St Louis Home Sales - St Louis Real Estate News

St Louis Pending Home Sales Slip In June-YTD Down From Last Year

By Dennis Norman, on July 28th, 2014

St Louis pending home sales slipped slightly in June with 2,301 pending home sales for the 5-county core St Louis market (St Louis City and the County’s of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin), a decline of 2 percent from the Month before when there were 2,350 pending home sales. Pending home sales in St Louis in June were up 5.18% from June of last year, however, year-to-date pending home sales through June 30th of this year is at 11,606, down 7 percent from this time last year when there were 12,476 homes sold during the same period.

Below Continue Reading →

St Louis County Property With Delinquent Taxes To Be Sold At Tax Sale

By Dennis Norman, on July 24th, 2014

St Louis County will hold it’s annual sale of tax delinquent property next month on August 25, 2014, beginning at 10:00 am in the County Council Chambers in the County Administration Building in Clayton. To be eligible to bid you must register prior to bidding. Registration will begin at 8:30 am on the tax sale day in the office of the Collector of Revenue in the County Administration Building.

A complete list of all properties available for bid, as well as complete instructions on how to participate in the tax sale, can be found online here.

For more Continue Reading →

Will Paying A Higher Commission Rate Get Your Home Sold Faster?

By Dennis Norman, on July 23rd, 2014

During the 30+ years I have been in the real estate business I have debated this topic with my peers more times than I can possibly count and, it’s safe to say, rarely did we reach a consensus. The topic of commissions is a very sensitive one in this industry and there are strong opinions on both sides of the fence as to whether offering a higher commission rate to the selling agent will in fact get a home sold faster.

Before I go further I should pause and give some quick background info on real estate commissions and how Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales and Prices Increase From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on July 22nd, 2014

St Louis Home Sales as well as St Louis home prices have increased in the past year 3,179 homes sold in June 2014 in the St Louis core market (St Louis city and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) an increase of 3 percent from June 2013 when there were 3,086 homes sold. During this same period, St Louis home prices increased 5.81 percent from a median price of $155,000 in June 2013 to a median price of $164,000 in June 2014, according to the latest data available from MORE, REALTORS.

As Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices and Sales Market Update VIDEO-July 2014

By Dennis Norman, on July 10th, 2014

More than 15 neighborhoods in the St Louis area are HOT SELLERS MARKETS while more than 15 are HOT MARKETS FOR BUYERS. If you are a home buyer, seller or investor, wouldn’t it be good to know where these areas are? Or, if you are a homeowner that has considered selling your home, wouldn’t it be good to know if your neighborhood is currently a sellers market? Well, you can find out all of this and much more with just a 5 minute investment of your time by checking out our July 2014 5-Minute Market Update Video below.

Many areas Continue Reading →

Pending Home Sales Rise In May But Lagging Behind Last Year

By Dennis Norman, on June 30th, 2014

Pending homes sales increased in May, up 6.1 percent from April, however was still 5.2 percent below the period a year ago, according to the report just released today from the National Association of REALTORS (NAR).

Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for NAR, said he expects home sales to continue improving throughout the balance of the year however still expects 2014 to see fewer home sales than 2013 due to the “ sluggish first quarter”.

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New Home Sales In Midwest Up Almost 6 Percent In May From Last Year

By Dennis Norman, on June 26th, 2014

New home sales in the midwest region during May 2014 increased 5.7 percent from a year ago, according to the latest information from the U.S. Census Bureau. New homes sales in the midwest region of the U.S. were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 74,000 homes during May. New home sales for the month before, April 2014, were adjusted downward to an annual rate of 73,000 homes after first being reported at a rate of 84,000 homes.

The midwest region had the smallest month over month, as well as year-over-year, increase in new home sales of the four U.S. regions Continue Reading →

St Louis Foreclosures and Short Sales Fall By Over 25 Percent

By Dennis Norman, on June 24th, 2014

St Louis Foreclosures, and short sales, in May 2014 accounted for just 8.5% of all home sales in the St Louis core market (city of St Louis and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin), according to data released just this morning from RealtyTrac. This is a decline of 26.7% from May 2013 when foreclosures and short sales in St Louis accounted for 11.6% of all home sales.

