By Sandie Hea, on September 10th, 2025 
In July 2025, Governor Mike Kehoe signed House Bill 594, a groundbreaking reform that retroactively eliminates all Missouri state capital gains taxes for individuals, effective January 1, 2025. With this law, Missouri becomes the first U.S. state imposing an individual income tax to completely exempt personal capital gains from state taxation. Now, all capital gains—whether short-term or long-term, from sales of stocks, bonds, real estate, cryptocurrency, or businesses—are fully deductible from Missouri taxable income, thanks to a 100% subtraction for individuals.
This tax shift delivers powerful incentives across the board:
Real estate investors—especially those holding rental properties—face less friction when Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 27th, 2023 According to a study released earlier this year by WalletHub, Missouri property tax rates are the 29th lowest in the U.S. To determine the tax rates for this list, WalletHub took the median property tax payment for each state and divided it by the median property value to determine the effective tax rate. For Missouri, the median home price was $171,800 and median property tax was $1,676 resulting in an effective tax rate of 0.98%. Hawaii was the state with the lowest tax rate coming in at a scant 0.29% and New Jersey the highest at 2.47%.
WalletHub also compared Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on January 23rd, 2022 Most anyone that is interested in buying or selling a home is pretty much aware of two things: there is a low inventory of homes for sale and prices have increased a fair amount as a result. That part is likely largely a result of basic economics related to supply and demand. When the demand is greater than the supply, prices will increase. In St Louis, home prices have done just that. As the chart below (exclusively available from MORE, REALTORS®) illustrates, the median price of homes sold in January 2020 was $221, 200 and in January 2021 was $245,000, Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on May 5th, 2021 Lately, I’ve noticed several articles questioning whether the kind of crazy real estate market we’ve in for a while now is reminiscent of the early 2000’s which lead to a housing bubble that eventually burst in 2008. Granted, even in St Louis where we tend to not see the market extremes one way or the other like the coasts do, one could get the idea that maybe we’re headed that way with buyer’s fighting over new listings and bidding wars that have homes often selling for over the list price. However, in my humble opinion, this market is very different Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on April 9th, 2020 The average property tax amount in 2019 for a residential property was $2,840, according to the latest data released from ATTOM Data Research. Based upon the average estimated home value for the St Louis MSA of $211,816, this works out to an effective property tax rate of 1.34% which is slightly less than last year’s effective rate of 1.36% and is the same as the rate of 1.34% in 2016.
St Louis MSA Effective Property Tax Rates – 2016 – 2019
Data source: ATTM Data Solutions – Copyright 2020 -has St Louis Real Estate News
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By Dennis Norman, on May 27th, 2019 If you are a homeowner, then during the past week or so you probably received a change of assessment notice from your county assessor informing you of the Assessor’s new assessment of the value of your property. While most people purchase a home with the expectation of it going up in value and, generally, are excited when they find out it has increased in value, this is not one of those occasions. An increase in the Assessor’s opinion of your property value generally results in just one thing…a higher property tax bill.
What can you do if you don’t agree Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on April 11th, 2019 Real property tax in Missouri consists of taxes assessed by the state of Missouri, the County the property is located within as well as the municipality the property is located in. Not all municipalities charge property tax though, and the rate charged by county varies, so there can be a fairly significant difference in property tax rates from neighboring municipalities and counties. The table below shows the 20 Counties in Missouri with the lowest effective property tax rates. At the top of the list is Benton County where the effective tax rate is just 0.11%. Franklin County is the only Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on April 10th, 2019 Yesterday, I wrote about Missouri having the 27th lowest effective property tax rate of the 50 states, so today I decided to look at property tax rates for the largest MSA’s around the country. Included in my list are the 219 MSA’s with a population of 200,000 or more. As the table below shows, at the top of the list, with the lowest effective real property tax rate of the MSA’s is Laredo, Texas with an effective property tax rate of just 0.35%. The states of Alabama and Colorado both have 3 MSA’s on the list of the 10 MSA’s Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on April 9th, 2019 Missouri falls in about the middle of the states in the U.S. in terms of real property taxes based upon the effective rate. As the first table below shows, Missouri, with an effective property tax rate of 1.04% in 2018, comes in at the 27th lowest state. Hawaii is at the top of the list with the lowest effective tax rate at 0.37% and New Jersey comes in last with the highest property tax rate at 2.25%. Right behind New Jersey, is our neighbor to the east, Illinois, where the effective property tax rate is 2.22%, over twice as high Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 6th, 2018 There were 752 home “flips” in the St Louis metro area during the third quarter of this year, representing 6.5% of the homes sold during the period, according to data just released by ATTOM Data Research. This is a decline of 7.4% from the prior quarter and a decline of 2.0% from the same quarter last year.
