St Louis New Homes - St Louis Real Estate News

New Home Construction Slows In The Midwest

By Dennis Norman, on November 19th, 2014

New Home Construction in the Midwest Region of the U.S. slowed in October with new home building permits being used at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 102,000 homes, a decline of 3.8% from September but a 4.1% increase from October 2014, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD. Year to date for 2014, through October, there have been 89,100 permits issued for new homes, down very slightly from the same time last year when there had been 89,400 new home permits issued.

New Home Starts Fall Dramatically In The Midwest In October-

Construction began on Continue Reading →

St Louis New Home Building Permits Increase In September

By Dennis Norman, on October 30th, 2014

St Louis new home building permits issued in September increased by 6 percent from a year ago for the 5-county core area of St Louis (city of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin), according to data just released by the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri. On a year to date basis, as the table below shows, the city of St Louis is up 13 percent from the same period last year, St Louis county is up 2 percent and the rest of the counties are running behind last years numbers.

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St Louis New Home Sales In September Increase Slightly From Last Year

By Dennis Norman, on October 24th, 2014

St. Louis new home sales in September 2014 increased 3.26% from September 2013 while the average St Louis new home sales price increased 10.97% during the same period, according to the latest data from Maris.

On a national level, new home sales in September 2014 were up 17% from September 2013 and in the Midwest region sales were up 6.7% during the same period. The average new home sales price in the U.S. in September 2014 was $259,000, a 4% decline from a year ago when the average price was $269,800, according to the U.S. Census Bureaiu.

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St Louis New Home Building Permits Drop In August

By Dennis Norman, on September 18th, 2014

The number of new home building permits in St Louis dropped in August 12 percent from July and were down 2 percent from August 2013, according to the latest date from the Home Builders Association for St Louis and Eastern Missouri. There were a total of 287 permits issued for the 5-county core market consisting of the city of St Louis and Counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin, down from 327 the month before and 292 a year ago.

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Home Builders Optimism Regarding New Home Market Hits Highest Level In Almost 9 Years

By Dennis Norman, on September 17th, 2014

The new home market is improving and home builders indicate they have more confidence in the new home market now than they have had since November 2005, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. According to the HMI, home builders confidence is presently at 59, the highest level the index has been at since November 2005.

The HMI is comprised of several components including builder’s opinions of current sale conditions, buyer traffic and future sales. The response from builders indicate they feel optimistic about current sale conditions and very optimistic about future sales, Continue Reading →

Midwest New Home Sales Slip in July

By Dennis Norman, on August 25th, 2014

New home sales in the midwest region of the U.S. slipped in July with new home sales coming in at the seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 52,000 homes, down 8.8% from a rate of 57,000 homes the month before and down 1.9% from July 2013, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Year to date, through July, there have been 36,000 new homes sold (not seasonally adjusted) down 2.7% from the same time last year when there were 37,000 year to date new home sales.

On a national level, in July new home sales were at a seasonally-adjusted Continue Reading →

$1,000 Increase In New Home Price Takes Over 200,000 Buyers Out Of The Market

By Dennis Norman, on August 5th, 2014

A new study by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reveals for each $1,000 increase in the price of a new home (median-priced new home) forces 206,000 prospective home buyers out of the market. Continue Reading →

Kitchen and Master Bedroom Most Important Features to Todays New Home Buyer

By Dennis Norman, on July 9th, 2014

Today’s new home buyer’s most important features are the kitchen and master bedroom, according to a survey conducted by PulteGroup. The kitchen was chosen as the most important feature in a new home by 29% of those surveyed, followed by the master bedroom with 22% picking that as their top feature. So, the bottom line is, the most important thing to new home buyers is to eat and sleep! ;)

As for kitchen features that new home buyers are looking for, 23% aid a large eat in area was the most important feature of the kitchen, followed by 22% that Continue Reading →

Home Ownership By People Over 65 Years Old On The Rise

By Dennis Norman, on July 2nd, 2014

Home ownership rates have been on the decline and, in fact, reached a 19 year low the first quarto of this year when the home ownership rate in the U.S. fell to 64.8%. However, for people 65 years and older, the rate of home ownership has been on the rise. As the chart below shows, while the rate of home ownership declined for the U.S. overall, the rate for those persons aged 65 and over has continued to rise.