Search St Louis Foreclosures For Sale

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St Louis Lofts Making Comeback

By Dennis Norman, on June 24th, 2014

St Louis Lofts are making a comeback both in popularity and price, according to the latest data available from Mid America Regional Information Systems (MARIS), the St Louis REALTOR® MLS. As the charts below show, loft sales in St Louis peaked in 2006 (when all real estate peaked) with sales of lofts hitting 218 for the year and the median price of lofts sold that year coming in at a record $215,700. After 2006 however, sales fell year after year finally hitting a low in 2010 when only 67 lofts were sold, a decline of almost 70% from the peak. Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices Increased Four Percent In Past Year on Fewer Sales

By Dennis Norman, on June 23rd, 2014

St Louis Home Prices rose 4 percent from May 2013’s median sales price of $150,000 to May 2014’s median price of $156,000 for the 5-county core St Louis housing market which consists of the City of St Louis and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin, according to the latest data released by MORE, REALTORS. As the table below shows, the city of St Louis saw the biggest gain in median home prices with the median sales price increasing over 27% from May 2013 to May 2014.

St Louis Home Sales are still Continue Reading →

St Louis Inventory of Homes For Sale Drying Up In Many Areas

By Dennis Norman, on June 13th, 2014

The inventory of homes for sale in several St Louis neighborhoods is down to the lowest level we have seen in years. It would be great if that was the result of skyrocketing home sales however, it’s really a combination of home sales and a lack of sellers. While there are many different reasons people are not choosing to sell right now, I believe it is a lack of equity that is holding back many homeowners from selling, particularly in the lower price ranges. Last month I did an article about the fact that 40 percent of St Louis homeowners Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices and Sales Market Update VIDEO-June 2014

By Dennis Norman, on June 12th, 2014

St Louis home prices have, in some areas, recovered to around 95% of home prices during the peak of the housing bubble. Get the specifics on this as well as much more in our June 2014 5-Minute Market Update Video below.

Many areas of St Louis have become sellers markets due to increasing demand and lack of inventory. If you have considered selling, or perhaps tried and failed in the past year or so, now is the time to consider it again. Give us a call and we’ll be happy to let you know the value of your home in Continue Reading →

New Home Construction Needs to Increase to Match Job Growth According to REALTORS®

By Dennis Norman, on June 10th, 2014

New home construction is not keeping up with demand in most of the U.S. and could even lead to “persistent housing shortages and affordability issues unless housing starts increase to match up with local job creation”, according to a newly released analysis by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, discussed in the report the relationship between new jobs and increased demand for housing saying “Historically, there’s one new home construction for every one-and-a-half new jobs,”. Yun goes on to say “Our analysis found that a majority of states are constructing too few homes in relation Continue Reading →

Distressed Home Sales in St Louis Metro Area Fall Almost 30 Percent From A Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on May 29th, 2014

Distressed home sales in St Louis accounted for just under eleven percent (10.7%) of all home sales in the St Louis MSA in April 2014, according to data released just this morning from RealtyTrac. This is a decline of 29.1% from April 2013 when distressed home sales in St Louis were responsible for 15.1% of all home sales. Distressed home sales include short-sales (when sellers sell for less than they owe with the agreement of their lender), REO’s (bank-owned real estate acquired through foreclosure and now being resold) and foreclosure auction sales (when homes are actually sold at foreclosure).

Since Continue Reading →

St Louis Area Home Prices Rose Just Over 2 Percent in Past Year

By Dennis Norman, on May 27th, 2014

St. Louis area home prices (the five county “core” market consisting of St Louis city and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Franklin and Jefferson) increased 2.2% from April 2013 to April 2014. The median home sales price in April 2013 for the 5 county core St Louis housing market was $139,900 and in April 2014 the median sales price was $143,000.

