St Louis Realtors - St Louis Real Estate News

Why Is the Missouri REALTORS® Association Taking Positions on Amendments 4 and 5?

By Karen Moeller, on June 27th, 2026

Over the past several weeks, the Missouri REALTORS® association has publicly taken positions opposing Amendments 4 and 5. Because many consumers may not understand why a real estate trade association would become involved in statewide ballot measures, I thought it would be helpful to explain the association’s role, summarize what the amendments would do using the official ballot language and constitutional text, and explain why the association has taken those positions.

Every election season brings ballot measures that attract support and opposition from a wide range of organizations. This year, one of those organizations is the Missouri REALTORS® association, Continue Reading →

When a Seller’s Market Still Feels Like a Buyer’s Market

By Karen Moeller, on February 17th, 2026

Why the same market can produce multiple offers and price reductions at the same time

Spend a few minutes browsing recent listings and you may notice something odd. One home sells immediately with competing offers while another nearby reduces price after only a short time. Yet both exist in what is commonly described as the same seller’s market. The contradiction makes sense once you understand what that label actually measures and what it does not.

For decades real estate conversations have relied on a simple guideline. Around six months of housing inventory suggests balance. Less supply favors Continue Reading →

Is Your Real Estate Agent Built for Transactions or for Trust?

By John Donati, on January 26th, 2026

Most consumers assume real estate agents build their business through relationships, local knowledge, and referrals. Many do. Others operate very differently.

For years, scores of agents have relied heavily on purchased leads from third-party companies like Zillow, Trulia, etc., often at significant monthly cost. The consumer rarely sees this distinction and likely doesn’t know they are being sold to the highest bidder, yet it quietly shapes how the business operates. Is that approach inherently wrong? Or is it simply a reflection of how the business is structured? And, if structure drives behavior, who is actually in control?

Over time, most Continue Reading →

Selling Without a REALTOR®, Discount Brokers, and the “Better Value” Question Sellers Should Be Asking

By Dennis Norman, on January 25th, 2026

St Louis FSBO and Discount Brokers - Questions Sellers Should Ask

Homeowners researching how to sell their house today will quickly run into a wave of articles and websites promising savings through FSBO or so-called “discount” and “low-commission” broker models. Sites like Clever Real Estate, Houzeo, and others publish polished guides comparing traditional agents, flat-fee MLS services, and selling without representation altogether. The message is consistent: full-service agents are expensive, FSBO is risky, and the smart middle ground is a reduced-fee agent matched to you by a national platform. It sounds reasonable, and it is presented as consumer advocacy. But the economics behind those promises deserve a closer look.

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What “As-Is” Really Means in a Real Estate Listing and What It Doesn’t

By Karen Moeller, on January 22nd, 2026

Few phrases in real estate create more confusion than “As-Is.”

Buyers often see it as a warning label.Sellers sometimes view it as a shield.In reality, it is neither.

I regularly hear buyers say they will not even consider a home once they see “As-Is” in the listing. I also frequently hear buyers assume that “As-Is” means the seller is desperate or that the property can be purchased for pennies on the dollar. That expectation rarely aligns with reality. In most cases, the seller has already considered the condition of the home and priced it Continue Reading →

St. Louis Housing Market Finds Its Bottom; Is 2026 the Start of a Comeback?

By Dennis Norman, on January 17th, 2026

St. Louis Home Sales Hit Bottom — Will 2026 Bring a Rebound?

The SLT Market Chart below, available exclusively from MORE, REALTORS®, shows a full monthly history of St. Louis MSA home sales since 1999, and if you’re a data geek (like me) or just trying to get a real read on where this market is going, this chart is gold.

Here’s what stands out immediately: 2021 was the peak, no debate. In September 2021, the 12-month rolling total for home sales in the St. Louis metro hit 48,633 homes, an all-time high. For the calendar year 2021, sales totaled 48,328. Nothing before or after even comes close.

Continue Reading →

Whatever Happened To The Starter Home?

By Karen Moeller, on January 15th, 2026

Yesterdays starter homes versus todays starter homes

How Entry-Level Homes Got Bigger, Fancier and Harder To Afford

Ask three different generations what a starter home looks like and you will get three very different answers.

