Payments On Typical St Charles County Home Over 13 Percent Cheaper Today Than Year Ago

The typical median-priced existing home sold for $233,000 in February 2019 and a year later, as the chart below shows, in February 2020 the typical median-priced home sold for $235,000, an increase of just under 1%. Here’s the beauty though, thanks to interest rates dropping from an average of 4.41% a year ago to 3.29% today, even with the slight increase in price, the typical St Charles County home costs less today than a year ago! Not just by a little either as the payment on the median price a year ago (no money down) would have been $1,178.18 at Continue Reading →

Home Sales In St Louis 5-County Core Market Have Trended Upward Last 3 Years – Time To Sale Rises Sharply

Home sales in St Louis have trended upward over the past 3 years with 25,450 homes sold during 2017 (non-distressed sales only), 25,804 during 2018 and 25,962 homes during 2019. As the chart below shows, the days on market (time to sell a home) was 19 days in 2017, declined to 17 days in 2018 and then jumped sharply to 32 days during 2019. The bottom chart shows data for the past 12-months and, as it reveals, the time to sell a home has continued to upward during 2020 thus far with the time in January rising to 47 days.

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St Louis Metro Area Home Sales Increase Nearly 2 Percent In Past 12 Months

There were 35,702 homes sold in the St Louis metro area in the 12-month period ended January 31, 2020, an increase of nearly 2 percent (1.97%) from the prior 12-month period when there were 35,013 homes sold. As MORE, RELATORS exclusive STL Market Report below shows, the median price of homes sold in St Louis during the most recent period was $195,000, an increase of 4 percent from the prior 12-month period.

Search St Louis Homes For Sale    Search St Louis Upcoming OPEN HOUSES Home Sales St Louis MSA – Past 12 Months vs Prior 12 Months

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Distressed Home Sales In St Louis MSA Fall Nearly 25 Percent In Past 12 Months

Thanks to a booming economy and strong housing market, distressed home sales in the St Louis Metro Area declined by nearly 25 percent (23.42%) in the 12-month period ended January 31, 2020 from the prior 12-month period. As our exclusive, STL Market Report below shows, there were 1,887 distressed home sales (foreclosures, REO’s and short sales)in the most recent 12-month period compared with 2,464 in the prior 12-month period. The median home price of the distressed homes sold declined 1.79% during the same period, from a median price of $56,000 in the prior period to $55,000 in the most recent Continue Reading →

Ferguson’s Housing Market Six Years Later

It’s been over six years since the shooting of Michael Brown brought riots to the streets of Ferguson and national attention on the small north county municipality. The end result was quite devastating to businesses and the community as a whole and many predicted Ferguson’s demise.

One year later, I did an analysis of the impact on the housing market in an article on St Louis Real Estate News in which I revealed market data showing that while the results were somewhat mixed, the housing market in Ferguson didn’t really appear to have been too negatively impacted at the time.

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Why I’m Bullish On Real Estate For 2020

As you may have noticed, I’ve been pretty optimistic about the outlook for the real estate market this year however, that is not always the case as I call it like I see it. The reason for my optimism is based upon what a true data geek like myself would base it upon, data! So, what’s the data that has me believing 2020 will be a good year for the housing market in St Louis and beyond? Several things:

As I have been reporting here for the past couple of years now, mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates have continued to Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – February 2020 – Home Sales Trend Going Into 2020 Looking Good

The St Louis real estate market is off to a good start for 2020! The home sales trends going into this year are encouraging and, coupled with the strong economy we are in, has me very confident that 2020 is going to be a great year for the St Louis real estate market! MORE buying power! In addition, long term mortgage interest rates just dropped again giving buyers more buying power! See the example in my video of just how much less a home will cost you today payment-wise than 14 months ago, even after appreciation has pushed prices up. Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Trend Jumps Up In December Stays Steady In January

The St Louis home sales trend jumped in December when sales for the prior 12-months broke through the 27,000 mark to 27,149. The trend continued into January of this year, as there were 27,159 homes sold in the 12-month period ended January 31, 2020. This is a good start for 2020 and is a great leading indicator of how the market is going to do this year. Add lower mortgage interest rates to this (the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 3.45% last week) and the strongest economy in decades and we have a recipe for a great housing market!

