St Louis Home Prices - St Louis Real Estate News

Pending Home Sales Hit a new Record-Low in June

By Dennis Norman, on August 3rd, 2010

Dennis Norman

NAR Pending Home Sales Index at Lowest Level Since Index Began in 2001

At dropping 30 percent in May as a result of the rush to buy a home before the April 30th tax credit deadline, the National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for June shows a further decline of 2.6 percent in the index in June (seasonally adjusted) which is 18.6 percent below June 2009. While the decrease in home sales was expected, I’m a little surprised we are running so far behind last year (which, might I remind you, wasn’t that great of Continue Reading →

Housing Market Outlook and Forecast

By Dennis Norman, on July 29th, 2010

Dennis Norman

This week I attended an event at the St. Louis Association of REALTORS® in which Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of REALTORS® was the featured speaker and gave his take on the housing market as well as his housing market outlook.

Continue Reading →

Case-Shiller; Housing market not in any form of sustained recovery

By Dennis Norman, on July 27th, 2010

Dennis Norman

This morning S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for May was released showing that the annual growth rates in 15 of the 20 Metro Area’s their reports cover improved in May compared to April 2010. The 10-city composite is up 5.4 percent from the year before and the 20-city composite is up 4.6 percent from the year before.

Continue Reading →

Best Real Estate Markets in the U.S? Nine of Ten Zips are in California

By Dennis Norman, on July 23rd, 2010

Dennis Norman

Multiple Offers and Homes Selling for prices ABOVE list price? Is this a reprint of a post from 2005?

Nope. Believe it or not, this is exactly what was in a report released this morning by Zip Realty. The report is based upon home sales activity in the second quarter of this year and says that, despite slowdowns in home sales across the country, California is still the nation’s hottest spot for home buying activity.

California was home to 91 out of the country’s 100 “hottest” zip codes in terms of home sales during the quarter. Continue Reading →

Home Prices Are Not Recovering

By Dennis Norman, on July 23rd, 2010

Dennis Norman

Home sales activity was up in May, but the mix of sales shifted toward less-expensive properties in many cities throughout the U.S. according to the May 2010 Radarlogic Housing Market Report. In addition, the report states that while their home price composite index for the 25 metro areas covered did increase in May by 2.1 percent on a year-over-year basis, the “gains were not large enough to be described as a recovery” and “there was more evidence of weakness in the market than strength.”

Highlights from the report include:

Home prices have remained stagnant since the Continue Reading →

Closing of Tax Credit Induced Home Purchases Prop-Up Market in June; St Louis Tops In Price Gain Among Metros

By Dennis Norman, on July 22nd, 2010

Dennis Norman

Last month I said that I expected to see some elevated numbers in the existing home sales report for May and June since this report would reflect the actual closing of the home purchases from buyers that raced to buy before the April 30th home-buyer tax credit deadline. Even though Congress has extended the deadline to close on these purchases until August 31st, the majority of the tax-credit induced sales will have closed by June 30th and therefore be reflected in today’s report which I would say has happened.

Today’s existing home sales report from theNational Association Continue Reading →

One in Four Sellers Have Reduced Their Prices

By Dennis Norman, on July 14th, 2010

Dennis Norman

According to a report released by Trulia.com, 24 percent of the homes for sale as of July 1, 2010 have experienced at least one price cut. This is a 9 percent increase from the prior month. The average discount for price-reduced homes continues to hold at 10 percent off of the original listing price.

Western U.S. Leads with Price Reduction Increases

For the first six months of this year, cities in the Western U.S. saw a reduction in their price declines, however for this month those same cities have experienced some of the largest surges Continue Reading →

St. Louis Home Prices Increase

By Dennis Norman, on July 13th, 2010

Dennis Norman

According to a report issued today by CoreLogic, their home price index shows home prices in the U.S. increased in May, marking the fourth-consecutive month there was a year-over-year increase in home prices. U.S. home prices in May 2010 increased by 2.9 percent over May 2009.

St. Louis home prices did better than the U.S. average, increasing by 3.49 percent in May 2010 compared with May 2009.

