New Home Construction Trending Downward in Over Half The St Louis Area Counties

For the 12-month period ended March 31, 2019, there were building permits issued for 748 new homes in St Louis County, a decline of 23.60% from the prior 12-month period, according to the latest data from the St Louis HBA.  As the table below shows, St Charles County saw a decline of 11.23% during the same period.  Last month, those were the only two counties showing a downward trend, but, this month, Franklin County and the City of St Louis have also seen new home construction trend downward. Warren County again showed the greatest upward trend in new home construction with an increase of 23.66% in building permits during the most recent 12-month period from the prior 12-month period.

St Louis New Home Building Permits – March 2019

St Louis New Home Building Permits - March 2019

Should you buy a new home directly from the builder?

Some new home buyers believe that if they buy a new home directly from the builder or the builder’s sales person, they will get a better price.  But is this true?  Do you get a better deal buying a new home directly from the builder?

First, we should address a “better deal” and what constitutes a good “deal”.  If it is strictly price, then, while I think it is somewhat short-sided on the part of the buyer and falls in that “penny-wise, dollar-foolish” category, in some instances, with some builders, the builder will save some cost by you buying from their agent.  This is the result of the builder having an agent that will get paid less commission that the builder would pay a buyer’s agent then if the builder chooses to pass that savings along to the buyer, rather than keep it, the buyer should receive a better price.  However, just like the possible savings motivated the buyer to deal directly with the builder, it is unrealistic to think that a builder is not going to feel the same and be motivated to have a better profit margin dealing directly with the buyer and instead would choose to forego the savings and give it to the buyer in the price. Plus, most builders appreciate and understand, the vital role a buyer’s agent plays in the transaction and wants to encourage agents to show and sell their homes, so they typically avoid doing things that look like they are trying to cut an agent out of a deal by dealing directly with the buyer.

Continue reading “Should you buy a new home directly from the builder?

St Louis New Home Construction Continues To Decline

There were 4,471 building permits issued for new homes in the St Louis area during the 12-month period ended January 31, 2019, a decline of 5.20% from the prior 12-month period when there were 4,716 permits issued, according to information just released by the Home Builders Association of St Louis & Eastern Missouri (St Louis HBA).

As the table below shows, St Charles County continues to see the largest decline in new home construction with 1,489 new home permits issued in the most recent 12-month period, down 13.03% from the prior 12 month period. Four counties in the St Louis area have seen gains in permits, with Warren County being the big winner in terms of percentage increase with nearly a 30 percent increase in new home permits for the period!

St Louis New Home Building Permits Issued – Jan 2019

St Louis New Home Building Permits Issued - Jan 2019

 

St Louis Area New Home Construction In 2018 Declines

There were 4,140 building permits issued for new homes in the St Louis area during 2018, a decline of 3.16% from the year before when there were 4,275 permits issued, according to information just released by the Home Builders Association of St Louis & Eastern Missouri (St Louis HBA).  The number of permits issued for new homes during 2018 was just slightly down from 2016.

As the table below shows, St Charles County has seen the largest decline in new home construction with 1,499 new home permits issued in 2018, down 12.85% from the year before and decline of 24.48% from 2016 when there were 1,985 permits issued.  Franklin County, Warren County and the city of St Louis all had significant double-digit gains in building permits issued during 2018 from the year before.

St Louis New Home Building Permits Issued – 2016-2018

St Louis New Home Building Permits Issued - 2016-2018

 

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

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 when it crashed but closed out the year with 72,000 new homes sold.

In terms of the actual number of new homes sold this year in the Midwest region, there have been 44,000 new homes sold this year thus far, through the end of June.  Last year, for the same time period, there were just 38,000 new homes sold in this region year to date so we are up 14.4% in non-seasonally adjusted, actual year to date new home sales in the Midwest through the end of June.

U.S. New Home Sales – 2013-2018 – Chart

U.S. New Home Sales - 2013-2018 - Chart

 

St Louis New Home Sales Up Over 12 Percent In November From Year Ago

St Louis New Home Sales in November 2014 increased 12.5% from November 2013 and, as would be expected given the time of year, decreased about 8% from the month before.  New home sales in St Louis out performed new home sales in the Midwest Region as a whole as the region saw 4,000 new home sales in November 2014, the same as a year ago, and a decrease of 20% from the month before, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD.

The median price of new homes sold in November 2014 was $235,900, an increase of 15% from the month before when the median price was $205,000, and was up about 1% from November 2013 when the median new home sale price was $237,450.

Search St Louis New Homes For Sale

(We work hard on this and sure would appreciate a “Like”)[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 ]

Continue reading “St Louis New Home Sales Up Over 12 Percent In November From Year Ago

New home sales in Midwest up fifty percent in June from month before

dennis-norman-st-louis-realtor-real-estate-new-home-salesToday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for June 2012 and while the rest of the country reels from a decrease of 8.4 percent in the new home sales rate from the month before (seasonally adjusted), here in the Midwest we can celebrate an increase of almost 15 percent in the new home sales rate to 55,000 (seasonally adjusted annual rate) from 48,000 the month before and an increase of 50 percent in actual new home sales in June in the Midwest to 6,000 new homes sold from 4,000 the month before. Continue reading “New home sales in Midwest up fifty percent in June from month before