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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 →

New Home Building Permits Increase During May in the Midwest

By Dennis Norman, on June 17th, 2014

New home building permits issued in the Midwest region of the U.S. in May was up 1 percent (seasonally adjusted) from a year ago and increased 7.3 percent from the month before, accordion to the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a national level, new home building permits issued in May were down 0.8% from the year before but were up 3.7% from April, according to the report.

As the chart below from the Fed Reserve shows, building permits issued in St Louis are definitely on the rise but are still at levels much lower than back during 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 →

Characteristics of New Homes Built in 2013

By Dennis Norman, on June 4th, 2014

There were 569,000 new homes (single-family) completed in the U.S. last year. So what are popular features and finishes in new homes today? What does the “typical” new home have? Below is a summary of some of the characteristics of the new homes built in 2013 as detailed in a report by the U.S. Census Bureau: 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 →

New Home Building Permits In 2014 Off To Slower Start Than 2013

By Dennis Norman, on May 5th, 2014

New home building permits issued in the St Louis metro area during the 1st quarter of this year were down slightly (4%) from the first quarter of 2013, according to the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the Census Bureau, there were 979 permits issued for new single family homes in the St Louis MSA during the first quarter of 2014, down 4 percent from the same period for 2013 when there were 1,024 permits issued. 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 →

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 →

New Home Construction In Midwest off to slow start in 2014

By Dennis Norman, on March 18th, 2014

New Home Construction in the midwest region of the U.S. is off to a slow start for 2014, according to newly released new home construction report from the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the report, new home construction starts of single-family homes in the midwest during February was at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 76,000 homes, down 19.1% from a year ago when the rate was 94,000 homes. Building permits for single-family homes in the midwest issued during February were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 88,000 homes, down 5.4% from a year ago when the rate was 93,000 homes. Continue Reading →

St Louis New Home Construction Increases 25 Percent in 2013

By Dennis Norman, on February 11th, 2014

St Louis area new home construction in 2013 was still very low compared with the normal rate of home construction, however increased 25% from the year before and saw the highest level of sustained activity in years. The decreased levels of new home construction over the past 6 years is leading to a shortage of homes in some areas throughout the country and setting the stage for a somewhat robust recovery of the new home market. Here in St Louis new home recovery will come at a slower pace due to our low levels of population growth here however at Continue Reading →

Midwest New Home Sales Plummet In November

By Dennis Norman, on December 26th, 2013

After a 34 percent increase in October from the month before, Midwest new home sales gave back a chunk of the gain in November, falling 26.6 percent from October. New home sales in the midwest region of the U.S. in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 47,000 homes, down from a rate of 64,000 homes the month before however up slightly from a year ago in November when the rate of new home sales was 44,000 homes.

Looking at actual home sales and not “seasonally adjusted annual rates” we find that, through the end of November 2013, Continue Reading →

St Louis Area New Home Construction Up 25 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on December 19th, 2013

St Louis area new home construction activity continues to gain momentun with building permits issued for new homes for the period ended November 30, 2013 increasing 25% from the same period the year before. As the table below shows, all St Louis area counties saw increases in building permits for the period.

Nationally, there were 577,000 permits for new single family homes issued for 2013 through November 30th, an increase of almost 21% from a year ago when the year to date total was 477,700 permits.

