By Dennis Norman, on May 20th, 2014 While the St Louis housing market is improving, unfortunately the homeowners that can afford it the least are the ones that are still the hardest hit with 41.5% of all homeowners with a mortgage on a home in the bottom price tier (the 25% lowest valued homes in St Louis) being underwater on their mortgage, meaning they owe more than their homes are worth. This is according to the newly released Zillow Negative Equity report which shows that, at the opposite end of the spectrum, in the top tier, only 11% of St Louis homeowners are underwater, or in a negative equity position, on their homes.
For the overall market, 22.9% of St Louis homeowners are underwater on their mortgage as of the first quarter of 2014 and 44% are in a “effective” negative equity position, meaning while they are not technically “underwater” they don’t have enough equity to pay the normal cost of selling their home and are therefore locked into their home unless they have cash to bring to the closing table. For the nation as a whole, 18.8% of homeowners with a mortgage were in a negative equity position during the 1st quarter of 2014 and 36.9% were in an “effective” negative equity position.
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By Dennis Norman, on April 17th, 2014 Almost 1 of every 4 St Louis homeowners with a mortgage (23%) are seriously underwater, meaning their mortgage(s) total at least 125% of their homes current value, according to a report for the 1st quarter of 2014 just released this morning by RealtyTrac. According to the report, there are 161, 310 St Louis homeowners that are underwater while 138,492 homeowners (19%) have “resurfacing equity” meaning their mortgage totals are 90% – 110% of their homes current value, allowing them to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Throughout the state of Missouri, 22% of homeowners with a mortgage are seriously underwater and 20% have resurfacing equity.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, 13% of St Louis homeowners with a mortgage are “equity rich” with more than 50% equity in their homes.
St Charles County Has Lowest Rate of Underwater Homeowners
Of the five counties that make up the bulk of the St Louis market on the Missouri side of the Mississippi, St Charles county has the lowest percentage of underwater homeowners at just 11%. The table below shows complete data for all 5 counties.
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By Dennis Norman, on March 5th, 2014 The number of St Louis homeowners with negative equity (also referred to as “underwater” homeowners) increased in the 4th quarter of 2013 to 11.6% of all the St Louis homeowners with a mortgage on their home, an increase from 11.3% in the prior quarter, according to a newly released report from CoreLogic. Another 4.4% of the home owners with a mortgage were in a “near negative equity” position, up from 4.3% in the 3rd quarter.
Nationally, 13.3 percent of homeowners with a mortgage were in a negative equity position during the 4th quarter of 2013, the same as the quarter before.
By Dennis Norman, on January 10th, 2014  Over 1 of every four St Louis homeowners (28%) with a mortgage are seriously underwater on their mortgages, meaning the current value of their home is at least 25 percent less than the total of their mortgages as of December 2013, according to a report just released by RealtyTrac. On a national level, in December 19% of the homeowners with a mortgage were considered seriously underwater.
At the other end of the spectrum, 11 percent of St Louis homeowners with a mortgage are “equity-rich“, meaning their mortgages total less than 50% of the current value of their home. On a national level, equity-rich homeowners account for 18% of the homeowners with a mortgage.
The chart below shows St Louis homeowners equity.
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By Dennis Norman, on December 6th, 2013 “Short-sale” is a term that was relatively unknown until the real estate market bubble burst in 2008. After the bubble burst the term quickly became a common topic of conversation among homeowners that found themselves “underwater” in their homes, meaning they owed more on their homes than they were worth, and also among potential home buyers and investors looking to snag a good deal.
If you are one of those buyers wanting to snag a deal, you may have missed the boat as the volume of short sales in St Louis has fallen dramatically. While, overall, this is good news as it indicates the health of the real estate market is improving and will help to stabilize prices, it does remove some of the opportunities for bargains to buyers willing to go through the short-sale process. As the chart below shows, the number of short sale listings in St Louis hitting the market peaked around January 2012, when around 230 new short sale listings came on the market, and then the trend has been downward ever since. The blue line on the chart shows the number of short sale listings sold which peaked in July 2012 around 90 sales for the month and has fallen to less than 25 a month for the past couple of months.
