By Dennis Norman, on June 12th, 2013 There were 88,367 St Louis homeowners with negative equity during the first quarter of this year, according to a report just released by CoreLogic. This represents 15.7 percent of the St. Louis homeowners with a mortgage and is a decline of 10 percent from the prior quarter when there were 98,365 St Louis homeowners with negative equity, or 17.5 percent of all St Louis homeowners with a mortgage.
For the State of Missouri as a whole, there were 120,056 homeowners, or 15.3 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage, with negative equity during the first quarter of this year. On Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on June 6th, 2013 Dennis Norman,Broker-Officer,MORE, REALTORS
St. Louis 4th Best City in the U.S. To Buy Bargain Real Estate
According to a report released today by RealtyTrac, St Louis is 4th on the list of the best cities in the U.S. to still be able to buy fixer-upper bargain homes. In compiling the list, RealtyTrac considered the number of homes each city had that were bank owned homes (REO’s), built before 1960 (indicating the opportunity to increase value by updating and/or improving) and had an estimated value below $100,000. The complete list of the top 15 cities is below as well Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on May 30th, 2013 St Louis foreclosures rose during the 1st quarter of this year to 2,505 foreclosure sales in the St Louis metro area during the quarter, an increase of 18.83 percent from the year before, according to a newly released report from RealtyTrac. The average sales price of St Louis foreclosures during the quarter was $89,229 and, on average, St Louis foreclosures sold at a 37.95 percent discount from non-distressed sales.
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Tyler Frank,Paramount MortgageNMLS ID 942420
Since the real estate market crash, millions of homeowners have lost their homes in a foreclosure, been forced to do a short sale to get out from a home they were underwater on or file bankruptcy as a result of financial hardship as a result of the the market crash and general economic downturn. Many of these homeowners have resorted to renting or living with relatives but, as time passes and the financial wounds heal, are now wanting to buy a home again prompting the question, “how long do I have to wait Continue Reading →
One-third of Homebuyers Surveyed Are Ill-prepared to Get a Mortgage
Tyler Frank,Paramount MortgageNMLS ID 942420
According to a survey recently conducted by Zillow, many homebuyers are really not armed with the information they should have before attempting to obtain a mortgage. For example, over one-third (34 percent) of the prospective homebuyers surveyed did not know that a qualified borrower can obtain a home loan today with less than a five percent downpayment.
In addition, many homebuyers have misinformation that can prevent them from obtaining the best possible mortgage interest rate. For example, 26 percent of the homebuyers said Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on May 9th, 2013 As of April 2013, there were 182,678 homeowners in Missouri (26.68 percent) that were underwater on their mortgage meaning that their loan balances exceeds 125 percent of the current value of their home, according to a report just released by RealtyTrac. As a comparison, Illinois’ underwater homeowner rate is 34.79, Florida 41.24, Nevada 52.07 and California 25.07 In a little more upbeat news, the RealtyTrac report also revealed that foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions) in April affected 144,790 properties in the U.S. which is a decline of 5 percent from the month before and a Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on May 3rd, 2013
In What Cities Can You Make The Most Money Flipping Homes?
Unfortunately, St. Louis did not make the list. However, that is actually a good thing as the cities at the top of RealtyTrac’s list of the top 25 cities in the U.S. for flipping homes are all cities that were hammered when the market crashed. This is not to say that the opportunity does not exist in St Louis to flip property for a profit or to make good buys for rental or other long term investment, it’s just the profits here may not be as large as Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on May 1st, 2013 The home ownership rate in St Louis during the 1st quarter of 2013 was 74.2 percent, the highest level since the 4th quarter of 2006 when the rate was 74.3 percent, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. I think this is pretty remarkable given that since the housing market crash of 2007, a record number of homeowners have lost their homes in foreclosure and now homeownership rates in St Louis are higher than before the crash.
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By Dennis Norman, on April 30th, 2013 Foreclosures were completed on 55,000 properties in the U.S. in March 2013, an increase of 6 percent from the month before but a decline of 16 percent from March 2012. Foreclosure activity has decreased over 50 percent (52) from when the number of foreclosures peaked back in 2010.
