The median St. Louis metro home price in third quarter was $131,700, up 2.0 percent from 2nd quarter, but down 2.7 percent from a year ago, according to a report by the National Association of REALTORS. Home prices in the St. Louis metro area fared better during 3rd quarter than the U.S. as a whole which saw prices increase only .2 percent from the prior quarter and were down 4.7 percent from a year ago. Continue Reading →
This morning, Trans Union released a report showing the national mortgage delinquency rate (the rate of borrowers 60 or more days past due) increased to 5.88 percent (from 5.82 percent in the 2nd quarter) during the third quarter of 2011, after falling in the previous quarter by the largest rate in two years. This is the first time mortgage delinquency rates have increased since the end of 2009. Continue Reading →
St. Louis home prices have declined at a higher rate in September than the U.S. average. A report released this morning by CoreLogic, one of the nations leading providers of property information shows that U.S. home prices in September declined 4.4 percent from the year before and by 1.1 percent from the month before however, St. Louis home prices (the five-county “core” of St Louis City, St Louis County, St. Charles County, Franklin County and Jefferson County) declined 7.3 percent in September from the month before and were down 8.1 percent from the year before. Continue Reading →
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, 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 Continue Reading →
Despite massive loss of value over the last few years, the U.S. housing market has outperformed the stock market since 2000. A report released recently by RadarLogic showed that, over the past decade, the housing market, in spite of all of it’s recent troubles, has still performed better in terms of an investment than other typical investments such as the stock market. Continue Reading →
With the challenging economy we’ve faced over the past few years, not everyone has perfect credit. People have been putting more of their debt on credit cards, which in turn affects your credit rating. If you have less than perfect credit, you can make it better with a little effort on paying down your cards. Continue Reading →
The Fannie Mae National Housing Survey for September shows consumers in the U.S. remain someone pessimistic about home prices, however over two-thirds (68 percent) of American’s surveyed said they thought now was a good time to buy a home and 63 percent said if they were going to move now they would buy a home. Continue Reading →
You would think after what we have seen happen in the housing market during the past 5 years, especially in the area of falling home prices, that home buyers today would not have lofty expectations about a home they buy appreciating, but apparently many do. According to a recent survey Zillow, 42 percent of prospective home buyers believe home prices typically appreciate by 7 percent a year. Continue Reading →
A Clayton developer pled guilty in U.S. District Court on October 27, 2011, for his role in the failed Bowman Estates construction project, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Harold Rosen, age 80, was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 21, 2011, for attempting to obtain more than $1.9 million of public financing under false pretenses. Continue Reading →
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, 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. Continue Reading →
A common complaint that consumers have regarding today’s mortgage loan origination process has to do with all of the hoops they have to jump through in order to get a loan. Personally, as a loan officer, I try to be as thorough as possible going into the application as possible to avoid the last minute chase. After each deal closed, I review the process and question whether I prepared my clients for all that they needed to have or do in order to get the loan approved and closed. I will be the first to admit, I am not perfect. Continue Reading →
The St Louis foreclosure rates was 1.67 percent for August 2011, up from 1.64 percent the month before and up from August 2010 when the rate was 1.53 percent, according to a newly released data from CoreLogic. As usual, the St Louis foreclosure rate is significantly lower than the national foreclosure rate, which was 3.43 percent for July 2011. Continue Reading →
The National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for September shows a decrease of 4.6 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and a 6.4 percent increase from a year ago. This is the third consecutive month the index has decreased from the month before and, and the year over year numbers continue to show decline in the rate of improvement from last year. Continue Reading →
Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for September 2011 showing an increase of 5.7 percent from the month before, and a decrease of 0.9 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for September was 313,000 homes, up from an adjusted rate of 296,000 the month before. Unfortunately, even with the increase in the rate of new home sales, the current rate of new home sales is still on track to make 2011 new home sales the lowest since the Commerce Department began keeping track of sales in 1963. Continue Reading →
