Building Permits St Louis - St Louis Real Estate News

Increasing Unemployment and lack of population growth in St. Louis hurts the housing market

By Dennis Norman, on September 14th, 2010

Dennis Norman

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued their report on St. Louis Housing Market condition as of second quarter of this year. The report from HUD labels the St. Louis area as a “hub for shipping and transportation” and a “center for manufacturing and biomedical sciences.” Among the “positives” for St. Louis, HUD identifies that St. Louis is the home to several institutes of higher learning, including St. Louis University and Washington University which, between the two, have an estimated annual economic impact on the region of nearly $3 billion.

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Homeowners becoming more pessimistic about housing market

By Dennis Norman, on August 23rd, 2010

Dennis Norman

1 in 3 Think Worst Is Yet to Come, While 38% Think Local Home Values Have Reached Bottom

According to the second quarter 2010 Zillow Homeowner Confidence Survey, one-third (33 percent) of homeowners feel home values in their local market have not reached bottom, while 38 percent believe their market has in fact hit bottom.

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New Home Permits and Construction Drop in July; Still outpacing new home sales though

By Dennis Norman, on August 17th, 2010

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for July 2010 showing a decrease in single-family home building permits and a decrease in new home starts from June.

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New Home Sales Increase 23 percent to Second-Worst Rate on Record

By Dennis Norman, on July 26th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Yes, the headline is correct….New home sales in June were up 23 percent from May, but unfortunately the revised May annual new home sales rate of 267,000 was the lowest rate of sale on record therefore even after a 23.6 percent increase it only brought June up to 330,000 new homes, a rate that is now the second lowest new home sales rate on record. June’s new home sales rate is 16.7 percent below a year ago.

There is some good news in the report; the inventory of new homes (seasonally adjusted) at the end of Continue Reading →

New Home Building Permits and Starts Down In June

By Dennis Norman, on July 20th, 2010

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for June 2010 showing a decrease in building permits and a decrease in new home starts from May.

The report shows the following:

Building permits issued for single-family residences in June were at an annual rate of 421,000 which is 3.4 percent below the revised May rate of 4216,000 and a decrease of 6.7 percent from a year ago when the rate was 451,000. Housing starts for single-family residences in June were at an annual rate of 454,000 Continue Reading →

New Home Permits Drop Almost 10 Percent in May; New Home Starts Drop 17 Percent

By Dennis Norman, on June 16th, 2010

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for May 2010 showing a decrease in building permits and a decrease in new home starts from April.

The report shows the following:

Building permits issued for single-family residences in May were at an annual rate of 438,000 which is 9.9 percent below the revised April rate of 486,000 and an increase of 3.1 percent from a year ago when the rate was 425,000. Housing starts for single-family residences in May were at an annual rate of 468,000 Continue Reading →

St Louis Area New-Home Building Permits Drop In April After Spiking in March

By Dennis Norman, on June 1st, 2010

Dennis Norman

After seeing a spike in permits for new homes in St. Louis in March, with the exception of the City of St. Louis, all the St. Louis metro area counties saw a decline in new home permits in April, some rather steep based upon the latest data reported by the Home Builders Association of St. Louis (HBA).

Existing home sales data and mortgage application data have suggested that the April 30th deadline for the home-buyer tax credit caused an artificial surge in the housing market as buyers raced to beat the deadline to buy a home; Continue Reading →

Building Permits Jump in March; New Home Construction Still Outpacing Sales

By Dennis Norman, on April 16th, 2010

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for March 2010 showing an increase in building permits and a decrease in new home starts from February.

The report shows the following:

Building permits issued for single-family residences in March were at an annual rate of 543,000 which is 5.6 percent above the revised February rate of 514,000 and an increase of 50.8 percent from a year ago when the rate was 360,000. Housing starts for single-family residences in March were at an annual rate of 531,000 Continue Reading →

New Home Sales Drop in February

By Dennis Norman, on March 25th, 2010

Dennis Norman

The U.S. Department of Commerce released a report showing the sale of New Homes in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 308,000, a 2.2 percent decrease from the revised January rate of 315,000 and is 13.0 percent below a year ago. The inventory of new homes (seasonally adjsuted) at the end of February is 9.2 months a slight increase from January’s inventory of 9.1 months.

My Mantra

As has been my long-running mantra, I don’t like “seasonally adjusted” numbers and “rate” of sales. Why, for one I can’t figure out how in the Continue Reading →

Housing Recovery ‘Setback’ According to Fannie Mae Report

By Dennis Norman, on March 18th, 2010

Dennis Norman

According to the Economics and Mortgage Market Analysis report just published by Fannie Mae, the weather was the culprit for the slow-down in home sales at the beginning of this year however, we did not get the boost they were anticipating from the extension of the tax credits. “Unfortunately, despite the high hopes associated with the extended and expanded homebuyer tax credit, housing activity appears to have faced a setback that went beyond the impact of adverse weather conditions. ” On a somewhat positive note, the analysts state they view the housing setback “to be a Continue Reading →

New Home Construction In February Continuing to Outpace New Home Sales

By Dennis Norman, on March 16th, 2010

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for February 2010 showing a decrease in new home construction activity from February, but siginificant increases from a year ago..

