St Louis Home Sales - St Louis Real Estate News

New home sales decline in May; Up over 15 percent from year before

By Dennis Norman, on June 23rd, 2011

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for May 2011 showing a decrease of 2.1 percent from the month before, and an increase of 13.5 percent from a year ago.

The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for May was 319,000 homes, down from 326,000 the month before. The supply of new homes on the market decreased from an adjusted 6.3 month supply the month before to a 6.2 month supply in May. The median new home price increased for the month to $222,600, a 2.6 percent increase from a Continue Reading →

US Existing home sales in May fall to lowest level this year; St. Louis has largest decrease for third consecutive month

By Dennis Norman, on June 21st, 2011

Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in May were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.81 million units which is a decrease of 3.8 percent from the month before and is a decrease of 15.3 percent from a year ago and is the lowest rate of home sales since November 2010 when it was 4.64 million.

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New home construction increases in May; outpacing new home sales by 60 percent

By Dennis Norman, on June 16th, 2011

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for May 2011 showing a 2.5 percent increase in single-family home building permits from the month before, and a 3.7 percent increase in new home starts compared to the month before.

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Down-payment funds available to qualified home-buyers under NSP Program

By David Schott, on June 13th, 2011

The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) was established as a result of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008. It’s purpose is to allow state and local governments to purchase and redevelop abandoned or foreclosed properties in areas in the greatest need of help.

The NSP program is designed to help low, moderate, and middle income families purchase REHABBED foreclosed homes and stimulate the economy. This is a middle income housing program that has an income limit for buyers at 120% of the Area Median Income. It is important to note that NSP is not just for first-time-home Continue Reading →

Harvard University Report Paints Bleak Picture of Housing Market; Present and Future

By Dennis Norman, on June 8th, 2011

The “State of the Nation’s Housing“ Report for 2011 by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University does not paint a very pretty picture of the housing market, nor does it give us a whole lot to look forward to with regard to the near-term future of the U.S. housing market.

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Will jobs fix the housing market or will housing fix the job market?

By Dennis Norman, on June 3rd, 2011

There is a lot of talk in the media today about the poor housing market and how an increase in employment would help bring the housing market back. However, the question is, will a recovery in the job market bring the housing market back, or will a recovery in the housing market bring the job market back?

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Advice for consumers looking to purchase a home or refinance their mortgage; St. Louis mortgage interest rate update

By Robert Fishel, on June 2nd, 2011

Thinking of purchasing a home or refinancing a mortgage? Here are some tips to help make the process smooth:

Know your current situation. Be aware of your credit history; your credit report may contain out of date, or inaccurate items. Carefully review your credit report and make a note of items that should be fixed. It takes time, but you can correct mistakes successfully with a written request to the individual credit bureaus. It is also a good idea to examine your monthly housing expenses to determine how comfortable you are with your budget without sacrificing important necessities.

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St. Louis Home Prices Declined 9.70 Percent in April 2011 Compared to Year Before

By Dennis Norman, on June 1st, 2011

A report released this morning by CoreLogic shows home prices in the St. Louis declined in April 2011 by 9.70 percent from the year before which is a larger decline than the month before when St Louis home prices were down 9.44 percent from the year before. If we take “distressed sales” (foreclosures, REO’s and short-sales) out then home prices declined by 3.53 percent in April from the year before.

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Foreclosures account for 28 percent of all home sales in first quarter 2011; Selling at discount of 27 percent

By Dennis Norman, on May 26th, 2011

RealtyTrac released their foreclosure report this morning for the first quarter of 2011 showing that foreclosure homes (sales of bank-owned homes and those in some stage of foreclosure) accounted for 28 percent of all U.S. residential sales during the quarter. This is up slightly from 27 percent the prior quarter and the highest percentage since the first quarter of 2010, when 29 percent of all sales were foreclosure sales.

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New home sales and prices increase in April; still down over 23 percent from a year ago

By Dennis Norman, on May 24th, 2011

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for April 2011 showing an increase of 7.3 percent from the month before, and a decrease of 23.1 percent from a year ago.