Looking to buy a foreclosure? Click here for current list of St Louis foreclosures for sale
Highlights of the Corelogic Foreclosure Report for March 2013:
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By Dennis Norman, on April 24th, 2013 The housing market continues to show signs that a recovery is underway with today’s report from LPS showing that mortgage delinquencies in March 2013 fell 3.13 percent from the month before and were down 3.03 percent from a year ago, according to a report just released by LPS. The foreclosure inventory rate fell slightly (0.41 percent) from the month before but was down almost 20 percent (19.61)from a year ago.
Almost all the data on the housing market, including the St Louis housing market, has been encouraging lately and pointing toward signs that a recovery is underway. Woo hoo!
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Tyler Frank,Paramount MortgageNMLS ID 942420
Home Prices Nationwide Shooting Up Faster Than Anyone Thought Possible Not Long Ago
The US housing market has broken out of a deep slump, and prices are shooting up faster than anyone thought possible a year ago.
Prices of existing homes rose 10% in February nationally from a year ago. What is causing this increase?
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By Dennis Norman, on April 11th, 2013
St Louis Foreclosures on 4,252 Properties During 1st Quarter 2013
St Louis Foreclosures declined 11.96 percent during the first quarter of 2013 from a year ago, according to a newly released report by RealtyTrac. According to the report, 4,252 properties in St Louis received a foreclosure filing (default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions) during the first quarter of 2013 which is a decline of 9.88 percent from the 4th quarter of 2012 and a 11.96 decline from the 1st quarter of 2012.
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By Dennis Norman, on March 28th, 2013 St Louis Foreclosures Are On The Decline
The inventory of St Louis foreclosures in February was down 0.5 percent from February 2012, according to a report from Corelogic. The decline is modest, but is still good news for our St. Louis market. There were 10,733 St Louis foreclosures completed in the 12 month period ending February 2013, the 12th highest number of the major metro areas in the U.S. covered by the Corelogic report, as shown in the table below.
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By Diana Davis, on March 21st, 2013 Making Sense of Confusing Real Estate Terms
If you are buying, selling or refinancing a home you will come across real estate terms and industry lingo that may sound foreign to you. To help address this issue, below you will find definitions for the most common real estate terms that you are likely to come across when buying, selling or refinancing a home. If you have other questions about title insurance, or the role of the title company in these transactions, please contact me and I’ll be happy to help.
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By Dennis Norman, on March 14th, 2013 What to do if you are facing foreclosure and losing your home. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on March 12th, 2013 Attorney General Chris Koster today filed a lawsuit against two related businesses that purported to provide loan modification and mortgage relief to desperate homeowners. Koster’s suit is against Legal Helpers Debt Resolution, LLC and Mortgage Law Group, LLC, as well as the companies’ managing partner, Jason Edward Searns; senior partner, Thomas Macey; and senior partner, Jeffery Aleman. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on March 7th, 2013 St. Louis had 8 different companies that purchased 10 or more foreclosures in the St Louis area during 2012, according to the “Bulk Foreclosure Buyer” report that was just released by RealtyTrac. At the top of the list was Hfr Capital Assets LLC, with 24 purchases. Greg Daney appears to be a principal in this company and is also the CEO of loanSum.com, a local hard money lender, so my guess is most of these “purchases” were actually the result of his company foreclosing on loans his company made that the borrowers defaulted on. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on March 5th, 2013 homeowners should be aware that no one other than your present lender can guarantee any form of mortgage relief. Below are six (6) warning signs to look for that may indicate you are dealing with a loan modification scammer: Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on February 28th, 2013 Almost one of every five (19.9 percent) St. Louis home sales in 2012 was a distressed sale, about 5 percent more than 2011 and 2.65 percent fewer than in 2010, according to a report released this morning by RealtyTrac. During 2012 there we 8,932 foreclosure sales in St. Louis at an average price of $93,699 or a discount of almost 40 percent (39.66 percent) compared to non-distressed home sales. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on February 27th, 2013 The St. Louis foreclosure rate declined in December 2012 to 1.29 percent of outstanding home loans, a 25 percent drop from a year ago when the foreclosure rate was 1.72 percent, according to a newly released report from Corelogic. In addition, the St. Louis mortgage delinquency rate for December was 4.39 percent, down 12.5 percent from the year before when 5.02 percent of the outstanding St. Louis home loans were 90 days or more delinquent. