St Louis Home Sales - St Louis Real Estate News

Is There a Market Correction Coming To The St Louis Real Estate Market?

By Dennis Norman, on July 31st, 2018

This morning I watched a video from a firm that reports on the real industry and does so from a blunt, “call it as they see it”, perspective (pretty much my style too) in which they say “market correction indicators continue to roll in” and suggest that, to some extent, the party is over. This report looked at the national real estate market as a whole and specifically looked at the west coast so is not necessarily indicative of what is happening in the St Louis real estate market, however, can often be an early indicator.

As a result, I Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Trending Downward Slightly

By Dennis Norman, on July 28th, 2018

On a national level, there have been reports lately of slowing home sales evidenced by both new home sales and existing home sales falling in June, housing affordability issues and the like. Here in St Louis, the real estate market continues to perform well, however, indicators are showing a slight downward trend in St Louis home sales.

As the chart below illustrates, there have been 14,268 homes sold through the end of June in the St Louis metro area, a decline of 4.4% from the same period a year ago when there were 14,925 homes sold in St Louis. The Continue Reading →

New Home Sales Rate In The Midwest Decreases In June But Up From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on July 26th, 2018

New homes sold in the Midwest region of the U.S. in June were at a seasonally-adjusted, annual rate of 71,000 homes, according to a report just released by the U.S. Department of Commerce and United States Census Bureau. June’s new home sales activity in the Midwest represents a 13.4% decline from May when new homes in the Midwest sold at an annual rate of 82,000 homes but is a 7.6% increase from June 2017 when the annual rate was 66,000 homes. Last year the rate of new home sales in this region increased every month after June up until December Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – July 2018

By Dennis Norman, on July 17th, 2018

The St Louis real estate market continues to be an enjoyable one for sellers who benefit from the low inventory of homes for sale and somewhat of a challenge for home buyers who face stiff competition. The lack of inventory of available listings has contributed to St Louis home sales this year falling a little behind last years home sales. 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 [xyz-ips snippet=”Market-Update-Video–Inline-Link”] update video. [xyz-ips snippet=”Market-Update-Video-Package”] [xyz-ips snippet=”Seller-Resources—Listing-Targeted”]

St Louis Home Sales Decline Slightly While Prices Rise

By Dennis Norman, on July 10th, 2018

Home sales in St Louis declined a little over 2 percent during the most recent 12-month period from the prior period while the median price of homes sold in St Louis rose 4.4%, according to the latest data from MORE, REALTORS.

St Louis home sales are trending downward slightly as well, as illustrated by the chart below. The light green line depicts year to date home sales for the St Louis 5-county core market (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) and reveals that through June of this year, there have been 13,237 Continue Reading →

Are iBuyers Changing The Way People Sell Their Homes?

By Dennis Norman, on July 1st, 2018

One of the “buzz words” you hear often in the real estate industry today is “disrupter“. To disrupt, by definition, is to “throw into turmoil or disorder, interrupt the progress of (a movement, meeting, etc) or break or split (something) apart.” With dozens and dozens of new startups, new business models and new practices coming upon the real estate scene over the last handful of years, it seems practically everyone wants to disrupt the real estate industry. Why not? Afterall, there was some $70 Billion (yes, Billion with a “B”) in commissions made by residential real estate agents last year Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices And Sales Surge In May Time To Sell Drops

By Dennis Norman, on June 29th, 2018

The St Louis real estate market continues to be a strong one and continues to favor sellers in many cases. As the chart below illustrates, the median price per foot that homes sold for in May (green line) shot up in May to $133 from $129 the month before, a 3.1% increase from the month before and an increase of 6.4% from May 2017 when the price per foot was $125. This increase in home prices didn’t seem to affect St Louis home sales, however, as there were 2,922 homes sold in May, an increase of 24.3% from the month Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Trend Show Lower Rate of Increase

By Dennis Norman, on June 25th, 2018

Homes have sold in the St Louis area at an increasing rate for a little more than 3 years now, however, as the chart below illustrates, the trend is flattening. The chart below, which was created from software our firm developed which compiles data from the MLS, plots homes sales for the past 12 months for each month. So, rather than just seeing the activity for one month and all the seasonal fluctuation, you can actually see the sales trend.