Your grandparents might picture a 2-bedroom bungalow with 1 bath, wood paneling and a carport. Your parents might think of a 3-bed, 1.5-bath ranch that needed wallpaper scraped and a deck added someday. A lot of today’s buyers walk into their first place looking for an en suite bath, walk-in closets, an attached garage and a kitchen that is already Instagram ready.

Starter homes have not disappeared in St. Louis, but Continue Reading →

The Real Estate Advantage No One Talks About: Park Investment

By Karen Moeller, on January 15th, 2026

When people talk about what drives home values, the same factors tend to dominate the conversation. Interest rates. Inventory. Schools. Taxes.

What receives far less attention is public park investment, even though in communities like Eureka, it plays a meaningful role in shaping buyer behavior and long-term market stability.

This is not about trendy amenities or short-term demand spikes. It is about how permanently protected land, trail systems, and outdoor infrastructure function as a form of market stability that does not fluctuate with economic cycles.

Parks as Fixed Infrastructure

Route 66 Park Continue Reading →

Happy New Year! Let’s Make 2026 a Great Year for Real Estate

By Dennis Norman, on January 1st, 2026

Happy New Year! As we step into 2026, I want to take a moment to wish you and your family a very Happy and Blessed New Year. Whether 2025 brought you joy, challenges, or a little of both, today marks a fresh start filled with new opportunities and possibilities. Here’s to health, happiness, and success in the year ahead!

If you’re thinking about making a move in 2026, whether it’s buying your first home, moving up, downsizing, or investing—this is a great time to start planning. The real estate market is always shifting, and having an experienced, knowledgeable team on Continue Reading →

Ranking the St. Louis Showing Red Flags: A Completely Serious, Totally Scientific Guide

By Karen Moeller, on December 3rd, 2025

Showing homes in St. Louis is a little like speed dating. You walk in, take one lap through the room, get a feel for the energy and decide very quickly if this relationship has potential or if you should politely run.

After hundreds of showings across the metro, I have noticed certain patterns. Consider this your completely serious, absolutely scientific guide to the subtle red flags St. Louis buyers and agents spot the moment they step inside a home.

These signs are not dealbreakers by themselves, but they tell a story. And sometimes, they tell it loudly.

Let’s take a Continue Reading →

Rebuilding the Real Estate Career: What St. Louis Agents Are Really Feeling

By Karen Moeller, on December 2nd, 2025

There is something happening in real estate that numbers and charts don’t capture. It is quieter than the headlines and more personal than the market updates. If you have spent any time talking with agents across the St. Louis metro, you can feel it immediately.

A lot of agents are carrying a kind of tired that goes deeper than being busy. It is the tired that comes from trying to hold everything together alone. The tired that comes from constant change. The tired that comes from giving so much of yourself to a career you love but not always feeling Continue Reading →

The St. Louis Agent Shift: Why Fewer Agents Will Actually Improve the Market

By Karen Moeller, on December 1st, 2025

There is a quiet change happening in the St. Louis real estate market, and it is not about interest rates or home prices. It is about the number of agents still actively working. After years of more agents than available transactions, the count is finally tightening. And honestly, this is not a bad thing for buyers and sellers.

In every market cycle, people enter the business when it looks easy and step out when it becomes clear that real estate requires consistency, knowledge, and true day-to-day commitment. What we are seeing now is the industry balancing itself out

Why the Continue Reading →

Should You Sell During the Holidays or Wait for Spring? A St. Louis Q&A With a Local Agent

By Karen Moeller, on November 28th, 2025

Every year around this time, the same question starts popping up in my texts, emails and casual conversations:Should I list my home during the holidays or wait for the spring market?

It is a fair question. When your holiday to-do list already feels as long and heavy as Jacob Marley’s chain, the idea of packing, staging and keeping the house show-ready can feel like too much. But the truth is, the holiday season behaves very differently in St. Louis than most people expect.

Here are the answers to the questions homeowners are asking right now.

Q: Do homes really sell Continue Reading →

Why I’m Thankful to Be a Realtor

By Cathy Lirette, on November 26th, 2025

Real estate moves fast. Between showings, negotiations, inspections, and closings, it’s easy to stay focused on the next task. But when I slow down and look at the work I get to do, I’m reminded how grateful I am for this career. It’s shaped me, challenged me, and given me a deeper sense of purpose than I ever expected.

