City of St Louis - St Louis Real Estate News

St Louis Area Home Sales Trend At Highest Level In Over 10 Years

By Dennis Norman, on March 9th, 2021

In spite of having been in a low-inventory market for the past few years, home sales in St Louis have continued strong. In fact, as the home sales trend chart below, exclusively available from MORE, REALTORS®, shows home sales trend for the 12-month period ending February 28th was at the highest level in over 10-years.

The chart includes the St Louis 5-County core market (the city of St Louis and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Franklin, and Jefferson) and shows that for the 12-month period ending last month there were 28,571 homes sold (distressed home sales have been Continue Reading →

St Louis County Home Sales Trend Outpacing New Listings By Larger Margin Then Neighboring Counties

By Dennis Norman, on February 15th, 2021

It’s no secret that listings of homes for sale in St Louis are in short supply and for a while now new sales have outpaced new listings making it a challenge for home buyers. However, over the past couple of months, new sales of homes in St Louis County have outpaced new listings by a greater margin than neighboring counties. As can be compiled from the tables below, new sales of homes in the St Louis 5-County Core market during the last four months outpaced new listings during the same period by 12.7%. For St Louis county, there were 6,095 Continue Reading →

Over 40 Percent Of Homeowners With Mortgage In 3 North St Louis Zip Codes Are Underwater

By Dennis Norman, on August 6th, 2020

During the second quarter of 2020, 45.5% of the homeowners with a mortgage within the 63115 zip code, were underwater on their mortgage, meaning they were in a negative-equity position, according to data just released by ATTOM Data Research. As the table below shows, the north county zip codes of 63137 and 63136 were not far behind at 45.1% and 41.3%, respectively. Of the 10 St Louis-area zip codes with the highest rate of underwater homeowners, 7 were in St Louis County and 3 in the City of St Louis.

[xyz-ips snippet=”Homes-For-Sale-and-Listings-With-Virtual-Tours”]

St Louis Underwater (Negative-Equity) Homeowners By Zip Code Continue Reading →

Lincoln County Has Fastest-Selling Zip Code within the St Louis MSA

By Dennis Norman, on May 2nd, 2020

The average residential listing in the 63362 zip code area in Lincoln County, Missouri has been on the market for just 15 days, making 63362 the fastest-selling zip code within the St Louis MSA at this time. As our table below shows, Lincoln County zips occupy two of the top spots with the 63379 zip code area in a three-way tie for 3rd on the list with listing having an average time on the market of 25 days. So what’s up with Lincoln County? Maybe with all this social-distancing going on people have decided to head to more sparsely populated Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales On The Rebound In Spite of COVID-19

By Dennis Norman, on April 24th, 2020

Maybe it’s the gorgeous weather, a more optimistic outlook after receiving stimulus payments or perhaps just being tired of waiting in limbo, but homebuyers have come out strong in St Louis during the past week! St Louis home sales are still not at the levels we would expect at this time of year but, as my table below shows, for the St Louis MSA as a whole, the most recent 7-day period is down just 16% from the same time last year. This is about half the decline I’ve seen when pulling the data as recently as a week ago.

Continue Reading →

New Listings In St Louis During Past 7 Days Down Just 25 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on March 28th, 2020

St Louis sellers appear to remain pretty confident in the St Louis real estate market in spite of the COVID-19 threat as evidenced by the number of new residential listings that hit the St Louis market in the past 7 days. During the past 7 days, there were 701 new residential listings on the St Louis 5-County Core Market (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) this is a decline of just 25% from the same period last year when there were 943 listings. For the St Louis MSA, there were 930 new Continue Reading →

Nearly One In Five Properties In 63113 Are Vacant

By Dennis Norman, on February 27th, 2020

Of the 4,531 residential properties located within the 63113 zip code in the City of St Louis, over 18 percent of them are vacant (824), according to a report just released today by Attom Data Solutions. As the table below shows, six of the ten zip codes in the St Louis MSA with the highest rate of vacant property are located within the City of St Louis and the remaining 4 in St Louis County.