Since March 2015, the 12-month home sales trend has steadily increased at a fairly steady pace however, it appears we Continue Reading →

“MLS Exempt” Listings – Is This Approach Good For Sellers Or Just Listing Agents?

By Dennis Norman, on June 19th, 2018

Something that has become fairly common today in the St Louis real estate market are “MLS exempt” (or “non-MLS”) listings. Also known in the industry as “Pocket Listings“, this refers to a home that is listed with an agent but is not entered into the MLS. When I first enteered the real estate business, back in 1979, these type of listings were known as “Vest Pocket LIstings” with the reason being the agent would instead of turning the listing agreement into his or her office, making everyone aware of it, would keep the listing in their vest pocket so they Continue Reading →

Do Home Prices In A Growth Market Like Wentzville Perform Better Than An Established Market?

By Dennis Norman, on June 8th, 2018

One of the things that often attract homebuyers to a new or expanding area is the availability of new homes at affordable prices. This is something that is hard to find in older areas that have mature real estate markets due to the lack of available ground and the cost of the ground when it does become available. This is, no doubt, one of the things that have been responsible for the population growth in Wentzville in spite of the fact it is in the farthest west most area of St Charles County. As a result, the city of Wentzville Continue Reading →

Home Sales And Price Trends Between St Louis Area Counties

By Dennis Norman, on June 6th, 2018

The five counties I refer to as the “St Louis Core Market“, which include the city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin, account for over 90% of the home sales in the 9 Missouri Counties that are part of the St Louis MSA. This is why I typically focus on those five counties when reporting real estate market stats as they give the “big picture” view of the St Louis market but in a more accurate way than the St Louis MSA stats.

The counties making up the St Louis core market vary Continue Reading →

Jefferson & Franklin County Zips Move To Top of Fastest Selling Zip Code List

By Dennis Norman, on May 29th, 2018

Typically, Franklin County and Jefferson County home sales stats tend to lag behind their “closer in” neighbors of St Louis and St Charles County, however, when it comes to fastest-selling zip codes, the two outlying counties claim the number 1 and number 2 spots, respectively. As the table below shows, homes in the 63072 zip code area (Robertsville) of Franklin County are selling the fastest, based upon average days on market of existing listings which stands at 24 days as of this morning. With an average time on the market of 33 days, the High-Ridge area zip of 63049 in Continue Reading →

Great Scott! The Scott’s Are Buying Out St Louis!

By Dennis Norman, on May 24th, 2018

According to a report just released by ATTOM Data Research, during 2017, there was a 40 percent increase in homes purchased by people with a family name of Scott from the year before making Scott the family name with the largest increase in home purchases in the St Louis MSA during 2017.

This increase of home purchase by “Scott’s” was the largest increase in St Louis home purchases for a family name during 2017. At the other end of the spectrum, the family name of “Martin” saw the largest decline in home purchases with a 26% decline in homes purchased Continue Reading →

Where St Louis Area Homeowners Are Moving

By Dennis Norman, on May 17th, 2018

The St Louis metro area has seen some population growth over the last few decades but not nearly as much as many other areas. From 1975 until last year, the population of the St Louis MSA increased 12.3% from 2,500,100 in 1975 to 2,807,338 in 2017. Of the major counties in Missouri that make up the St Louis MSA, St Charles County gained the most population increasing 248% during the same period. As the table below shows, 4 of the 5 major counties covered saw an increase in population from 1975 to 2017, although St Louis County’s increase was a Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – May 2018

By Dennis Norman, on May 13th, 2018

The low inventory of homes for sale in many areas and price ranges throughout St Louis continues to plague the St Louis housing market and is causing home sales to run behind last years sales. 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. In our MORE, REALTORS, 5 Minute St Louis Real Estate Market Update video below, you can quickly and easily get the latest information on home prices, home sales, trends and more for the entire St Louis area!