What is meant by “flipped” home?
ATTOM Data considers any home or condo that was sold during the third quarter of this year in an arms-length sale that had previously had an arms-length sale within the prior 12 months as well as a Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 4th, 2018 In a neighborhood housing market report card just released by ATTOM Data Solutions, 10,950 neighborhoods across the nation were given a grade ranging from an A to an F. The neighborhood grades were based upon six factors related to the housing market: housing affordability, home price appreciation, public school scores, crime rates, unemployment rates and property taxes.
In all, 82 neighborhoods in the St Louis metro area received a grade with 28 of them receiving an A, 17 a B, 13 a C, 8 a D and 16 received an F. The list below shows the top 10 St Louis Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 4th, 2018 Today, the Fourth of July is the day we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence which took place 242 years ago on July 4, 1776. With the signing of this Declaration, the 13 colonies, or united States, declared their independence from Great Britain and thus, the United States was born!
While I don’t recall the specific number of times I have read this document, I can say with reasonable certainty that I doubt the number would take more than one hand to count. It’s pretty amazing that such an important document while referred to often, and celebrated Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on June 7th, 2018 During the first quarter of this year, there were 600 home “flips” in St Louis or about 8.6% of the homes sold in St Louis, according to data just released by ATTOM Data Research. This rate of flipped homes is up 5% from the prior quarter, however, is down 7% from a year ago. The decline certainly doesn’t have anything to do with a lack of interest by investors in flipping, it has more to do with a low inventory and declining mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates reducing the opportunities.
What is a “flipped” home?
In the report issued by Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 7th, 2016 Over the past 5 years or so I have written a few articles on the topic of the mortgage interest deduction (MID) and how, in spite of what many others in the industry say, I didn’t think it was that critical to the housing industry. All the while, the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) (of which I’m proud to be a member, just happen to disagree on this topic) has staunchly supported the MID and warned that if the deduction went away the housing market and home buyers would suffer. NAR published a fact sheet on the topic stating:
Repealing Continue Reading →
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 →
By Dennis Norman, on August 12th, 2015 In case you are concerned the real estate industry is not subject to enough regulation, do not let your heart be troubled as new regulations imposed by the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which was signed into law back in 2010, affecting home mortgages go into effect October 3, 2015. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on April 2nd, 2015 Real property tax rates in St Louis County effectively cost homeowners in that county about 1.43 percent of the value of the home which is 57 percent higher than Jefferson and Franklin counties were property taxes cost homeowners about .91 percent of their homes value. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on March 12th, 2015 Almost half (42%) of the residents in Missouri plan to buy a home within the next five years, according to the recently released BMO Harris Home Buying Report. Buyers surveyed indicated they plan to pay an average of $242,000 for a home when they move and almost half of the potential home buyers have indicated they are willing to get into a bidding war to get the home they want. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 26th, 2014 The Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID) is often a topic of much debate often around whether or not it truly helps promote home ownership or is just a another tax break for higher income tax payers. The interesting thing is, the best I can tell, when the deduction for interest was first established it actually had nothing to do with promoting home ownership but instead was intended to benefit proprietors and small business owners. Few realize that the deductibility of interest goes back to 1913 when Congress ratified the Sixteenth Amendment to the constitution which gave the government the right to Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on July 24th, 2014
St Louis County will hold it’s annual sale of tax delinquent property next month on August 25, 2014, beginning at 10:00 am in the County Council Chambers in the County Administration Building in Clayton. To be eligible to bid you must register prior to bidding. Registration will begin at 8:30 am on the tax sale day in the office of the Collector of Revenue in the County Administration Building.