When we drill down to the county level, as the table below shows, the city of St Louis fared the best in the past year with the median sales price of homes increasing 32.62% and Franklin County Continue Reading →

New Home Sales In the Midwest Up 35 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on May 26th, 2014

New home sales in the midwest in April increased 35.5 percent from a year ago, according to the latest information from the U.S. Census Bureau. New homes sales in the midwest region of the U.S. were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 84,000 homes, an increase of 47.4% from March’s rate of 57,000 homes.

The midwest region had the largest increase in new home sales in April from the month before and was the only region in the U.S. that had an increase in home sales in April 2014 from April 2013.

See St Louis New Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Lagging Behind Last Year

By Dennis Norman, on May 22nd, 2014

St Louis Home Sales this year continue to be at a slower pace than last year with a total of 7,946 homes sold through the end of April, a decline of 11.5% from the same period last year when there were 8,978 homes sold in the St Louis core market (city of St Louis and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin). During April 2014, there were 22,457 homes sold in the St Louis core market, a decline of 9% from a year ago when there were 2,710 homes sold.

St Louis Home Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices and Sales Market Update VIDEO-May 2014

By Dennis Norman, on May 21st, 2014

The St Louis real estate market continues to show signs of improvement with lack of inventory begin the biggest problem in many markets. If you have considered selling, or perhaps tried and failed in the past year or so, now is the time to consider it again. Give us a call and we’ll be happy to let you know the value of your home in today’s market or, try our new online home valuation site and find your homes value in under a minute – go to StLouisHousePrices.com and find your home’s value now! Get complete information on the market Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales in 2014 Lagging Behind Last Year

By Dennis Norman, on April 25th, 2014

St Louis Home Sales are off to a slower start in 2014 than they were last year with a total of 5,467 homes sold during the first quarter of 2014 in the St Louis core market (city of St Louis and the counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin), a decline of 12.8% from last year when there were 6,268 homes sold during the same period. For March 2014, there were 2,194 homes sold in the St Louis core market, a decline of 19% from last March when there were 2,709 homes sold.

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St Louis Distressed Home Sales Down From a Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on April 24th, 2014

St Louis distressed home sales declined during the first quarter of this year with distressed home sales (foreclosures, REO’s and short sales) in the 5-county core St Louis market (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) accounting for 15.0% of all home sales, This is down 18.5% from the first quarter of 2013 when St Louis distressed home sales accounted for 18.4% of all home sales, according to newly released data from RealtyTrac. As the table below shows, all the counties that make up the core of the St Louis real estate market Continue Reading →

New Home Sales Slide In March

By Dennis Norman, on April 23rd, 2014

New home sales here in the midwest slid over percent (21.5) in March from the month before making the midwest the region of the US with the biggest decline in new home sales from February with the west being next with a decline of 16.7 percent. This is on the heels of a 36.7% increase in home sales in February from the month before. Nationally, new home sales in March 2014 were down 14.5 percent from the month before, according to a report just released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a year-over-year basis, new home sales in the Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices and Sales Market Update VIDEO-April 2014

By Dennis Norman, on April 14th, 2014

St Louis home prices have increased over the past year however at the same time St Louis home sales have declined. Spring is finally here (although as I write this I think the forecast is for a low of 28 degrees tonight) and there is definitely increased market activity. The inventory of homes for sale is down from this time last year, but the months supply is up due to decreased home sales. If home sales increase a little, suddenly the months supply is going to drop due to the low inventory and we will definitely see market pressure for Continue Reading →

Investment Property Sales Fall in 2013

By Dennis Norman, on April 4th, 2014

Investment property sales in 2013 fell to 1,104,000 properties, down 8.5 percent from 2012 when there were 1,2o7,000 investment properties sold, according to a report just released by the National Association of REALTORS. The median sale price of investment homes purchased during 2013 was $130,000, a 13% increase from 2012 when the median price was $115,000.

Who is the typical real estate investor?

According to the NAR report, the typical home investor in 2013 was a median age of 42 years, had a median household income of $111,400 and more than half (59%) were in a two income household.