The report shows the following:

Building permits issued for single-family residences in February were at an annual rate of 503,000 which is 0.2 percent below the revised January rate of 504,000 and an increase of 32.0 percent from a year ago when the rate was 381,000. Dragging down the overall permit numbers for housing are multi-family dwellings with Continue Reading →

What does 2010 hold in store for the Housing Market?

By Dennis Norman, on December 28th, 2009

Dennis Norman

In a just a few days we will say goodbye to 2009; a year that has been brutal to the housing market. So as the new year comes in, what will 2010 hold in store for the housing market?

To answer this question I turned to the housing forecast just released by Fannie Mae to see what their economists were predicting. Here are the highlights from the report, showing actual numbers for the 3rd quarter of this year as well as Fannie Mae’s projection for 4th quarter of this year as well as 4th quarter of 2010:

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New home sales take a dive in November

By Dennis Norman, on December 23rd, 2009

Dennis Norman

New homes were started in November at an annual rate of 482,000 homes and I asked why in my post last week since new home construction was already outpacing sales….well, today the gap got worse..

This morning the U.S. Department of Commerce released a report showing the sale of New Homes in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 355,000, an 11.3 percent decrease from the revised October rate of 400,000 and is 9.0 percent below a year ago.

My Mantra

As has been my long-running mantra, I don’t like “seasonally Continue Reading →

New home construction in the U.S. increases in November….but why?

By Dennis Norman, on December 16th, 2009

New home construction is on the rise in November…. WHY??? They aren’t selling as fast as they are being built…didn’t we learn our lesson?

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for November 2009 showing an increase in new home construction activity from October.

The report shows the following:

Building permits issued for single-family residences in November were at an annual rate of 473,000 which is 5.3 percent above the revised October rate of 449,000 and down 12.1 percent from a year ago. For the Continue Reading →

New home building permits in St. Louis down 10 percent from a year ago; Multi-family permits down 54 percent

By Dennis Norman, on December 10th, 2009

Dennis Norman

Not surprisingly, builders in St. Louis (those that have managed to survive thus far) are not racing out to build homes. According to the latest data reported by the Home Builders Association of St. Louis, there were 228 permits issued in October for new homes in the St. Louis metro area (St. Louis City and the Counties of St. Louis, Jefferson, St. Charles, Franklin, Lincoln and Warren) down almost 19 percent from September when there were 281 permits issued.

Year-to-date, through October 31, 2009, there have been 2,321 permits issued for new homes in the Continue Reading →

New home construction in Midwest down in October; New home completions still outpacing sales by over 50 percent

By Dennis Norman, on November 19th, 2009

Even with a decline in the Midwest in new home starts and completions, new home construction activity is still outpacing new home sales potentially leading to inventories increasing again.

The US Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for October 2009 showing a decrease in new home construction activity in the Midwest from September.

The report shows the following for the Midwest Region:

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What should a home buyer know about home inspections? Final post in the series

By Dennis Norman, on November 1st, 2009

Gerry Loesch, PE

In part one, part two, part three and part four of this series I gave you some background on Gerry Loesch as well as his informative E-View TM.

Now we’ll finish with the final post of his E-View TM:

Q-What should a consumer look for when choosing a building inspector?

A-In my opinion, when selecting a building inspector the following things should be considered:

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Interest rates drop for 3rd consecutive week; remain at 3-month low

By Dennis Norman, on September 18th, 2009

Dennis Norman

According to Freddie Macs weekly mortgage market survey the interest rate on home mortgages dropped for the third-consecutive week and remains at a three-month low in the US.

St. Louis is included in Freddie Mac’s Southwest Region in which the survey shows the interest rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage for the week ending September 17, 2009, averaged 5.05 percent with 0.6 percent in fees and points.

The interest rate on a 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 4.54 percent with 0.5 percent in fees this week. The interest rate on a five-year ARM averaged Continue Reading →

New home construction in Midwest on the rise; Construction outpacing sales

By Dennis Norman, on September 17th, 2009

By: Dennis Norman

This morning the US Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for August 2009 showing a slight decrease in new home construction activity from July in the US, but an increase in new home construction activity here in the Midwest.

The report shows the following for the Midwest Region:

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New home starts and completions in July down from June; Permits are up

By Dennis Norman, on August 18th, 2009

This morning the US Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for July 2009 showing a slight increase in new home construction activity from June in the U.S.

For the Midwest region of the U.S. the report showed the following:

Building permits issued for single-family residences in July were at an annual rate of 77,000 which is a 5.5% increase over June, but still 18.9% below July 2008. Continue Reading →