What means the most to me is the trust my clients place in me. They invite me into one of the biggest decisions of their lives and rely on me to guide them honestly, protect their interests, and help steady things Continue Reading →

Off-Market Listings: A Curious Conflict in Real Estate Practices

By Dennis Norman, on January 10th, 2025

Off Market Listings - Broker or Office Exclusive Listings

In the world of residential real estate, there’s an interesting contradiction that’s worth exploring. Investors spend significant time, money, and effort targeting homeowners before their properties ever reach the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). Why? Because off-market properties often yield the best deals, allowing investors to avoid competition and negotiate favorable terms. Yet, at the same time, we see a growing trend among listing agents—professionals with a fiduciary duty to act in their clients’ best interests—choosing strategies that keep properties off the MLS as well. This curious alignment of methods raises important questions about the motives and implications of such practices.

Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Prices Increased At Twice The Rate Of Rental Rates From 2018-2022

By Dennis Norman, on March 19th, 2023

Should I rent or buy a home in St Louis? This is a question St Louis REALTORS® are often asked, especially in the past few years while homes appeared to be increasing weekly, there were often more than a dozen offers on a listing and generally the market seemed out of control. Granted, some of that pandemonium has eased somewhat lately given the increase in interest rates and questions about the economy but the question still remains. While there are many non-financial reasons people choose to buy their own home or condo versus rent, we’ll just look at the cost Continue Reading →

St Louis Home Sales Trend Slows Slightly In August

By Dennis Norman, on September 14th, 2021

There continue to be conversations by St Louis REALTORS® as well as other industry professionals as to whether or not the market is cooling off somewhat or slowing down. I keep watching the data closely to look for signs of a substantive change and while there are some, the market adjustments appear to be somewhat insignificant at this point. Last month, in an article about July’s market, I pointed out a slight slowing of the trend in July. Now, I’m taking a look at August, specifically, the number of new listings that came on the St Louis real estate market Continue Reading →

The Value of Good Data Coupled With a Good Agent

By Dennis Norman, on July 13th, 2021

What an interesting real estate market we’ve experienced in St Louis over the past few years! Seller’s fully expect their homes to sell the first weekend after hitting the market, with a feeding frenzy by buyer’s and bidding wars that drive the price above the list price. Buyer’s come to realize if they are going to be successful in buying a home they have to think fast, take chances and move quick! Heck, with a market like this, it’s no wonder a lot of folks, particularly sellers, don’t necessarily see a need for a real estate agent.

However, the reality Continue Reading →

REALTORS® Association Considers New Rule Requiring All Listings Be In MLS

By Dennis Norman, on October 3rd, 2019

The MLS Technology and Emerging Issues Advisory Board, of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), proposed a rule change that is sparking some controversy among its’ members. The proposed “Clear Cooperation Policy” requires that all listings be put in the MLS within 24 hours of “marketing a property to the public“. The policy defines “public marketing” as including, but not limited to, “flyers displayed in windows, yard signs, digital marketing on public-facing websites, brokerage website displays (including IDX and VOW), digital communications marketing (email blasts), multi-brokerage listing sharing networks, and applications available to the general public”.

But, isn’t that how Continue Reading →

How Many Real Estate Agents Are There And How To Find a Good One?

By Dennis Norman, on April 23rd, 2019

According to the latest estimates by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), there are approximately 2 million licensed real estate agents in the United States. Last year, according to the NAR, there were a total of 5.341 million existing homes sold which equates to one agent for every 2.67 homes sold during the year in the U.S. Wow, talk about competition! Granted, not all licensed agents sell residential real estate as many focus us on commercial real estate, including industrial, retail, office, multi-family, and land, and others focus on farms, large tracts of land, recreational property, etc. Nonetheless, there is Continue Reading →

Who Pays The Buyers Agent?

By Dennis Norman, on March 22nd, 2019

I saw an article recently about the results of a survey done of home sellers that found that nearly half of them didn’t realize they pay the buyers’ agent commission when they sell their home.

Sellers pay the buyers’ agent in almost all home sales in St Louis…

While I don’t know for sure, I would guess that the people surveyed were homeowners that planned to sell their homes, rather than sellers that already had their homes listed for sale. I say this because the standard listing agreement used by St Louis REALTORS® spells out the total commission being charged Continue Reading →

Is The St Louis Housing Inventory Down 25 Percent Or Up 10 Percent? The Importance Of Understanding The Data.