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New Homes Sales In 2019 Drop From Year Before In Midwest

There were 70,000 new homes sold in the Midwest Region of the United States during 2019, a decline of 7.2% from 2018 when there were 76,000 new homes sold, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

As the table below shows, there were 40,000 new homes for sale in the Mideast at the end of 2019, which translates into roughly a 7 month supply of new homes for sale.

New Homes Sold In Midwest – 2018-2019

(in thousands)

Search St Louis Homes For Sale    Search St Louis New Homes For Sale Continue Reading →

St Louis’ Core Market Home Sales Ends 2019 Slightly Ahead of 2018

Throughout 2019 St Louis home sales were running slightly behind the prior year and looked like that is how the year would end but, thanks to a strong finish, St Louis home sales for 2019 ended up being slightly higher than the year before. As the report below shows, the 5-county core St Louis real estate market (without distressed sales) ended 2019 with 25,946 home sales, up 0.71% from the year before when there we 25,674 homes sold. The median price of homes sold during 2019 (non-distressed) was $215,000, an increase fo 4.88% from the year before when the median Continue Reading →

Why Accurate Home Price And Sales Data Is Vital To Buyers and Sellers

I’ll concede the fact that not everyone is as much of a data geek as I am and, in fact, a more accurate statement would probably be that most people are not, including the majority of home buyers and sellers. Sure, home buyers and sellers are interested in home prices and what the potential value of the home is they are looking to buy or sell, but most leave the real data analysis to their agent. After all, part of being a professional real estate agent is knowing the market as well as knowing how to research the market and Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Fare Better Against Prior Year Than Condo Sales

There were 3,637 condos sold in the St Louis 5-County Core market during 2019, a decline of 2.28% from 2018 when there were 3,722 condos sold. As I reported yesterday, 2019 St Louis home sales were down 1.18% in 2019, just over half of the rate of decline of condo sales.

As the STL Market Report below shows (available exclusively through MORE, REALTORS), the median price of condos sold during 2019 was $155,000, an increase of 4.15% from the year before. In contrast, home prices increased by 5.85% during the same period.

Going into 2020, the inventory of homes for Continue Reading →

St Louis Area Home Sales For 2019 Fall A Little Short of 2018

There were 27,076 homes sold in the St Louis 5-County Core market during 2019, a decline of 1.18% from 2018 when there were 27,399 homes sold. As the STL Market Report below shows (available exclusively through MORE, REALTORS), the median price of homes sold during 2019 was $208,000, an increase of 5.85% from the year before.

Going into 2020, the inventory of homes for sale remains low and favors sellers. Currently, the supply of homes for sale is just over 2 months.

Search St Louis Homes For Sale    Search St Louis Upcoming OPEN HOUSES STL Market Report For Continue Reading →

Home Sales Trend In St Louis 5-County Core Market Falls To Lowest Level In Over 3 Years

After peaking in May 2018 with 27,829 homes sold in the prior 12-months, the St Louis home sales trend has trended downward to 26,830 homes sold in the 12-month period ended November 30, 2019. This marks the lowest home sales trend for the St Louis 5-County core market in over three years.

In spite of this statistical fact, it should be noted that the difference in home sales for the 12-month period ended November 30, 2019, from the same period a year ago, is just under 3%, so it is a pretty modest decline.

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St Charles County Home Sales Trend On Rise For 2nd Consecutive Month

The home sales trend was, as our chart below illustrates, on the decline in St Charles County since summer last year but then, in October reversed course. Now, for the second-consecutive month, the St Charles County home sales trend is on the rise possibly confirming that September 2019 was the bottom, with 5,761 homes sold in the 12-month period ending in September. For the 12-month period ended November 30, 2019, there were 5,814 homes sold or just under 1% more than when sales hit the bottom in September. The period ended in November saw just 23 more homes sold then Continue Reading →

Should You Keep Your Home On The Market Over Christmas?