Continue Reading →

First-Time Homebuyers; 5 Things You Should Do BEFORE You Buy

By Dennis Norman, on May 10th, 2018

Just over 1 of every three (34%) homebuyers in 2017 were first-time homebuyers according to the With the growing population of millennials reaching an age where many are buying homes, I expect to see the percentage of first-time homebuyers increase over the next couple of years.

Many first-time homebuyers find the home buying process to be a little intimidating which is largely due to just lacking the experience of having done it before and the knowledge that is gained from the experience. However, with a time spent getting educated on the process, the fears can be calmed and the home Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – April 2018

By Dennis Norman, on April 14th, 2018

A low inventory of homes for sale is making it tough on the St Louis real estate market with sales for the first quarter of this year lagging behind last year. St Louis home prices, on the other hand, continue to rise as do the number of “seller’s markets” in St Louis. In fact, as the video shows, the list of buyers markets in the St Louis area is short…in fact the shortest list I can remember. 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 Continue Reading →

New Home Construction Activity Up Slightly In St Louis Area – St Charles County Losing Steam

By Dennis Norman, on April 11th, 2018

New home construction, based upon building permits issued, is up overall for the 7-county area covered in St Louis by the Home Builders Association of St Louis and Eastern Missouri (HBA). For the most recent 12-month period reported for this area, through the end of February 2018, there have been 4,720 single family permits issue versus 4,579 for the prior 12-month period, an increase of 3.08%.

As the table below shows, 5 of the 7 counties reported on by the HBA have seen double-digit increases in new home construction during the past 12-months, Lincoln County and St Charles County being Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices Increase 3.8 Percent In Past Year While Sales Increase About Half As Much

By Dennis Norman, on March 24th, 2018

Home prices in the St Louis 5-County core market increased 3.67 percent in the 12-month period ending February 28, 2018 to a median price of $186,500 from $179,900 for the prior 12-month period. During the same period, home sales in the St Louis 5-County core market increased 1.89% to 27,839 homes sold from 27,323 homes sold during the prior 12-month period.

As our table below shows, there were 1,489 homes sold during February 2018, and are currenlty 4,921 homes listed for sale, computing into a 3.3 month supply of homes for sale, continuing to favor sellers due to the low Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – March 2018

By Dennis Norman, on March 15th, 2018

The real estate market in St Louis, after the first two months, continues to see good price appreciation with home sales on about the same pace as this time last year. 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. In our MORE, REALTORS, 5 Minute“> St Louis Real Estate Market Update video below, you can quickly and easily get the latest information on home prices, home sales, trends and more for the entire St Louis area!

Sell Your Home Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – February 2018

By Dennis Norman, on February 27th, 2018

The real estate market in St Louis is off to a good start for 2018 so far! 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. In our MORE, REALTORS, 5 Minute St Louis Real Estate Market Update video below, you can quickly and easily get the latest information on home prices, home sales, trends and more for the entire St Louis area!

Sell Your Home For The Highest Price In The Least Amount of Time! See how- STLSellersAdvantage.com Save Continue Reading →

New Home Construction In St Louis Area Trending Upward In Most Areas – St Charles County Sees Decline

By Dennis Norman, on February 23rd, 2018

New home construction in the St Louis area is off to a good start for 2018 with a total of 326 building permits for new homes being issued during January for the 7-county St Louis area reported on by the Home Builders Association of Eastern Missouri. This permit activity in January represents an 11% increase over the activity in January 2017 when there were 293 new home permits issued. During the month of January 2018, 4 of 7 counties saw an increase in building permits from January 2017 (Jefferson County +26%, Franklin County +143%, Warren County +1%, St Louis City Continue Reading →

The Impact of the West Lake Landfill Superfund Site On Surrounding Home Vales

By Dennis Norman, on February 21st, 2018

Located at 13570 St Charles Rock Road in Bridgeton Missouri is a 200-acre landfill known as the West Laek Landfill Superfund site which has been the center of controversy and a source of frequent headlines over the past few years. The reason it has garnered so much attention is becuase of health concerns related to radioactive waste at the site. The source of the radioactive waste goes back to 1973 when soil that was mixed iwth leached barium sulfate was used to cover the landfill. The radioactive waste came from a nearby storage and processing facility located at 9200 Latty Continue Reading →

Looking Back – 2017 Was A Good Year For Real Estate In The St Louis Area

By Dennis Norman, on February 4th, 2018

Last year was a good year for the St Louis real estate market evidenced by increased home prices and sales in all counties in and around St Louis from the year before, with the lone exception being Franklin County which saw a decline in both home sales and prices from the year before.