Nine of the 10 zip codes with the highest rate of vacancy have double-digit vacancy rates. Franklin County has the most zip codes with no Continue Reading →

The Foreclosure Rate in the St Louis Metro Area Falls Again In November

By Dennis Norman, on December 16th, 2019

The foreclosure rate for the St Louis MSA during October decreased 6.0 percent from the month and was down 4.2% from November 2018, according to data just released from ATTOM Data Solutions. As the table below shows, there were, like last month, some mixed results. For example, St Charles County saw a 20% increase in foreclosures from the month before while the City of St Louis saw a 27% decrease from the month before. The U.S. as a whole saw a bigger decline in foreclosure activity than the St Louis MSA did.

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St Louis MSA Foreclosures – November Continue Reading →

St Louis Area Buyer’s Markets – Town and Country Near Top Of List

By Dennis Norman, on November 20th, 2019

As the table below shows, from MORE, REALTORS® exclusive STL Market Report, the overall St Louis MSA housing market has a current supply of homes for sale equal to just a little over two-and-a-half months making it very much favor sellers. The St Louis 5-County Core market (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) have, as the second table shows, an even lower supply of homes for sale with a 2.32 month supply.

However, as the list at the bottom shows, there are some municipalities within the St Louis area that are buyers Continue Reading →

Foreclosures Spike In October In Some St Louis Areas

By Dennis Norman, on November 14th, 2019

The foreclosure rate for the St Louis MSA during October increased 11.3 percent from the month before however, it was still nearly 25 percent (24.5%) lower than October 2018, according to data just released from ATTOM Data Solutions. As the table below shows, there were some real mixed results this month. For example, St Charles County saw a 150% increase in foreclosures from the month before increasing from 10 in September to 25 in October but is down over 60% from October 2018. The city of St Louis is the only county of significant size in the St Louis MSA Continue Reading →

What Impact Does The School District Have On Home Prices and Sales?

By Dennis Norman, on September 27th, 2019

The question in my headline is one of those questions that in the real estate community, and with most homeowners, would elicit a response something like “the quality of the school district has a major impact on the housing market, duh!”. While I don’t think anyone would argue that having quality public education available to everyone in all areas is important, I’m just talking data here and looking at it from the real estate perspective. So, with that in mind, I decided to use one of the reports produced by proprietary software created by MORE, REALTORS® and based upon MLS Continue Reading →

City of St Louis Property Vacancy Rate More Than Double The Rate For The St Louis MSA

By Dennis Norman, on August 16th, 2019

There are 100,478 residential properties in the City of St Louis, 7,604 of which (7.6%), are vacant properties according to the vacancy rate report for the 3rd quarter of 2019 by ATTOM Data Research. The other St Louis area county with a vacancy rate higher than the rate for the St Louis MSA as a whole of 2.9% is St Louis County where 3.1% of the residential properties are vacant.

St Louis MSA Vacant Property And Investor Owned Property Q3 2019

Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Louis Upcoming OPEN HOUSES Continue Reading →

Half Of The Residential Properties In Franklin County Are Investor-Owned

By Dennis Norman, on August 15th, 2019

There are 64,645 residential properties in Franklin County, 32,625 of which (50.5%), are investment properties according to the vacancy rate report for the 3rd quarter of 2019 by ATTOM Data Research. The other St Louis area county with a percentage of investment properties higher than the rate for the St Louis MSA as a whole of 23.8% is the city of St Louis where 41.5% of the residential properties are investor-owned.

St Louis MSA Vacant Property And Investor Owned Property Q3 2019

Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Louis Upcoming OPEN HOUSES Continue Reading →

St Louis New Home Construction Slips Again In May

By Dennis Norman, on June 30th, 2019

For the 12-month period ended May 31, 2019, there were building permits issued for 300 new homes in Jefferson County, a decline of nearly 26% from the prior 12-month period according to the latest data from the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri. For the same period, there were permits issued for 758 new homes in St Louis County, a decline of 23.50% from the prior 12-month period.

Warren County saw a double-digit percentage increase in building permits again this period, and the City of St Louis again had an increase.