No doubt some of the good news was the result of buyers rushing to buy a home before the April 30th deadline to receive tax credits. This will affect Continue Reading →

Foreign Purchases of US Residential Real Estate Nearly Doubles

By Dennis Norman, on July 8th, 2010

Dennis Norman

I may be getting desperate to find something good to write about with regard to the Housing Market, but nonetheless I found some good news today! According to a report titled “Foreign Investment in U.S. Real Estate” that was released recently by the National Association of REALTORS®, investment in residential real estate in the U.S. by foreigners shot up by almost 80% for the 12-month period ending April 2010 from the 12 month period ending April 2009.

For the 12 month period ending April 2010 foreign purchases of residential real estate in the U.S. totaled $64 Continue Reading →

More On The Housing Boom and Bust; Cause and Effect

By Dennis Norman, on July 5th, 2010

Dennis Norman

While there has been much discussion about the causes and effects of the Housing Boom as well as the Bust (including by yours truly in prior posts) I don’t think we need to refrain from continuing to examine this part of history that is affecting millions of people across the country. Perhaps we can learn some lessons from this that will help us avoid another such collapse of the housing market in the future.

My topic today actually has a silver lining of sorts. The topic is debt and how so many homeowners across the country Continue Reading →

Nearly 233,000 Foreclosure and Bank-Owned Homes Sold in First Quarter

By Dennis Norman, on June 30th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Average discount on Foreclosure and Bank-Owned Homes is 27 Percent

This morning RealtyTrac released a report stating that 31 percent of all residential sales in the first quarter of 2010 were foreclosure homes or bank-owned homes. They are reporting 233,000 foreclosure and bank-owned homes sold during first quarter 2010 at an average price discount of 27 percent (based upon average sale price of non-foreclosure properties).

This data is fairly consistent with date from the National Association of REALTORS which reported there were right at 1 million existing homes sold in the first quarter of 2010 and Continue Reading →

Home Prices In Most Metro Areas Improved in April But Do Not Show Signs of a Sustained Recovery

By Dennis Norman, on June 29th, 2010

Dennis Norman

This morning S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for April was released showing that theannual growth rates of all 20 Metro Area’s their reports cover improved in April compared to March 2010. The 10-city composite is up 4.6 percent from the year before and the 20-city composite is up 3.8 percent from the year before.

However, in spite of this little bit of encouragement, David Blitzer, Chairman of the Standard & Poor’s Index Committee casts a negative light on the market by pointing out the, while this report does show some price gains, “many of the gains are modest Continue Reading →

Federal Government Is Largest Owner of Foreclosed Properties; Over 200,000 and Growing

By Dennis Norman, on June 25th, 2010

Dennis Norman

According to a report issued by Radar Logic Incorporated government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) and Federal agencies involved in housing finance currently have an inventory of over 200,000 repossessed homes. Being the largest owner of foreclosed homes in the U.S. gives the government a lot of power and influence over the housing market for years to come as they will generate significant pressure on home prices as they sell off foreclosed homes in the coming years.

Foreclosed homes currently sell at significant discounts to the unpaid balances of the mortgages they back, generating a loss for the seller Continue Reading →

Two and a half Million Foreclosures; Just the beginning

By Dennis Norman, on June 24th, 2010

Dennis Norman

I spent this morning reading a sobering and, quite frankly depressing, report issued by the Center for Responsible Lending that focused on the demographics of people losing their homes as a result of foreclosure. The report is done well and looks at the impact of foreclosures on different races and ethnicity’s and then addresses what they believe to be the cause of this crisis.

While the reports main subject was eye opening, what really got my attention as I went through the report were some of the facts and figures being quoted. This caused me to Continue Reading →

Home Sales Fall Slightly in May; Still Propped-Up By Tax Credit Deals

By Dennis Norman, on June 22nd, 2010

Dennis Norman

May and June Sales Expected to Remain Elevated as Buyers Rush to Close By June 30th Deadline for Tax Credits.

The deadline to buy a home and qualify for the home-buyer tax credit was April 30th so it’s not surprising we saw pending home-sales increase dramatically in March and April as buyers rushed to get “under-contract” before the April 30th deadline. For those home-buyers that were lucky enough to qualify for the home-buyer tax credit they have, unless Congress extends the deadline, until June 30, 2010 to close on the purchase of their home. Therefore, as I Continue Reading →

Real Estate Market Favoring Lower Priced Home Sales Since 2006

By Dennis Norman, on June 21st, 2010

Dennis Norman

A report just issued by Radarlogic shows that, since 2006, lower-priced homes have been selling better than higher-priced ones. Given the current economy this is not all that surprising but it is a dramatic change from what the norm was during the “housing boom”.

