St Louis Home Prices - St Louis Real Estate News

Over 1 in 4 St Louis Homeowners With A Mortgage Are Underwater

By Dennis Norman, on May 23rd, 2013

Slightly over 1 of every 4 (26.4 percent) St Louis homeowners with a mortgage are underwater or, in other words, in a negative equity position owing more on their mortgage than their home is currently worth, according to a report by Zillow. This is slightly higher than the national rate of 25.4 percent and, unfortunately, is predicted by Zillow to increase in the coming months to about 26.7 percent by January 2014.

In addition to the St Louis homeowners that are underwater, the report indicates that another 20.7 percent of the St Louis homeowners with a mortgage have less than Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales and Home Price Increases In April Outpace National Average

By Dennis Norman, on May 22nd, 2013

St Louis home sales in April increased 13.7 percent from a year ago for the five-county core area (City of St Louis and the Counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) while U.S. existing home sales rose 9.7 percent during the same period. During the same time-frame, St Louis home prices rose from a median price of $123,000 13.7 percent to $139,900 while US home prices increased 11.0 percent.

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St Louis Real Estate Market Update – May 2013 – VIDEO

By Dennis Norman, on May 15th, 2013

St Louis Real Estate Market Sees Declining Inventory and Rising Prices

The St Louis Real Estate Market remains a seller’s market this month barely, according to the latest market data from MORE, REALTORS. The inventory of homes for sale remains low while home sale and prices are increasing.

Thinking of selling and want to know if your neighborhood is a seller’s market? Contact us and we’ll answer that question for you.

This is not the market to be an uniformed participant in though or not have qualified, professional representation. This can lead to frustration as a buyer as you continue Continue Reading →

St Louis’ Top Luxury Home Markets

By Dennis Norman, on May 14th, 2013

The top four markets in the country for $1 Million+ home sales are all, not surprisingly, located in the state of California, according to a recently released luxury home sales report by Redfin. With 474 $1 million+ home sales, San Francisco was #1 on the list, followed by 469 home sales in Los Angeles, 430 in Silicon Valley and 415 in San Diego, all during the 14 month period ended March 31, 2013.

The St Louis Luxury Home market has communities that would have made the list, however Redfin does not cover the St Louis market. As you can see Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices Rose 8 Percent In Past Year

By Dennis Norman, on May 14th, 2013

St. Louis home prices rose 8 percent, on a year over year basis, from March 2012 to March 2013, according to new released data from MORE, REALTORS. In March 2012, the median St Louis home price (for the 5-county “core” area) was $111,000 and in March 2013 the median St Louis home price was $119,900.

On a national level, metro area home prices in the first quarter of 2013 rose 11.3 percent from a year ago.

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Report Ranks St Louis Housing Market As 7th Worst Of Major Metros

By Dennis Norman, on May 8th, 2013

The St Louis Housing Market was delivered a blow by a Clear Capital report just released ranking the performance of the housing market in St Louis as the 7th worst of the major metro areas in the U.S. According to the report, St Louis home prices dropped 0.3 percent in the past quarter and declined 1.0 percent from a year ago, that, coupled with the fact that REO’s (foreclosed property owned by banks) makes up 1/3 of the St Louis market, put us at 7th on the “bad” list. At the top of the “good” list was Las Vegas with Continue Reading →

Real Estate Recovery "On Its Way"

By Tyler Frank NMLS # 942420, on May 3rd, 2013

Tyler Frank,Paramount MortgageNMLS ID 942420

“The (real estate) recovery has been much more like the tortoise than the hare,” said Stephen Blank, a senior resident fellow of the Washington-based Urban Land Institute. “We’ve become used to slow relief. But we have finally turned the corner.”

Real estate markets on both coasts in places like; New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston were the first to emerge from recession and will pick up their pace of recovery through 2013, said Blank, a principal researcher for Emerging Trends. He was the main speaker at the annual outlook presented by Continue Reading →

St Louis Is 4th Best Place In The U.S. For Investors To Buy Property

By Dennis Norman, on May 2nd, 2013

St. Louis is the 4th best place in the U.S. for investors to buy property, based upon a recent report by Radar Logic. In compiling the list of cities, Radar Logic examined where institutional investors (i.e., corporations, LLC’s, partnerships and trusts) were buying property and how big of discounts they were receiving compared to other home sales in that area.

The Top 10 Markets For Investors Based Upon Discounted Home Prices: Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Increase In March

By Dennis Norman, on April 29th, 2013

St Louis Home Sales Up Over 11 Percent In March

St Louis home sales rose in March to 2,729 homes sold in the five-county St Louis core area (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) which is an increase of 11.3 percent from March 2012 when there were 2,451 homes sold. St Louis home prices rose 3.7 percent in March to an average sales price of $146,146 from $140,904 a year ago.