A complete list of all properties available for bid, as well as complete instructions on how to participate in the tax sale, can be found online here.
For more Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on May 2nd, 2014 Do you think the assessor’s property value on your house, or other real property, too high thereby making your property taxes higher than they should be? If so, then now is your chance to do something about it by filing an appeal the valuation. Many homeowners I talk with think that because property value reassessment is only done by the assessors office every two years on the “odd” numbered years, that you are stuck with your value until the next reassessment but that is not the case.
Missouri state law requires all assessors in the state to “determine the fair Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on August 8th, 2013
That’s right, along with very affordable home prices, Missouri also has almost the lowest closing costs in the nation at an average of $2,188 for lenders’ origination fees and third party fees, second only to the state of Wisconsin with average closing costs of $2,119, according to the 2013 closing cost survey by Bankrate.
See table below for survey results for all states:
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By Dennis Norman, on July 26th, 2013
The truth on the Mortgage Interest Deduction
Currently, lawmakers in Washington D.C., while looking for ways to “close loopholes” and cut spending, are looking hard at something once considered “untouchable”, the mortgage interest deduction (MID). While there is probably little chance of totally eliminating the ability for homeowners to deduct the mortgage interest they paid on their homes, there is a possibility the deduction could be altered significantly or capped, and, perhaps, even phased out over time.
Like most current events, there are stories out there with varying degrees of accuracy about the benefit of the mortgage interest deduction Continue Reading →
By Diana Davis, on March 21st, 2013 Making Sense of Confusing Real Estate Terms
If you are buying, selling or refinancing a home you will come across real estate terms and industry lingo that may sound foreign to you. To help address this issue, below you will find definitions for the most common real estate terms that you are likely to come across when buying, selling or refinancing a home. If you have other questions about title insurance, or the role of the title company in these transactions, please contact me and I’ll be happy to help.
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By Robert Fishel, on February 13th, 2013 “Nobody ‘wants’ to pay PMI, it’s just that we have no choice, especially if you want to buy a house and don’t have say an extra $50k to $80k lying around for a down payment, which most first-time buyers don’t.” Chris Durst, a first-time homebuyer and commenter on Investopedia.com. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on February 8th, 2013 Missourians have received more than $112 million of mortgage relief as a result of the National Mortgage Settlement reached a year ago with the nations largest lenders, according to Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster. Koster, along with Attorney Generals from other states, sent a letter to Congress last November urging them to extend a measure that was due to expire at the end of 2012 that would provide tax relief for some people receiving mortgage relief in the form of principal reduction and short sales. January 1, 2013, Congress passed the extension as part of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. Continue Reading →
By Robert Fishel, on January 23rd, 2013 As part of the fiscal cliff deal, Congress extended the cancellation of mortgage debt relief provision for 1 year, through the end of 2013. It seems there is little focus on the importance of this law, it is crucial to foreclosure mitigation efforts such as principal forgiveness and short sales. Continue Reading →
By Robert Fishel, on October 19th, 2012 If the last time you looked at your mortgage was when you closed on your loan, it’s time to take it out for an annual once over. New loan programs and opportunities to leverage your home equity can bring you lower mortgage payments and new investment opportunities. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 17th, 2012 Maybe you’re a seller that has found yourself faced with the reality that you can’t sell your house or condo for a price today that will yield enough to pay off your loan, and you are not a candidate for, or don’t want to do, a short-sale? Or, maybe you are a seller with a house or condo that, for one reason or another, there is very limited demand for and, in fact, it seems that perhaps no one wants to buy what you have to sell? If so, maybe someone suggested, or you have considered, using a lease/option or a lease purchase to sell your home? After-all, there is a large demand for lease-options and lease-purchases by buyers but, you are just not sure if it is right for you? Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on September 14th, 2012 Should I rent or buy a home in St Louis? This is a question that I’ve been asked dozens of times over the past couple of years and one that given the fact that home affordability is at an all time high and mortgage interest rates at an all time low, is generally easy to answer with “buy if you can”. I guess I many not have realized just HOW much sense that made financially, until a report came out a few days ago that looked to answer this very question and found that home ownership was 45 percent cheaper Continue Reading →
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