As the table below illustrates, the St Louis MSA as a whole saw median home prices increase 2.99% in 2017 from the year before and home sales increase 4.14% during the same period. Date for the other counties is shown as well by clicking on the table.

Continue Reading →

St Louis Area Cities Where Homes Sold The Fastest In 2017

By Dennis Norman, on January 30th, 2018

The St Louis area real estate market had a good year in 2017 with strong sales and sustainable home price growth throughout the area. One of the challenges to the market was a result of a low inventory of homes for sale which forced home buyers to move quickly when a new listings hit the market. This resulted in homes selling very quickly in popular areas and areas of high demand.

Where in St Louis did homes sell the quickest in 2017?

As our table below shows, Grantwood Village, a quaint Village with about 900 residents Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate Market Update VIDEO – January 2018

By Dennis Norman, on January 23rd, 2018

The St Louis real estate market closed out 2017 with an increase in both home sales and prices from the year before, both at a healthy and, hopefully, sustainable rates. 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. In our MORE, REALTORS, 5 Minute St Louis Real Estate Market Update video below, you can quickly and easily get the latest information on home prices, home sales, trends and more for the entire St Louis area!

Sell Your Home For Continue Reading →

Want To Sell Your Home? We Know The Name Of The Likely Buyer!

By Dennis Norman, on January 4th, 2018

When you interview real estate agents to consider them to list your home there are all sorts of claims they can make as to what they will do different, or how they will get your home sold quicker, for more, etc. But how about this one? I can tell you the name of the person likely to buy your home!

Well, maybe I should add a caveat or two…

I can tell you that, in an analysis of over 4 million home sales during 2017 done by ATTOM Data Solutions, it was revealed where there were the largest increases, Continue Reading →

St Charles County Home Sales Trend Downward Over Past 12 Months- Prices Trend Upward

By Dennis Norman, on December 31st, 2017

Home sales and home prices in St Charles County during the 12-month period ending November 30, 2017, are trending in opposite directions. Home sales in St Charles County have, as the chart below reveals, declined 5.7% from 6,155 home sales for the 12 month period ended November 30, 2016 to 5,806 home sales for the period ended November 30, 2017. The median price per foot for homes sold during these same periods however have increased 2.4% from $127 per foot for the period ended November 2016 to $130 per foot for the period ended November 30, 2017.

St Charles County Continue Reading →

St Louis City & County Home Sales Trend Downward Over Past 12 Months- Prices Trend Upward

By Dennis Norman, on December 30th, 2017

Home sales and home prices in St Louis city and St Louis County during the 12-month period ending November 30, 2017, are trending in opposite directions. Home sales, for these two areas combined, have, as the chart below reveals, declined 4.2% from 44,823 home sales for the 12 month period ended November 30, 2016 to 42,958 home sales for the period ended November 30, 2017. The median price per foot for homes sold during these same periods however have increased 3.7% from $107 per foot for the period ended November 2016 to $111 per foot for the period ended November Continue Reading →

Top Ten St Louis Zip Codes Where Homes Sell For Highest Price Per Foot

By Dennis Norman, on December 28th, 2017

If you have read any of my articles here about home prices previously, you will probably know that I feel price per foot is the best way to compare home prices. Looking at home prices in this manner makes it easier to do apples to apples comparison on home prices. Speaking of apples, they are a good analogy. Apples generally are sold by the pound, which makes it easier to figure out whether the 3lb bag for $5.25 or the 12 lb bag for $19.20 is a better deal. On the surface, if we just went by the gross sales Continue Reading →