On a national level, the Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) was at 105.7 for March, Continue Reading →

New Home Sales On The Rise While Inventory is Low

By Dennis Norman, on April 23rd, 2013

New home sales continued the upward trend in March with new homes in the US selling at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 417,000 homes, an increase of 1.5 percent from the month before and an 18.5 percent increase from a year ago, according to the US Census Bureau and HUD.

New home sale prices declined in March to a median price of $247,000, down 6.7 percent from February’s median new home price of $264,900 but up 3 percent from a year ago when the median new home sales price was $239,800. The inventory of new homes for sale remained steady Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Up 11.7 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on April 22nd, 2013

St Louis Home sales rose in March to 2,397 homes sold, up from 1,817 homes sold in February and up 11.7 percent from a year ago when there were 2,145 homes sold. St Louis’ year-over-year increase in home sales in March actually topped the increase in US home sales for the month which rose 10.3 percent from the year before.

Continue Reading →

Survey Shows Bankers Feeling Better About Housing Market

By Dennis Norman, on April 19th, 2013

FICO Survey Shows Bankers Are More Optimistic About Housing Market

Most bankers surveyed (83.7 percent) in FICO’s first quarter 2013 survey, said they felt mortgage delinquencies would decline, or at worst stay the same, during the next 6 months. Additionally, 70.8 percent of the bankers feel home prices are rising at a sustainable pace.

Continue Reading →

Home Prices Set To Rise, Thanks To The Fed

By Tyler Frank NMLS # 942420, on April 15th, 2013

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?

Continue Reading →

Washington DC And 3 California Cities Most Likely To See Housing Bubble

By Dennis Norman, on April 12th, 2013

“Nationwide, we’re not in a bubble,” says Glenn Kelman, CEO of online real estate company Redfin, however Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego may be headed that direction, according to Redfin’s data. Redfin is not in St Louis so our city was not on their list but in the coming weeks I plan to do an analysis of the St Louis market in the same manner they did of other markets and will publish what I find at that time. In the meantime, here’s the info from Redfin.

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St Louis Real Estate Market Update -April 2013 – VIDEO

By Dennis Norman, on April 12th, 2013

St Louis Real Estate Market Turns Into Seller’s Market!

The St Louis Real Estate Market has become a seller’s market, according to the latest market data from MORE, REALTORS. The inventory of homes for sale is on the decline while buying activity is up which makes for a competitive market for buyers.

Thinking of selling and want to know if your neighborhood is a seller’s market? Contact us and we’ll answer that question for you.

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 Continue Reading →

Inventory of Homes For Sale In St Louis Down Over 8 Percent

By Dennis Norman, on March 27th, 2013

Barely over 3 month supply of homes for sale in St Louis

Home sales in the U.S. fell slightly in February from the month before, according to the National Association of REALTORS’ pending home sales index. The index slid to 104.8* in February from 105.2 in January however was still 8.4 percent higher than a year ago and at the second highest level in nearly three-year. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR, said “limited inventory is holding back the market in many areas” and that “only new home construction can genuinely help relieve the inventory shortage…”

As the Continue Reading →

New Home Sales In Midwest Increase In February

By Dennis Norman, on March 26th, 2013

New Home Sales In Midwest Outperform The National Market!

New home sales in the Midwest were at an adjusted annual rate of 58,000 homes in February, an increase of 13.7 percent from January’s rate of 51,000 homes, according to data released this morning by the Census Bureau. The Midwest was the only region in February with an increase in new home sales from January and the Midwest and West region were the only two regions with an increase in new home sales from a year ago.

New home sale prices rose in February to $246,800 from $239,600 the month before, Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate Market Update Video-March 2013

By Dennis Norman, on March 15th, 2013

St. Louis Real Estate Market Gaining Steam!

The St. Louis Real Estate Market is getting close to becoming a seller’s market in many neighborhoods. The inventory of St Louis homes for sale is down from a year ago while sales are increasing paving the way for what could be a somewhat robust selling market this spring.

Thinking of selling and want to know if your neighborhood is a seller’s market? Contact us and we’ll answer that question for you.

To get the latest St Louis Real Estate Stats and the latest, best and most comprehensive St Louis Real Estate Continue Reading →

Eighty Four Percent of Real Estate Professionals Feel 2013 Will Bring More Sales and Higher Prices

By Dennis Norman, on March 11th, 2013

Real estate professionals are definitely showing more confidence in the housing market today, with over eighty percent (84 percent) of them thinking that 2013 will bring more home sales and higher prices than 2012, according to the results of a survey by Market Leader (FWIW I agree). This represents a 28 percent increase in confidence in the market from a year ago when a similar survey was conducted. Continue Reading →