Most home buyers and sellers understand the seasonality of the residential real estate market with spring being the “hot” market and winter being a slow one. This often leads to many sellers with homes that have not sold, opting to take them off the market until after the holidays with the plan to come back when the market gets better. Is this a good plan though? As a seller are you missing out on selling your home by taking your home off the market at a time when there is so little competition and at a time that the buyers Continue Reading →

St Charles County Home Sales Trend On The Rise After Hitting Bottom in September

The home sales trend in St Charles County peaked in April 2017 with 6,118 homes sold in the 12-month period ended April 30, 2017. Since then, the home sales trend fell to closer to the 6,000 home mark until hitting a near peak again in August 2018 with 6,111 homes sold in the 12 month period ending that month. After that, the home sales trend in St Charles County has fairly consistently trended downward until hitting bottom in September with 5,759 homes sold in the 12-month period ended September 30, 2019, nearly a 6% fall in home sales from the Continue Reading →

Cyber Monday Real Estate Deals?

Are you one of those people like me that didn’t go out and fight the crowds on Black Friday in search of deals and instead waited until today to catch the Cyber Monday deals online from the comfort of your home or office? Or perhaps you were out Friday shopping and now you are back at it online? In any event, don’t forget that Cyber Monday deals come 7 days a week this time of the year in real estate! That’s right! Like I discussed here on Black Friday, some of the best deals of the year on St Louis Continue Reading →

Black Friday Shopping? Buy a house and save a bunch of money!

As you get ready to head to the stores today for all those Black Friday bargains, perhaps you should jump on St Louis Real Estate Search and find a few houses to look at as well? Well, if you have been thinking about buying a home, you would do well to buy now rather than wait for spring. As the table below shows, based upon data just released from ATTOM Data Solutions, people in Missouri that buy homes in October, November or December get the best deals of the year! This may account for the fact that there were 25% Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Trending Upward Slightly

After peaking in May 2018 with 27,829 homes sold in the prior 12-months, the St Louis home sales trend has trended downward until hitting 26,852 homes sold in the 12-month period ended August 31, 2019. However, for the two months since this low, St Louis home sales have trended upward slightly, reaching 26,888 homes sold in the 12-month period ended October 31, 2019.

Search St Louis Homes For Sale    Search St Louis Upcoming OPEN HOUSES St Louis 5-County Core Market Home Sales Trend – Past 5 Years

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St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – November 2019 – Low-Interest Rates And Consistent Sales Trends

The St Louis real estate market trends remain steady and consistent! The St Louis home sales and price trends give me an optimistic outlook for next year. Low-interest rates continue to offset some of the cost of the increases in home prices that have occurred. Find out more, as well as get information on some of St Louis’s best resources for home buyers and sellers in our just-released market update video.

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Actual “Cost” Of St Louis Home Today Over 7 Percent Lower Than Year Ago

Thanks to a strong economy and low-interest rates, the actual cost of a home today in St Louis is lower than it was a year ago, in spite of the fact that the median price of homes sold in St Louis has increased by 5.64% in the past year. Most people buying a typical home in St Louis finance nearly all of the purchase price, therefore, the cost of financing plays a significant role in the true cost of a home. Buyers decide what they can afford (as do lenders) based upon the house payment, not the price of the Continue Reading →

Jefferson County Home Prices Increase Nearly 7 Percent In Past Year

The median price of homes sold in Jefferson County during the past 12-months was $179,900, an increase of 6.83% from the prior 12-month period when the median price was $168,400. As the STL Market Report (an exclusive report available only from MORE, REALTORS®) shows, home sales declined slightly (1%) during the same period and the inventory remains low with a listing supply of just 2.74 months.