The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for April was 323,000 homes. The supply of new homes on the market decreased from an adjusted 7.2 month supply the month before to a 6.5 month supply in April. The median new home price increased for the month to $217,900, a 1.6 percent increase from a revised median price of $214,500 the Continue Reading →

St. Louis Home Sales Down Over 30 percent in April; Worst decline of 20 major metros

By Dennis Norman, on May 19th, 2011

St. Louis existing-home sales in April were down 30.1 percent from a year ago, after the prior month’s sales were down 20.3 percent from the year prior. This disturbing trend points to a decrease in the number of home sales in St. Louis in 2011 from 2010, even though industry experts are predicting an increase in U.S. existing home sales this year over last.

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Report Shows Little Improvement in Underwater Homeowners

By Dennis Norman, on May 18th, 2011

Negative equity is the dominant factor driving the real estate market according to CoreLogic in it’s “U.S. Housing and Market Trends” report that was released today. According to the report, as of the 4th quarter of 2010, over 11 million (23 percent) of U.S. homeowners with a mortgage were in a negative equity position, meaning they owe more on their mortgages than the current value of their home.

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New Home Construction Declines in April; No Recovery in Site for Builders

By Dennis Norman, on May 17th, 2011

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for April 2011 showing a 1.8 percent decrease in single-family home building permits from the month before, and a 5.1 percent decrease in new home starts compared to the month before.

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Freddie Mac Offering Closing Cost Assistance to Home Buyers

By Dennis Norman, on May 16th, 2011

HomeSteps, the home-sale division of Freddie Mac, announced today it is launching a nationwide sales promotion on it’s inventory of foreclosed homes starting today. The promotion, titled “The HomeSteps Summer Sales Promotion”, is offering up to pay buyer’s closing costs, up to 3.5 percent of the sales price and a bonus to the selling agent for offers on Freddie Mac homes originated between today and July 31st and that close by September 30, 2011.

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Housing and Economic Forecasts Point to Rising Activity and Flat Home Prices

By Dennis Norman, on May 13th, 2011

Speaking yesterday at a forum at a meeting of the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), several industry “experts” had reasonably optimistic opinions of the housing market and expect home sales to continue on an uptrend through 2012.

Among the experts at the forum was, of course, Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for NAR, who said he felt existing home sales would improve gradually, but unevenly. “If we just hold at the first-quarter sales pace of 5.1 million (home sales), sales this year would rise 4 percent, but the remainder of the year looks better,” Yun said. “We expect 5.3 million Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices Down 9.3 Percent from Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on May 10th, 2011

A report released this morning by CoreLogic shows home prices in the St. Louis declined in March by 9.3 percent from the year before which is a larger decline than the month before when St Louis home prices were down 7.24 percent from the year before.

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City of Bellefontaine Neighbors Attacks First Amendment Rights Again

By Dennis Norman, on May 4th, 2011

Well, the City of Bellefontaine Neighbors, in north St. Louis County, is back at it again. As some readers may recall, in February of last year I wrote about the appellant court declaring that an ordinance passed by the City of Bellefontaine Neighbors requiring property owners to apply for an inspection before advertising their home for sale violated their property rights and was unconstitutional. Then, the following month I wrote another article on the subject, this time about how, in spite of the decision of the appellant court, the city of Bellefontaine was still enforcing the ordinance.

So what are Continue Reading →

Report shows foreclosure inventories on the rise; 8 times higher than normal levels

By Dennis Norman, on May 3rd, 2011

A report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, shows that while mortgage delinquencies continue to decline, an enormous backlog of foreclosures still exists and is expected to continue for some time. As of the end of March, foreclosure inventory levels stand at 8 times historical “norms”.

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Pending home sales increase in March; prediction is for an increase in existing home sales this year

By Dennis Norman, on April 28th, 2011

Dennis Norman

The National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for March shows an increase of 5.1 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and a 11.4 percent decrease from a year ago. This is the third-consecutive month over month increase for the pending home sales index.

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Home prices continue to fall and continue to point to double dip in housing market

By Dennis Norman, on April 26th, 2011

Dennis Norman

Today the S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for February was released showing home prices continue to fall and that the housing housing market continues to head toward a double dip in home prices. The report shows their 20-city composite home price index declined by 1.1 percent from the month before and declined by 3.3 percent from a year ago.