See St Louis Area New Homes For Sale – Click HERE

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St Charles County Most Expensive Homes For Sale

By Dennis Norman, on December 9th, 2013

In the thirty year period from 1980 to 2010 the number of housing units in St Charles county tripled from 49,523 units to 141,016 units. St Charles’ growth has been fueled in part by an abundance of affordable new homes but that doesn’t mean St Charles county doesn’t have it’s share of luxury homes though! According to the latest housing data from the US Census Bureau, about 3 percent of the housing units in St Charles, or about 3,300 units, are valued at $500,000 or above.

Below is a slide show revealing St Charles County Most Continue Reading →

Midwest New Home Sales In October Up Over 20 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on December 4th, 2013

Midwest new home sales in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 63,000 homes, a 34.0 percent increase from September and an increase of 21.2 percent from a year ago, according to data just released by the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD. Nationally, new home sales in October were at an annual rate of 444,000 homes, an increase of 25.4 percent from the month before and an increase of 21.6 percent from a year ago.

New homes sold during the month of October 2013 were sold for a median price of $245,800, a decrease of 4.5 percent from Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Building Activity Up Almost A Third From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on October 25th, 2013

St Louis home building activity is on the rise throughout the St Louis area, according to the latest data from the Home Builders Association of St Louis and Eastern Missouri. Building permits issued through September 2013 for new homes in the five counties that make up the bulk of our new home market have increased from the same time period last year. Overall, as the table below shows, building permits have increased 29% for the five counties, with the city of St Louis seeing the largest increase at 100%. The lions share of new home construction continues to take place Continue Reading →

How long does it take to build a new home in St Louis?

By Dennis Norman, on October 22nd, 2013

Would you like to buy a new home in St Louis but not sure if you have the time to wait for one to be built? Before the market crash there were plenty of “spec” homes (homes builder’s built on speculation, trusting a buyer would buy it after completed) for buyers to choose from but today there are not near as many being built (“build it and they will come” didn’t pan out so well for builders when the market crashed).

Nationally, according to 2012 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, it takes about 6 months on average to build Continue Reading →

New Home Sales in the Midwest Increase At Higher Pace than National Level

By Dennis Norman, on September 25th, 2013

New home sales in the midwest in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 61,000 homes, a 19.6 percent increase from July and an increase of 15.1 percent from a year ago, according to data just released by the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD. On a national level, new home sales in August were at the annual rate of 421,000 homes, a 7.9 percent increase from the month before and a 12.6 percent increase from a year ago.

New homes sold during the month of August 2013 were sold for a median price of $254,600, a slight decrease Continue Reading →

St Louis new home construction slips in August still up from a year ago

By Dennis Norman, on September 23rd, 2013

St Louis new home construction activity decreased in August 2013 with 311 building permits for new homes being issued in the St Louis metro area (the area served by the Home Builders Association of St Louis and Eastern Missouri) a 9.9 percent decrease from the month before and is an increase of 8.7 percent from August 2012 when there were 286 building permits issued for new homes, according to data published by the Home Builders Association of St Louis and Eastern Missouri.

St Louis home building is making some headway toward recovery by climbing out of the tough it hit Continue Reading →

St Louis New Home Building Activity In June Up Over 60 Percent From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on August 14th, 2013

St Louis new home construction activity increased in June 2013 with 424 building permits for new homes being issued in the St Louis metro area (the area served by the Home Builders Association of St Louis and Eastern Missouri) an increase of 26.2 percent from the month before and is an increase of 63.7 percent from June 2012 when there were just 259 building permits issued for new homes, according to data published by the Home Builders Association of St Louis and Eastern Missouri.

While this is good news for the building industry, as the chart below Continue Reading →

New home sales soar in June

By Dennis Norman, on July 24th, 2013

New home sales soared in June to an annual rate of 497,000 homes, the highest level in 5 years, according to data just released by the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD. New homes were sold in June at a rate that is 8.3 percent higher than the month before and 38.1 percent higher than June 2012 when new homes were sold at the rate of 360,000 homes a year.

New homes sold in the month of June 2013 were sold for a median price of $249,700, a decrease of 5 percent from the month before and an increase of 7.3 Continue Reading →