As the STL Market Chart at the bottom illustrates (also exclusively available only from MORE, REALTORS®), home prices in Jefferson County have had the normal, seasonal, fluctuations but have been steadily trending upward over Continue Reading →

St Louis County Home Sales Trend Down From A Year Ago But Remains Steady

There were 13,181 homes sold in St Louis County in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2019, a decline of 3.2% from a year ago when there were 13,618 homes sold in the prior 12-months. For September, the home sale trend ticked upward slightly and has been fairly steady the prior 4 months.

Prices on the rise and inventory is low in St Louis County..

As the STL Market Report for St Louis County below the chart shows, there is just a 2.45 month supply of homes for sale in St Louis County and the median price of homes sold Continue Reading →

St Charles County Home Prices Increase By Over 6 Percent In Past Year

The median price of homes sold in St Charles County during the past 12-months was $243,900, an increase of 6.09% from the prior 12-month period when the median price was $229,900. As the STL Market Report (an exclusive report available only from MORE, REALTORS®) shows, home sales declined over 5 percent during the same period and the inventory remains low with a listing supply of just 2.37 months.

As the STL Market Chart at the bottom illustrates (also exclusively available only from MORE, REALTORS®), home prices in St Charles County have had the normal, seasonal, fluctuations but have been steadily Continue Reading →

Jefferson County Home Sales Trend Holds Steady

There were 3,379 homes sold in Jefferson County in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2019, a very slight decline of about 1% from a year ago when there were 3,413 homes sold in the prior 12-months. For the past three months, the 12-month home sales trend in Jefferson County has been amazingly consistent, with data for July and September being identical and August being off by just 1 home sale.

Prices on the rise and inventory is low in Jefferson County..

As the STL Market Report for Jefferson County below the chart shows, there is just a 2.75 month Continue Reading →

St Louis Area Home Price Appreciation Tops 5 Percent In Past Year

The median price of homes sold in the St Louis 5-County Core Market during the past 12-months was $205,000, an increase of 5.13% from the prior 12-month period when the median price was $195,000. As the STL Market Report (an exclusive report available only from MORE, REALTORS®) shows, home sales declined nearly 3 percent during the same period and the inventory remains low with a listing supply of just 2.53 months.

As the STL Market Chart at the bottom illustrates (also exclusively available only from MORE, REALTORS®), home prices in the St Louis 5-County Core Market have had the normal, Continue Reading →

St Charles County Home Sales Trend Falls Back To Early 2016 Levels

There were 5,755 homes sold in St Charles County in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2019, a decline of 5.2% from a year ago when there were 6,070 homes sold in the prior 12-months. This is the lowest 12-month trend since February 2016 when there were 5,676 homes sold in the prior 12-months.

As the chart below illustrates, even with the declining trend in home sales in St Charles County, it is still significantly higher than back in 2014 and 2015.

Lack of listings in St Charles could be part of the problem…

As the STL Market Report for Continue Reading →

St Louis Is Number One Market For Flipping Homes

St Louis is the top marketing for flipping homes, according to an article published yesterday on Realtor.com. It’s not all just flipping activity however in the article a very notable and credible St Louis industry source (unabashed self-promotion) stated that “flipping is more common in homes in the $175,000-plus range, while many of those listed for $125,000 and less are being turned into rentals, says Norman.”

The Realtor.com article gave an overview of the market data I produced for them so I wanted to share the market data behind the overview.

St Louis Neighborhoods With Large Investor Presence:

63137 Zip Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Continue Downward Trend

Home sales in the St Louis 5-County Core Market for the 12-month period ended September 30th, 2019 were down just over 3% from the same period a year ago. During the same period, home prices in the St Louis 5-County Core market increased a little over 5% as the report below from MORE, REALTORS shows.

Inventory of homes for sale still favors sellers…

As the report shows, there is just a 2.44 month supply of homes for sale in the St Louis core market which means the St Louis market is still very much a seller’s market.

Search St Continue Reading →