What Continue Reading →

Vacation Home Market Surges In 2013

By Dennis Norman, on April 2nd, 2014

The vacation home market was hot last year with 717,000 vacation-home sales during the year in the U.S., an increase of 29.7% from the year before, according to the National Association of REALTOR’s (NAR) 2014 Vacation Home Buyers Survey. In spite of the large increase last year, vacation home sales are still down about one-third from the peak of vacation home sales activity seen in 2006.

What did vacation homes sell for in 2013?

The median price paid for a vacation home in 2013 was $168,700, an increase of 12.5% from 2012 when the median price was $150,000. In Continue Reading →

St Louis Pending Home Sales Decline

By Dennis Norman, on March 28th, 2014

St Louis pending home sales were down in February from a year ago and, thus far, 2014 is off to a slower pace than 2013 in terms of St Louis area home sales. For the 3-county area, which includes St Louis county, St Charles county and the city of St Louis, there were a total of 2,249 pending home sales in February, down 21% from February 2013 when there were 2,848. Year to date through the end of February, there have been 4,433 pending home sales in that 3-county area, down 20.4% from a year ago when there were 5,569.

Continue Reading →

New Home Sales In The Midwest Spike In February

By Dennis Norman, on March 26th, 2014

New home sales in the midwest region of the U.S. shot up 36.7 percent in February from the month before and was up 1.5 percent from February 2013, according to a report just released by the U.S. Commerce Department. New home sales in the Midwest were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 67,000 homes, up from a rate of 49,000 homes the month before and up slightly from a year ago when new homes in the midwest were selling at at a rate of 66,000 homes per year.

Actual new home sales in the midwest for the first two months Continue Reading →

One of every 11 renters in St Louis plans to buy a home in next year

By Dennis Norman, on March 19th, 2014

According to a survey just released by Pulsenomics LLC, almost one of every 11 renters in St Louis (9%) plan to buy a home in the next year and 5 percent of all households said they plan to buy. The survey, which covered 20 major metro areas in the U.S., calculated a “Housing Confidence Index” for each city based upon the survey responses and St Louis, with a 58.9 out of a possible 100, was at the bottom of the list for the 20 cities. However, on the “Homeownership Aspirations Index“, a barometer of the level at which current renters Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices and Sales Market Update VIDEO-March 2014

By Dennis Norman, on March 12th, 2014

Don’t shoot the messenger, but I have to tell you I’m not feeling quite as warm and fuzzy about the St Louis real estate market as I was a couple of months ago. In February, there were 1,623 homes sold in the 5-county core St Louis market, a decline of over 14% from February of last year when there were 1,898 homes sold. Also, 2014 is starting out sluggish with just 3,225 homes sold in the first two months, 14.5% less than this time last year when there were 3,774 homes sold. There are definitely encouraging things as well, such Continue Reading →

Who Are Today’s Home Buyers?

By Dennis Norman, on March 11th, 2014

Today’s home buyers are young, according to the Generational Trends Study published by the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), which indicates 31% of all recent home purchases were made by the Millenials, also known as Generation Y, which are people born between 1980 and 1995. The next most active generation in terms of home buying is Generation X, people born between1965 and 1979, which accounted for 30% of all recent home sales, according to the NAR report.

Who they are and what they buy:[iframe http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FStLouisRealEstateNews&send=false&layout=standard&width=50&show_faces=false&font&colorscheme=light&action=like&height=35&appId=537283152977556 100 35 ]

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Are Distressed Home Sales Gone From St Louis?

By Dennis Norman, on March 1st, 2014

Not long ago distressed home sales (foreclosures, short sales, REO’s, etc) were a dominant force in the St Louis real estate market, accounting for a good portion of St Louis area home sales. Today, however, with a few exceptions, they have all but left the St Louis real estate market. As far as the St Louis housing market is concerned, this is a good thing, for home buyers and investors looking for what are often bargain prices as a result, they may have different thoughts.

As the table below for the five St Louis counties that Continue Reading →