Search St Louis Homes For Sale Continue Reading →

Home Affordability Drops Significantly In St Louis City and County Increases In Jefferson and Madison

By Dennis Norman, on June 29th, 2019

Home affordability declined in the City of St Louis from a 98 on the affordability index in the first quarter to an index of 73 this quarter, for a decline of 25% in home affordability in the City of St Louis, according to the latest data from ATTOM Data Research. In neighboring St Louis County, the affordability was 116 in the first quarter and 89 the 2nd quarter, for a decline of 23%. On the affordability index, anything under 100 indicates homes are less affordable than the historical average and anything over 100 indicates homes are more affordable than the Continue Reading →

Foreclosure Rate In St Louis Continues To Fall As Market Remains Strong

By Dennis Norman, on May 21st, 2019

The strong St Louis housing market, as well as the strong economy, continues to help improve mortgage delinquency rates and foreclosure rates in St Louis. The rate of foreclosure in St Louis in April was 1 foreclosure filing for every 2,167 housing units, a decline of 17.4% from the month before when the rate was 1 in every 1,865 housing units, according to the latest data from ATTOM Data Solutions. The April St Louis foreclosure rate was down 17.9% from the year before.

As the table below shows, over half the counties in the St Louis MSA saw an increase Continue Reading →

New Home Construction Trending Downward in Over Half The St Louis Area Counties

By Dennis Norman, on April 24th, 2019

For the 12-month period ended March 31, 2019, there were building permits issued for 748 new homes in St Louis County, a decline of 23.60% from the prior 12-month period, according to the latest data from the St Louis HBA. As the table below shows, St Charles County saw a decline of 11.23% during the same period. Last month, those were the only two counties showing a downward trend, but, this month, Franklin County and the City of St Louis have also seen new home construction trend downward. Warren County again showed the greatest upward trend in new home construction Continue Reading →

St Louis Area Home Affordability Best In St Louis City

By Dennis Norman, on March 31st, 2019

During the first quarter of this year, homebuyers in the City of St Louis needed to spend a median of just 16.9% of their annual wages to buy a median-priced home, according to data just released by ATTOM Data Services. This makes the City of St Louis the most affordable county to buy a home in the St Louis area. As the table below shows, St Charles County, where it takes 37.7% of annual wages to buy a median-priced home is the least affordable county for 1st quarter 2019.

On a positive note, St Charles County had an affordability index Continue Reading →

St Charles County vs St Louis County Home Price Appreciation

By Dennis Norman, on March 8th, 2019

Since the announcement of the Better Together plans to merge the County and City of St Louis together into one big “Metro City”, there has been a lot of talk about the impact this would have on the St Louis real estate market. I’ve had several conversations with people in the real estate industry that feel St Charles County, as well as some of the other surrounding counties, will benefit if the Better Together plan succeeds. Their optimism is based upon the belief that, given what appears to be a tremendous groundswell of opposition to the plan from residents of Continue Reading →

The Better Together Plan And St Louis Real Estate

By Dennis Norman, on February 18th, 2019

At the end of last month, Better Together, a not-for-profit group aimed at combining St Louis City and St Louis County into one big “Metro City”, released their plan for doing so. To say this is a hot topic among residents of those two areas would be an understatement.

Proponents of the plan say it will make St Louis the 9th largest city in the U.S., will streamline government, dilute the city crime stats making them appear to be better and, in the end, lead to increased economic development and growth for the region.

Opponents, such as the Municipal League Continue Reading →

St Louis Area New Home Construction In 2018 Declines

By Dennis Norman, on January 25th, 2019

There were 4,140 building permits issued for new homes in the St Louis area during 2018, a decline of 3.16% from the year before when there were 4,275 permits issued, according to information just released by the Home Builders Association of St Louis & Eastern Missouri (St Louis HBA). The number of permits issued for new homes during 2018 was just slightly down from 2016.

As the table below shows, St Charles County has seen the largest decline in new home construction with 1,499 new home permits issued in 2018, down 12.85% from the year before and decline of 24.48% Continue Reading →

Cheaper To Buy Than Rent A Home In Six Out Of Eight St Louis Areas Counties

By Dennis Norman, on January 10th, 2019

According to a report just released this morning by ATTOM Data Research, it’s cheaper to buy a home than rent in 6 of 8 St Louis metro area counties covered in the report. The data reported also shows, however, that home prices are rising faster than rents in all of the counties, a trend that, if it continues, could make buying a home a less affordable option in the future. The data also shows, on a postiive note, that in 6 of 8 counties wages are rising faster than rents. The counties are split when it comes to wages vs Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Remain Steady But Trending Downward