Search St Louis Short Sales HERE
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By Dennis Norman, on September 14th, 2013 
There were 59,709 St Louis homeowners with negative equity in the 2nd quarter of 2013, a 33 percent decline from the first quarter of this year when there were 89,690, according to a report released by CoreLogic. During the 2nd quarter just over 1 in 10 (10.6%) of all St Louis homeowners with a mortgage owed more on their home then the current value thereby putting them underwater, or in a negative equity position. The quarter before, about one in 6 (16%) St Louis homeowners with a mortgage were underwater.
By Dennis Norman, on September 6th, 2013
Nearly one of every 4 St Louis homeowners with a mortgage are seriously underwater, meaning their mortgage exceeds the current value of their home by 25 percent or more, according to a report just released by RealtyTrac. As the table below shows, the city of St. Louis has the highest percentage of seriously underwater homeowners at 31 percent and Franklin county the lowest at 14 percent. In addition, there are another 104,000 St Louis homeowners in a “near-equity” or “resurfacing equity” position, meaning their loan equals 90 to 110 percent of the current value of their home. As long as home prices continue to rise, these homeowners will hopefully come out of their negative equity position soon.
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By Dennis Norman, on July 24th, 2013  The great flood of ’93 revealed the importance of flood insurance to many St Louis area property owners that found their homes either underwater or threatened by flood though they never before thought it possible. As a result of that flood as well as subsequent floods brought on by hurricanes in coastal areas and other major storms inland, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) found itself in a position where major changes were needed in order to continuing providing flood coverage and at fair rates. Therefore the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 was passed which makes sweeping changes to the flood insurance program. This short (4 minute) video from FEMA does a great job explaining changes to the program that will come about as a result of the act.
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By Dennis Norman, on June 12th, 2013  There were 88,367 St Louis homeowners with negative equity during the first quarter of this year, according to a report just released by CoreLogic. This represents 15.7 percent of the St. Louis homeowners with a mortgage and is a decline of 10 percent from the prior quarter when there were 98,365 St Louis homeowners with negative equity, or 17.5 percent of all St Louis homeowners with a mortgage.
For the State of Missouri as a whole, there were 120,056 homeowners, or 15.3 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage, with negative equity during the first quarter of this year. On a national level, there were 9.7 million, or 19.8 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage, with negative equity, or underwater, during the quarter.
If you are an underwater homeowner and want to know what your options are, please contact me by clicking here.
Many underwater homeowners turn to a short sale to get out from under their mortgage-to see all St Louis short sales currently listed click here.
Continue reading “St Louis Homeowners With Negative Equity Falls 10 Percent“
By Dennis Norman, on May 23rd, 2013 Slightly over 1 of every 4 (26.4 percent) St Louis homeowners with a mortgage are underwater or, in other words, in a negative equity position owing more on their mortgage than their home is currently worth, according to a report by Zillow. This is slightly higher than the national rate of 25.4 percent and, unfortunately, is predicted by Zillow to increase in the coming months to about 26.7 percent by January 2014.
In addition to the St Louis homeowners that are underwater, the report indicates that another 20.7 percent of the St Louis homeowners with a mortgage have less than 20 percent equity in their homes, putting them at risk of going into a negative equity position if prices fall.
Things are still much better here in St Louis than in many places though. For example, in Las Vegas, over 50 percent (54.3%) of the homeowners there with a mortgage are underwater. The complete table listing all metro areas covered in the report is below:
Continue reading “Over 1 in 4 St Louis Homeowners With A Mortgage Are Underwater“
 Tyler Frank,
Paramount Mortgage
NMLS ID 942420 Since the real estate market crash, millions of homeowners have lost their homes in a foreclosure, been forced to do a short sale to get out from a home they were underwater on or file bankruptcy as a result of financial hardship as a result of the the market crash and general economic downturn. Many of these homeowners have resorted to renting or living with relatives but, as time passes and the financial wounds heal, are now wanting to buy a home again prompting the question, “how long do I have to wait after a foreclosure, short-sale, deed-in-lieu or bankruptcy before I can get a home loan again?”.