By Dennis Norman, on February 23rd, 2019

I promise not to turn this article into one of my boring, lengthy diatribes that only a data nerd could enjoy, however, I do want to discuss something that I think is very important for all home buyers, sellers and investors. Given that today there is a plethora of “data” and “information” available to us thanks, in large part, to the internet, and that home buyer, sellers, and investors (as well as the real estate agents working with them) make decisions based, at least in part, to those things, it is imperative to know you have the right data and Continue Reading →

Will Zillow Put Real Estate Agents Out of Business?

By Dennis Norman, on November 1st, 2018

It would be an understatement to say that Zillow® has many real estate agents nervous about their future. It’s not just Zillow® though, it’s Amazon, big banks, and dozens and dozens of new real estate start-ups and changing business models.

A true dysfunctional family…

The most common name that comes up in real estate agent circles when discussing the impact of the internet on the real estate profession topic is Zillow®, and usually in the context of “the enemy“, so to speak. It seems to me the biggest fear among agents about Zillow® is that they want to eliminate real Continue Reading →

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 →

Check Out St Louis’s $2Mil+ Home Sales From The Past Year

By Dennis Norman, on October 13th, 2016

Last month the median price of homes sold in the St Louis MSA was a very-affordable $169,000 however, during past 12 months, homes have sold for as much as over 50 times that amount in St Louis. That’s right, during the past year there was a home that sold for $9,000,000 in St Louis, over 53 times the median St Louis home price. The $9,000,000 St Louis home that was sold was at 2105 South Warson and sold in November of last year for $9,000,000. The next highest home sale was a $4,000,000 one at 760 Kent Road, followed by 2 more Ladue homes. In all, 13 of the 31 homes that sold in St Louis for more than $2,000,000 (based upon MLS data) were in Ladue, 7 were in Clayton (3 of those being condo’s), 3 in Town & Country, 2 in Huntleigh, 2 in Chesterfield, 2 in Creve Coeur and 2 in the Central West End (both were condos at the Private Residences in Chase Park Plaza). Continue Reading →

The Truth About The Mortgage Interest Deduction

By Dennis Norman, on January 27th, 2016

Before I begin, I should point out that what I’m about to tell you runs contrary to what the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), the largest trade association in the country and one I belong to and support, will tell you. The NAR position on the mortgage interest deduction (MID) is, quoting from their website, “the mortgage interest deduction (MID) is a remarkably effective tool that facilitates homeownership.” Continue Reading →

Low Quality Real Estate Agents Threaten The Industry – So how do you choose a good one?

By Dennis Norman, on August 14th, 2015

I often find myself very surprised to hear how a consumer chose the real estate agent they hired to represent them and hear things such as “I work with him…”, “She is a friend of….”, “He is my cousin…” etc. When I hear these responses several things come to mind: Continue Reading →

Where In St Louis Have The Most Sellers Lowered Home Prices?

By Dennis Norman, on March 24th, 2014

Spring is just around the corner however, as I write this I hate to say there is snow coming down outside my window, and St Louis sellers as well as St Louis REALTORS are anxiously awaiting the increased home buying activity that typically comes in spring. Many people equate the spring market with higher home prices however, there are many St Louis neighborhoods that have seen sellers busy lowering prices in the past 90 days. Perhaps, they were overpriced to start with or perhaps the sellers wish to give themselves a competitive edge going into the spring market, but Continue Reading →

St Louis’ ‘Hot’ Housing Markets

By Dennis Norman, on November 8th, 2012

As the St Louis real estate market continues to show signs of improvement in many areas, as I often talk about, real estate is very local, so markets within a metro area can behave quite different. Aware of this, many home buyers, particularly home buyers relocating to St Louis, often want to know what are the “hot” markets, or the markets that have definitely begin to come back? Seller’s want to what the hot markets are as well with the hope they will see their city or zip on the list. Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate Market and St. Louis Home Prices Update; May 2012

By Dennis Norman, on May 18th, 2012

The St. Louis real estate market has increased activity and is showing signs of St Louis home prices stabilizing. Get this and much more up to date information on St Louis Real Estate from an experienced St Louis Realtor in this informative video update. Continue Reading →