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on February 23rd, 2013 There were 23,348 fewer St. Louis homeowners underwater on their mortgage (owe more than the current value of their home) or, in other words are in a “negative equity” position, at the end of 2012 than there were at the beginning of the year, according to the Zillow® Negative Equity Report for 4th quarter 2012. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on February 14th, 2013 Foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions) were reported on 1,430 properties in St. Louis in January, an increase of 6.64 percent from the month before and a decrease of 7.62 percent from a year ago, according to the latest data from RealtyTrac. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on February 8th, 2013 Missourians have received more than $112 million of mortgage relief as a result of the National Mortgage Settlement reached a year ago with the nations largest lenders, according to Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster. Koster, along with Attorney Generals from other states, sent a letter to Congress last November urging them to extend a measure that was due to expire at the end of 2012 that would provide tax relief for some people receiving mortgage relief in the form of principal reduction and short sales. January 1, 2013, Congress passed the extension as part of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on February 5th, 2013 Over 35 percent (35.1) of tenants were previously homeowners, according to a survey by Apartments.com conducted in the 4th quarter of 2012. This is a fairly significant increase from a year ago when 33.6 percent of tenants reported they were previously homeowners. The most common reasons given for the change from homeowner to tenant were affordability and the flexibility in location. While it was just 5th on the list, it is worth noting that the loss of a home due to foreclosure or divorce increased nearly 90 percent in the past year as a reason for converting from homeowner to renter. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on February 3rd, 2013 There are fewer people losing their homes in foreclosure today than there were during the peak of the foreclosure crisis after the real estate market crash, however we still have a long way to go until we will see a “normal” number of foreclosures. According to a report released today by Corelogic, there were 767,000 homes foreclosed on in the U.S. during 2012, down almost 11 percent from the total for 2011, so a definite improvement, however, this is still three-times the “normal” number of foreclosures before the real estate market crash. From the period of 2000 – 2006, there were an average of 252,000 homes foreclosed on per year. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on January 29th, 2013 The St. Louis foreclosure rate in November 2012 was 1.27 percent of all outstanding home mortgages, a decrease of 26.6 percent from a year before when the rate was 1.73 percent, according to a report just released by Corelogic. Foreclosure rates in St. Louis were well above the national foreclosure rate for November 2012 of 2.97 percent. In addition, mortgage delinquency rates declined in November 2012 as well falling to 4.39 percent of all mortgage loans (90 days + delinquent), down from 5.00 percent in November 2011. Continue Reading →
By Robert Fishel, on January 23rd, 2013 As part of the fiscal cliff deal, Congress extended the cancellation of mortgage debt relief provision for 1 year, through the end of 2013. It seems there is little focus on the importance of this law, it is crucial to foreclosure mitigation efforts such as principal forgiveness and short sales. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on January 18th, 2013 Rising home prices helped 100,000 homeowners in the U.S. crawl out of a negative equity position during the 3rd quarter of 2012, according to a report just released by CoreLogic®. During the first nine months of 2012, there were a total of 1.4 million homeowners that found themselves moving from a negative equity position on their homes to a positive equity position. In spite of this vast improvement, twenty two percent of homeowners in the U.S. with a mortgage owe more on their homes than they are currently worth. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on January 18th, 2013 The St. Louis Real Estate Market is still dealing with the effects of foreclosures and other distressed sales but continues to show some improvement, and even what I would describe as a sustained recovery in some neighborhoods though certainly not all. To get the latest St. Louis Real Estate Stats and the latest, best and most comprehensive St Louis Real Estate Data, check out our 5-minute video update below for January for the St Louis real estate market. 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 →
By Dennis Norman, on January 17th, 2013 During 2012, 18,242 St Louis homeowners received a foreclosure notice, or were in some stage of the foreclosure process, according to a report just released by RealtyTrac. This means 2012 came to an end with 12.02 percent more foreclosures than the year before however there were over 16 percent fewer St. Louis foreclosures than in 2010 when foreclosure activity peaked. Continue Reading →
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