Survey reveals home prices drive first-time home buyers choice of home

By Dennis Norman, on March 4th, 2013

St. Louis car dealer Bommarito Auto Group’s tag line is “where price sells cars”….well, according to the results of a newly released survey, I think the same is true about the current real estate market…it’s “where price sells homes”. The number one reason given for choosing the home purchased by first-time home buyers was price, according to the recently released 2011 American Housing Survey (AHS) by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Thirty-eight (38) percent of first-time home buyers said price was their key concern, followed by thirty (30) percent who gave proximity to work as their chief concern. Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update Video for February 2013

By Dennis Norman, on February 16th, 2013

The St. Louis Real Estate Market is heating up in many areas and, in fact, some neighborhoods are beginning to take on the appearance of a seller’s market. A decline in the inventory of homes for sale along with some increased demand is helping spark life into many markets…I show the impact on two of these markets in this months video but we can easily show you how your neighborhood is doing as well. Or, if you are trying to decide if not is the time to buy, contact us and we’ll help you answer that question and see specifically what areas are the best for buyers at this time. Continue Reading →

Forty-one percent of survey respondents think home prices will increase; up from thirty percent a year ago

By Dennis Norman, on February 7th, 2013

Forty-one percent of the respondents to the Fannie Mae National Housing Survey for January 2013 said they expect home prices to rise in the next 12 months which is down slightly from 43 percent last month but up significantly from a year ago when only 30 percent felt home prices would rise. Continue Reading →

New home sales increased almost 20 percent in 2012 and prices increased almost 14 percent

By Dennis Norman, on January 25th, 2013

New home sales activity slowed at the end of 2012 with new homes selling in December at a seasonally adjusted rate of 369,000, a decline of 7.3 percent from the month before but an increase of 8.8 percent from December 2011, according to the December 2012 new home sales report from the Commerce Department. This means 2012 ended with an increase of almost 20 percent in new home sales from 2011 when there were just 306,000 new homes sold. Also on a positive note, the median price of new homes increased from $218,600 in December 2011 to $248,900 in December 2012 while, during the same period, the inventory of new homes for sale in the U.S. declined from a 5.4 month supply to 4.9 months. Continue Reading →

Number Of Homeowners That Think Now Is A Good Time to Sell On The Rise

By Dennis Norman, on January 24th, 2013

The number of homeowners with an intent to sell that think now is a good time to sell, increased almost 50 percent in the Redfin survey that was just released today from the prior survey three months ago. Today, 22 percent of the homeowners surveyed said now was a good time to sell, up from 15 percent in the prior quarter. Eighty-one percent (81%) of those surveyed feel home prices will rise in the coming year and that is up from 75 percent in the prior quarter. Continue Reading →

The Number of Homeowners With Negative Equity Continues to Decline

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 →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update Video for January 2013

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 →

Are St Louis Home Prices Really Increasing Or Are There Just Fewer Distressed Sales?

By Dennis Norman, on January 16th, 2013

A report released today by Radarlogic suggests that the housing market is not really recovering as much as it may appear, particularly with regard to home prices. The report says that, the 9.2 percent increase they saw in their home price index for the 12 month period ended November 30, 2012 was the result of a “significant shift in the composition of home sales and overstates the appreciation in individual properties.” The report goes on to say if motivated sales (REO’s, foreclosures, short-sales) are removed from the data, then the “real” increase in home prices was just over half of what their index showed. Continue Reading →

St Louis Inventory of Homes For Sales Increases 3 Percent While Price Per Foot Stays Flat

By Dennis Norman, on January 10th, 2013

On a national real estate site I write for I did an article earlier today about a report that came out indicating the inventory of homes for sale in 35 major metro markets had dropped by 27 percent in the past year while the price per foot of those homes increased about 10 percent. This prompted me to take a look at the St. Louis market to see how it did in comparison and, as the chart below shows, St. Louis has seen a different result with the inventory of homes for sale increasing somewhat in the past year while home prices (on a per square foot basis) remained relatively flat. In January 2012, there were 13,304 homes for sale in the St Louis metro area and today there are 13,758, an increase of 3.4 percent. St Louis metro area home prices per foot are at $95.97 today and were at $95.86 a year ago. Continue Reading →

What are going to be the hot St Louis real estate markets in 2013?

By Dennis Norman, on December 28th, 2012

I don’t know that “hot” comes to mind when I think about any St Louis real estate market today, however, relative to the rest of the market, I think I can identify some St. Louis real estate markets that I feel are poised to perform better in 2013 than other St Louis markets. Below are my charts showing some key market data for the top markets. Included in my data are 4 pieces of information that I think are key to determining the health of a local real estate market:

Home prices – I show what prices have done over Continue Reading →

Forecasters say home price increases to be at "pre-bubble" levels next year; no impact by change in MID

By Dennis Norman, on December 27th, 2012

A panel of 105 professional economic forecasters from all around the country expect home prices to increase 3.1 percent in 2013, according to the December 2012 Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey. Forecasters are more optimistic about home prices than they were just three months earlier when they predicted 2013 home prices would only increase by 2.4 percent. Continue Reading →