By Dennis Norman, on December 21st, 2018

In the last week, I’ve seen several reports indicating declining home sales on both a nationwide basis as well as for the St Louis market. The reports vary widely but one local report indicated single family home sales were down 6 percent from a year ago, which, of course, should cause some concern for both agents as well as consumers since a 6 percent decline is significant. However, this is why, for this very reason, MORE, REALTORS® developed their own proprietary software to analyze and report the market data (the same MLS data as the aforementioned report was based upon) Continue Reading →

Home Affordability In St Louis Drops For All Counties In Third Quarter

By Dennis Norman, on October 4th, 2018

One of the nice things about St Louis has always been that it’s an affordable place to live and an affordable place to own a home. However, as St Louis home prices, and mortgage interest rates, continue to increase, home affordability in St Louis has declined.

As the table below, which is based on data from ATTOM Data Research, shows, all of the counties reported on in the State of Missouri saw home affordability decline during the 3rd quarter with the exception of Jackson County (Kansas City). All of the counties had a decline in home affordability from a year Continue Reading →

The Most Expensive Homes For Sale In St Louis

By Dennis Norman, on September 30th, 2018

One of the great things about living in St Louis is it is a very affordable place to live, including when it comes to home ownership. Home affordability in St Louis is certainly much better than the coasts but also beats many, if not most, metro areas. Having said that, we do have our share of expensive homes though. For example, there are currently 322 $1,000,000+ homes and condos listed for sale in the St Louis 5-county core market (City of St Louis and Counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin). The most expensive St Louis home listed Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Trend Remains Flat While Prices Rise

By Dennis Norman, on September 20th, 2018

St Louis home sales remain consistent but fairly flat with 27,636 homes sold during the past 12 months, just slightly more than the 27,525 homes sold in the prior 12 month period, for the 5-County core St Louis market. As the table below shows, while home sales only increased by 0.40% during the period for the core St Louis market (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson, and Franklin) the median price of homes sold during the period increased 5.46% from a median price of $184,900 to $195,00. There is a currently a 2.55 month Continue Reading →

Mortgage Delinquency Rates Continue to Improve-St Louis Distressed Home Sales Falling

By Dennis Norman, on September 18th, 2018

Mortgage delinquency rates, the precursor to foreclosures, continue to fall as the real estate market continues to perform well. The 30-plus day mortgage delinquency rate for June 2018 fell to 4.3% of all outstanding mortgages down from 4.6% a year ago, according to a report just released by CoreLogic. Frank Nothaft, the Chief Economist for CoreLogic, attributed the good news to “A solid labor market” going on to say that June’s national unemployment rate of 4% was “the lowest for June in 18 years“.

St Louis distressed home sales falling quickly…

With the economy and real estate market doing so Continue Reading →

Today’s Headlines Say St. Louis Is “Among worst cities for buying a house” – True or not?

By Dennis Norman, on September 12th, 2018

Not that anyone that reads my articles on a regular basis needs any more proof of this, but there was yet another example today of just how “local” real estate is, and why it is so important to make sure you have good, accurate, up to date information before making real estate decisions. Today, the St Louis Business Journal published an article titled “St Louis among worst cities for buying a home” in which they cited a report from WalletHub that put St Louis at number 55 of 63 large cities on their list of best cities to buy a Continue Reading →

St Louis’ Millennial Population Shows a Shift From City To St Charles County

By Dennis Norman, on July 23rd, 2018

The millennial generation, people born from 1981 through 1994, is predicted to outnumber the baby boomer generation sometime in 2019. Given the size of the generation, as well as the fact many are getting married and starting families, the real estate industry is very interested in these young people. Much time is spent trying to figure out whether they want to buy or rent, whether they will consider the suburbs or just stick to urban areas, etc.

Therefore, it does not come as a surprise that more than a third of the residents in the city of St Louis are Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Decline Slightly While Prices Rise

By Dennis Norman, on July 10th, 2018

Home sales in St Louis declined a little over 2 percent during the most recent 12-month period from the prior period while the median price of homes sold in St Louis rose 4.4%, according to the latest data from MORE, REALTORS.

St Louis home sales are trending downward slightly as well, as illustrated by the chart below. The light green line depicts year to date home sales for the St Louis 5-county core market (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) and reveals that through June of this year, there have been 13,237 Continue Reading →