle, a housing economist at Capital Economics. Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau and published statistics from Thomson Datastream indicate that rising rents and falling mortgages are tipping the scales towards home ownership. The median monthly mortgage payment has fallen to about the same as a median monthly rent check. Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate Market and Home Prices Update;January 27, 2012

Weekly I produce a short video update on the St. Louis Real Estate Market that is published on various web sites. I do a quick recap of the news in the St Louis real estate market for the week, then an overview of the St Louis housing market itself. The update includes charts with up to the date data on the St Louis housing market including St Louis home prices Continue Reading →

New homes sales fall in December and make 2011 worst year on record

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for December 2011 showing a decrease of 2.2 percent from the month before, and a decrease of 7.3 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for December was 307,000 homes, down from an adjusted rate of 314,000 homes the month before.  This is the first month new home sales have declined in four months and unfortunately ends the year with the lowest number of new homes sold since the Commerce Department began keeping track of sales in 1963.

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St Louis Foreclosures Continue to Decline

St. Louis foreclosure activity in the third quarter of 2011 declined 15.51 percent from the quarter before and 10.12 percent from the year before, according to RealtyTrac’s foreclosure market report that was just released. Continue Reading →

One in five home sales is a foreclosure and only two-thirds the cost of a non-foreclosure home

Foreclosure Price 34 Percent Below Average Price of Non-Foreclosures RealtyTrac, today released its third-quarter 2011 U.S. Foreclosure Sales Report, which shows that sales of homes that were in some stage of foreclosure or bank owned accounted for 20 percent of all U.S. residential sales in the third quarter of 2011, down from 22 percent of all sales in the second quarter and down from 30 percent of all sales in the third quarter of 2010. Continue Reading →

AG Settlement: Not Perfect, But Significant Reform of Mortgage Servicing

Based on what we’ve heard, the settlement between major banks and states’ Attorneys General (AGs), the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Justice would represent an important step forward in addressing foreclosure abuses. The settlement would include key reforms to clean up unfair mortgage servicing practices. It would also provide an important template for ways banks can use principal reduction to reduce unnecessary foreclosures and put the country back on a path to economic recovery. Continue Reading →

Most popular cities for home searches

Realtor.com, which claims to have more traffic on it’s website than any other real estate website in the world, released their report for December showing how 146 metro areas in the U.S. stack up in terms of popularity for home searches. St. Louis did not make the top 10, but did come in at a respectable 19 however. Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate Market and Home Prices Update;January 20, 2012

St Louis Real Estate Market weekly update by St Louis REALTOR, Dennis Norman, broker-officer of MORE, REALTORS. Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Increase in December; Inventory down to near normal level

St Louis home sales in December increased 2.3 percent from the month before and were up 3.3 percent from a year ago. The increase in St Louis home sales follows suit with the trend in U.S. home sales as reported today by the National Association of REALTORS® which shows existing home sales in December were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.61 million units, an increase of 5.0 percent from the month before and an increase of 3.6 percent from a year ago. Continue Reading →

Where is the St Louis Real Estate Market Headed in 2012?

Shortly after finishing my video recap of the 2011 St Louis Real Estate Market I began analyzing our market data and giving thought to the 2012 St. Louis Real Estate market.  The end result?  The MORE St Louis Market 2012 Forecast.   For a link to my 15 minute video as well as a downloadable report, please submit your name and email address here and you will receive it immediately.

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New Home Starts in 2011 Set All-Time Record Low

The last couple of months I have said that, “unless something changes dramatically, 2011 will hit a new record low of new home starts. Unfortunately, nothing dramatic happened, and 2011 has ended with only 428,600 new home starts setting a new record low and significantly below the prior all-time low of 445,200 starts in 2009. Continue Reading →

St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update; What income is required for a mortgage?

What income is required to qualify for a mortgage? That largely depends on your monthly debt payments and the current interest rate. This calculator collects these important variables and determines your required income to qualify for your desired mortgage amount.(click here)

 

Mortgage interest rates have fallen this year to historical lows and with them so have the costs of home ownership. Regardless of a borrower’s loan amount, bargain-basement interest rates have brought a home buyer’s monthly mortgage payment down to levels never seen in history.

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St Louis Real Estate Market 2011 Recap

I just finished producing a video recapping the 2011 St. Louis Real Estate Market which includes, charts, graphs and facts about what took place in the St. Louis Real Estate market last year as well as where it ended up at year end.

This is a compliment to the weekly market update videos I produce that you can check out on our YouTube Channel, our facebook page or now you can subscribe to our ITUNES Podcast Channel to receive our updated market videos via podcast automatically each week! Just click here, then click on “Subscribe Free”.)

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Mortgage Delinquences Increase in December but are Down over 25 percent from a year ago

Mortgage delinquencies in December increased to 2.24 percent of all mortgages, a slight increase from the month before when delinquencies were at 2.22 percent but a decrease of over 25 percent from a year ago when the rate was 3.01 percent. The mortgage delinquency rate is something I pay close attention to because it is the “leading indicator” of foreclosures and foreclosures and REO’s are one of the major hurdles to a recovery in the housing market. Declining delinquency rates are our first clue that the housing market is headed to a recovery. Continue Reading →

St. Louis Foreclosure Activity in 2011 Down by Over 25 Percent from 2010

St. Louis foreclosure activity in 2011 declined 25.22 percent from the year before according to RealtyTrac’s foreclosure market report for 2011 that was just released.

As the chart below depicts, of the seventeen counties in the St. Louis metro area,  all but five saw a decrease in foreclosure activity from the year before, and ten of the 17 saw a decrease from 2009.

To find foreclosures in your area click here.

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St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update; Forgivable down-payment assistance loan available for first-time homebuyers

First-time home buyers receive a forgivable 3% cash assistance loan for down payment and closing costs. The Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) provides a competitive interest rate on a safe 30-year fixed rate 1st mortgage. Your 3% advance loan is treated as a 2nd mortgage and is completely forgivable after five years of continuous occupancy. MHDC will have the monies available for the borrowers regardless of bond issuance through Constant Funding. Continue Reading →

St Louis home prices fall in November at higher rate than U.S. average

A report released this morning by CoreLogic, one of the nations leading providers of property information shows that St Louis home prices fell in November 4.7 percent from the year before and declined by 3.8 percent from the month before. In November, the decline of home prices in St. Louis outpaced U.S. home prices which were down 4.3 percent from a year ago and 1.4 percent from the month before. Continue Reading →