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New home sales and prices increase in March

By Dennis Norman, on April 25th, 2011

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for March 2011 showing an increase of 11.1 percent from the month before, and a decrease of 21.9 percent from a year ago.

The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for March was 300,000 homes. The supply of new homes on the market decreased from an adjusted 8.2 month supply the month before to a 7.3 month supply in March. The median new home price increased for the month to $213,800, a 2.9 percent increase from a revised median price of $207,700 the Continue Reading →

Fannie Mae says housing market outlook has not improved

By Dennis Norman, on April 21st, 2011

Fannie Mae released their April 2011 Economic Outlook which, as far as the housing market goes, doesn’t paint a real rosy picture. The Fannie Mae report cites weak home sales in the first part of 2011, distressed sales making up more than a third of those sales and the winding down of various programs that were supporting the housing market as the cause of continued home price decline.

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February home price index hits eight year low; St Louis is sixth best of the 25 metros

By Dennis Norman, on April 21st, 2011

RPX Composite Home Price Fell to Lowest Level since March 2003 – St. Louis ranks 6th of 25 metros on one year rate of change of home prices.

Radar Logic published it’s Housing Market Report for February showing that it’s “RPX Composite Price”, for the 25 metro areas covered by the index, including St. Louis, fell 0.7 percent from January and 4.3 percent from the year before. St. Louis home prices fell 2.4 percent from January and 4.4 percent from a year ago.

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St. Louis home sales and prices both down Over 20 Percent from a year ago

By Dennis Norman, on April 20th, 2011

Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in March were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 5.1 million units which is an increase of 3.7 percent from the month before and is a decrease of 6.3 percent from a year ago.

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New Home Construction Activity Increases in March

By Dennis Norman, on April 19th, 2011

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for March 2011 showing a 5.7 percent increase in single-family home building permits from the month before, and a 7.7 percent increase in new home starts compared to the month before. This comes on the heels of new home construction sinking to a 25 year low last month.

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Private Real Estate Transfer Fees Get Support of Former HUD Secretary

By Dennis Norman, on April 15th, 2011

Private Transfer fees have been something of a hot topic in the real estate community of late and something that has many professionals in the industry in opposite corners. This week, former Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Henry Cisneros, weighed in with his support for private transfer fees in a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

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Foreclosure Activity Decreases 15 Percent during First Quarter of 2011

By Dennis Norman, on April 14th, 2011

The 800 pound gorilla in the room has finally lost some weight!

RealtyTrac released their foreclosure report for the first quarter of 2011 which shows foreclosure filings were reported on 681,153 U.S. properties during the quarter, a 15 percent decrease from the previous quarter and a 27 percent decrease from the first quarter of 2010. St. Louis did not see as big of a decrease but still the numbers are looking better! St. Louis had 5,023 properties with foreclosure filings during the first quarter 2011 which works out to one in every 248 St. Louis properties and represents a Continue Reading →

St. Louis Home Prices Decreased In February; Non-Distressed Sale Prices Stabilizing

By Dennis Norman, on April 7th, 2011

According to a report released this morning by CoreLogic, St. Louis home prices (including distressed sales) declined by 8.29 percent in February 2011 from the year before. The prior month showed home prices had declined 7.24 percent from the year before, so the bad news is this shows home prices are continuing to trend downward. The good news is, if you remove the distressed sales from the mix then St. Louis home prices in February only declined by 1.07 percent from the year before and in the month before declined by 2.38 percent from the year before showing that home Continue Reading →

Low prices and low mortgage rates spurred 2010 vacation home purchases

By Dennis Norman, on March 31st, 2011

More than half a million vacation homes were purchased last year, fueled by low real estate prices, attractive mortgage rates and the potential for price appreciation according to research done by the National Association of REALTORS for HomeAway.

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Shadow Inventory Drops Slightly but still at Nine-Month Supply

By Dennis Norman, on March 30th, 2011

A report released this morning by CoreLogic shows that the current residential “shadow” inventory as of January 2011 declined to 1.8 million units, down slightly from 2.0 million units a year ago. This current shadow inventory represents a 9 month supply, same as the suply a year ago.

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