This morning, the S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for August was released showing US home prices increased for the fifth consecutive month. Both the 20-city composite and 10-city composite home price index increased by 0.2 percent from the month before. The 10 city composite home price index was down 3.5 percent from a year ago and the 20-city composite was down 3.8 percent from a year ago. Continue Reading →
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced it eased the requirements as well as extended the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) to December 31, 2013 from the current expiration date for the program of June 30, 2012. According to FHFA, as of August 31, 2011, nearly 894,000 borrowers have been refinanced through HARP and they (FHFA) feel easing the requirements will make it possible for many additional borrowers to refinance as well. Continue Reading →
The “first-look” report from Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, shows mortgage delinquencies decreased 0.5 percent in September from the month before and decreased 12.7 percent from the year before. On the other hand, and perhaps part of the reason for the decline in the delinquency rate, the foreclosure rate increased in September by 1.7 percent from the prior month and was up 8.9 percent from the year before. Continue Reading →
Between interest rates falling to record lows and home prices falling back to levels from 8 years ago, the housing market is starting to look like a very attractive investment opportunity. Continue Reading →
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, 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. Continue Reading →
Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in September were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.91 million units which is a decrease of 3.0 percent from the month before, an increase of 11.3 percent from a year ago and is the second highest rate of home sales since March 2011 when it was 5.09 million. Continue Reading →
Not knowing what you can afford – What the lender says you can afford and what you know you can afford may not necessarily be the same. Looking at homes that are outside your price range can put you in the dangerous position of trying to stretch beyond your financial means. Be sure to consider all of your monthly expenses when budgeting for your anticipated mortgage payment. Continue Reading →
The last couple of months I have said that, “unless something changes dramatically, 2011 will hit a new record low of new home starts. Well, unfortunately, even though the report for September shows an increase of 1.7 percent in housing starts, the seasonally adjusted annual rate is still at just 425,000 homes and still on track for 2011 to be a record low year for housing starts. Continue Reading →
Mortgage delinquencies in September increased to 2.10 percent of all mortgages, a 2.9 percent increase from the month before when delinquencies were at 2.04 percent but a decrease of over 33 percent from a year ago when the rate was 3.14 percent. Continue Reading →
Mortgage interest rates hit an all time low in the past month with 30 year fixed rate mortgages dropping below 4 percent for the first time ever! Over the past couple of weeks, rates have ticked up slightly but are still dirt cheap! So what can you do to make sure you are getting the lowest mortgage rates possible? According to Doug Lebda, Chariman and CEO of LendingTree.com, if borrowers follow the guidelines listed below they can increase their chances of being approved for a mortgage loan at the most desirable interest rate: Continue Reading →
Today U.S. News Media Group unveiled The 10 Best Places to Retire in 2012 with top locations in 10 key categories that are most often considered as key factors by people when choosing where to retire. St. Louis didn’t make the top of any of the 10 categories, but I’m sure must be on one of the top ten cities within one of the categories. Continue Reading →
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, 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. Continue Reading →
Radar Logic, a company that tracks home prices and publishes a daily market price per foot for homes as well as a source I often tap for housing market data, announced that, in cooperation with CBOE Futures Exchanges, they are introducing housing futures in the form of tradable contracts. These contracts will be based upon “RPX”, Radar Logic’s real estate price metric. Continue Reading →
St. Louis foreclosure activity increased during the 3rd quarter of 2011 by 12.16 percent from the prior quarter with 1 of every 255 St. Louis metro area homeowners having a foreclosure filing according to RealtyTrac’s foreclosure market report that was just released. As the chart below depicts, of the eight largest counties in the St. Louis metro area all but Franklin County saw an increase in foreclosure activity during the quarter with Madison County Illinois leading the way with a 66 percent increase. Continue Reading →
In this tighter credit environment, FHA remains to be a great alternative for buyers with limited resources for a down payment and closing costs or past credit problems. Underwriting guidelines are more lenient than conventional guidelines. Continue Reading →
The St Louis foreclosure rates was 1.64 percent for July 2011, up from 1.62 percent the month before and up from July 2010 when the rate was 1.48 percent, according to a newly released data from CoreLogic. As usual, the St Louis foreclosure rate is significantly lower than the national foreclosure rate, which was 3.44 percent for July 2011. Continue Reading →