Highlights from the report include:

During the housing boom (2000 through 2005) sales of homes for less than $350,000 remained pretty constant on a year-over-year basis while homes in the $350,000 – $900,000 range increased by 32 percent per year on average. In 2006 the number of home sales in all price Continue Reading →

Mortgage Fraud Sweep Results in Almost 500 Arrests

By Dennis Norman, on June 18th, 2010

Dennis Norman

According to a press release issued by the FBI, nearly 500 people have been arrested in a nationwide mortgage fraud take-down as part of “Operation Stolen Dreams.” This operation was launched on March 1, 2010 and, according to the FBI, has lead to a total of 485 arrests, 330 convictions and the recovery of nearly $11 million. The FBI estimates that losses from a variety of fraud schemes are estimated to exceed $2 billion.

Operation Stolen Dreams is the government’s largest mortgage fraud take-down to date. But FBI Director Robert S. Mueller cautioned that there is Continue Reading →

Where is the housing market headed in 2010?

By Dennis Norman, on June 14th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Will the Bears or Bulls prevail in 2010?

As the real estate market is beginning to show signs that we are “bottoming out” and that the down-slide is leveling off the discussion has become what the rest of 2010 holds in store. Some say we are entering a Bull market and expect prices to increase from the depressed levels they have reached citing the greatly increased affordability of homes and record low interest rates; others say we are entering a Bear market and that over-supply in the market, largely a result of record foreclosures, will Continue Reading →

St. Louis Foreclosures and Mortgage Delinquencies Hit Record Levels in April

By Dennis Norman, on June 4th, 2010

Dennis Norman

A report released by CoreLogic showed the St. Louis metro area to have a foreclosure rate in April of 1.49 percent up slightly from March’s revised rate of 1.45 percent and an increase of 34.2 percent from the year prior when the rate was 1.11 percent.

The national foreclosure rate for April remains over twice the rate of St. Louis at 3.20 percent and was an increase of 30.1 percent from a year ago when the national foreclosure rate was 2.46 percent. For the State of Missouri the April foreclosure rate was 1.33 percent, a 30.4 Continue Reading →

National Flood Insurance Program Likely to Lapse Again

By Dennis Norman, on May 28th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Talk about the housing market not being able to catch a break….it seems every time something positive happens to give us a little encouragement, something else pops up to give the market another black eye. Here we are less than a month after the home-buyer tax credit deadline has passed and we are seeing reports of home prices dropping again as well as the volume of sales, and now, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is set to expire on May 31st. Of course Congress could extend the program prior to the expiration, but the word Continue Reading →

Tax Credit Deadline Spurs New Home Sales in April; Prices Drop

By Dennis Norman, on May 26th, 2010

Dennis Norman

The U.S. Department of Commerce released a report showing the sale of New Homes in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 504,000, a 14.8 percent increase from the revised March rate of 439,000 and is 47.8 percent above a year ago. The inventory of new homes (seasonally adjusted) at the end of April is just 5.0 months a huge decline from just two months ago when it was 9.2 months.

My Mantra

As has been my long-running mantra, I don’t like “seasonally adjusted” numbers and “rate” of sales (nor does Standard & Poors, Continue Reading →

US Home Prices Fall In First Quarter; St Louis Home Prices Rise

By Dennis Norman, on May 25th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Today the S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for the first quarter of 2010 was released showing that the U.S. National Home Price Index fell 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2010, but remains above it’s level from a year-earlier.

In March, 13 of the 20 MSA’s covered by the Case-Shiller report, as well as both the 10-city and 20-city composites, were down for the month however both the composites as well as 10 of the 20 MSA’s showed year-over-year gains. The report cites the end of the tax incentives and the increasing foreclosure rate as reasons the Continue Reading →

Should You Rent Or Buy A Home?

By Dennis Norman, on May 24th, 2010

New Survey Finds 76 Percent of Consumers now Believe Renting to Be a Better Option Over Homeownership

Advantages Cited Include Flexibility to Move to a Different Location with New Job Opportunities

Dennis Norman

Last month I did a post addressing housing affordability, the cost of renting versus owning a home, and whether the real estate market over the past couple of years was causing the idea of home ownership as the “Great American Dream to “lose some of it’s sizzle?

For this reason I found a survey, conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by the National Apartment Association, Continue Reading →

Existing Home Sales Increase In April As Tax Credits End

By Dennis Norman, on May 24th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Sales increased for second consecutive month-

With the home-buyer tax credits ending April 30th, it’s not surprising that we saw an increase of home sales in March, and now in April, as buyers rushed to buy before the deadline to have a congract of April 30, 2010. According to the latest report from the National Association of REALTORS(R), existing home sales in the US in April increased 7.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 5.77 million units in April from a revised level of 5.36 million units in March, and increased 22.8 percent from a year Continue Reading →

First Quarter Home Sales Up From a Year Ago in many Metro Areas Including St. Louis

By Dennis Norman, on May 12th, 2010

Dennis Norman

According to a report issued by the National Association of REALTORS, a growing number of metropolitan areas are experiencing price gains from a year ago, while most states have seen healthy gains in home sales from the first quarter of 2009.

Here in St. Louis, the median home price for first quarter was $116,100, a 15.1 percent increase from a year ago when the median price was $100,900, however an 8.4 percent decrease from the 4th quarter of 2009 when the median home price for the St. Louis area was $126,800. State-wide, the median home price Continue Reading →

Slight Decline In Number of Underwater Homeowners

By Dennis Norman, on May 11th, 2010

Dennis Norman

According to a report released by CoreLogic, there were 11.2 million homeowners that were in a negative equity, or “underwater“, position on their mortgages as of the end of the first quarter of this year. This number is equal to 24 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage in the U.S., which is the same percentage as the prior quarter, however the actual number of underwater borrowers was down slightly from 11.3 million borrowers that were underwater in the prior quarter. In addition, there are an additional 2.3 million borrowers that have less than five percent Continue Reading →

Mortgage Delinquencies Fall in 1st Quarter; First Decline Since 2006

By Dennis Norman, on May 10th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Consistent with the report on mortgage delinquencies from LPS that I wrote about last week, today TransUnion released it’s report on mortgage delinquencies showing they fell 1.74 percent in the first quarter of this year, which is the first quarterly decline since 2006. This is good news, however, not to rain on the parade, but we do need to remember that the 4th quarter of 2009 had a record-setting mortgage delinquency rate so to have the rate for the following quarter drop simply means, if you want to do the glass half-empty thing, this quarter didn’t Continue Reading →

Fewer Homeowners Falling Delinquent; More Delinquent Borrowers Bringing Payments Current

By Dennis Norman, on May 6th, 2010

Dennis Norman

A report published by Lender Processing Services (LPS) analyzing homeowner’s performance on their mortgages as of March 2010 shows that, while foreclosure and mortgage delinquency rates are still near record levels, the pace may be slowing with fewer new loans becoming delinquent and an increase in the number of people bringing their loans current.

Fewer Borrowers Are Going From Current To Delinquent –

The dark blue line on the chart below represents the number of “new” delinquencies for each period, and as you can see, the number dropped sharply in March for people that moved Continue Reading →

Home Prices and Interest Rates May Offset Loss of Tax Credits

By Dennis Norman, on May 3rd, 2010

61 Percent of Those Looking for or Considering Buying a Home Had No Plans to Use the Tax Credit

Dennis Norman

According to a survey from Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, the majority of people looking for, or considering buying, a home had no plans to take advantage of the First-Time or Move-Up/Repeat Home Buyer Tax Credits.

The survey, which was conducted online during the last week of February 2010, was designed to identify factors affecting today’s home buying decisions. Respondents were people from across the country who were searching for a new home, saving up to Continue Reading →

Case-Shiller Report Has Some Good News On Housing Market; Not Out of The Woods Yet Though

By Dennis Norman, on April 27th, 2010

Dennis Norman

This morning the S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for February was released showing that, for the first time since December, 2006, the annual rates of change for their two composite home-price indices were positive. The 10-City Composite is up 1.4 percent from a year before and the 20-City Composite is up 0.6 percent from the same time last year. Unfortunately, 11 of the 20 cities included in the 20-City Composite had declines from the prior year, meaning that this positive bit of news is not “market-wide” but is the result of some metros with stronger markets.

Continue Reading →