Fortunately, it is possible for former homeowners who have faced financial hardships to obtain a home loan again, but it does take time and effort on their part. Before obtaining a home loan after a foreclosure, short-sale or bankruptcy, the borrower will have to reestablish credit and establish a stable income that will support the home loan they wish to obtain. In addition, time will have to pass as (see the chart below), no matter how well the borrowers situation has improved, there are still some minimum timeframes that will have had to pass in order to be eligible for most types of home loans. There is no “one size fits all” answer though, so I highly suggest if you are in this situation and want to know what your options are, to use the form below to contact me, I’ll be happy to help. Continue reading “How Long Do You Have To Wait To Get A Home Loan After Foreclosure, Short Sale or Bankruptcy?“
By Dennis Norman, on May 9th, 2013  As of April 2013, there were 182,678 homeowners in Missouri (26.68 percent) that were underwater on their mortgage meaning that their loan balances exceeds 125 percent of the current value of their home, according to a report just released by RealtyTrac. As a comparison, Illinois’ underwater homeowner rate is 34.79, Florida 41.24, Nevada 52.07 and California 25.07
In a little more upbeat news, the RealtyTrac report also revealed that foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions) in April affected 144,790 properties in the U.S. which is a decline of 5 percent from the month before and a decline of 23 percent from a year ago and the lowest level of foreclosure activity in over 6 years (74 months).
By Dennis Norman, on February 23rd, 2013  There were 23,348 fewer St. Louis homeowners underwater on their mortgage (owe more than the current value of their home) or, in other words are in a “negative equity” position, at the end of 2012 than there were at the beginning of the year, according to the Zillow® Negative Equity Report for 4th quarter 2012. At the end of 4th quarter 2012, 26.9 percent of St Louis homeowners with a mortgage were underwater on their mortgage, slightly lower than the national rate of 27.5 percent.
The Zillow report forecasts what is likely to happen in the current year as well with regard to homeowners with negative equity and the outlook for St Louis homeowners is not as optimistic as on the national level. Nationally, it is forecast that the percentage of underwater homeowners will fall from 27.5 percent to 25.5 percent by the end of 2013 and for St. Louis the forecast is actually for a slight increase in the rate, going from 26.9 percent to 27.0 percent by year end. Continue reading “23,000 Fewer St Louis Homeowners Underwater at end of 2012“
By Dennis Norman, on January 18th, 2013 Rising home prices helped 100,000 homeowners in the U.S. crawl out of a negative equity position during the 3rd quarter of 2012, according to a report just released by CoreLogic®. During the first nine months of 2012, there were a total of 1.4 million homeowners that found themselves moving from a negative equity position on their homes to a positive equity position. In spite of this vast improvement, twenty two percent of homeowners in the U.S. with a mortgage owe more on their homes than they are currently worth. Continue reading “The Number of Homeowners With Negative Equity Continues to Decline“
By Dennis Norman, on December 21st, 2012
Lately we have seen several reports on the housing market that show the housing market is improving and may even be headed toward a recovery however some experts, including Cliff Rossi, Tyser Teaching Fellow and executive-in-residence for the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, say it may be premature to call this a “real recovery.” Rossi is not entirely negative on the housing market and does admit that home prices are stabilizing and inventories are declining, however he has concerns as a result of the “fiscal cliff”, regulatory reform and tightness of credit. Continue reading “Is it premature to say the housing market is in recovery?“
By Dennis Norman, on November 20th, 2012 This morning, the Commerce Department released its new home construction report showing that, on a national basis, all aspects of new home construction, permits, starts and completions, are up double digits in October 2012 from the year before. The Home Builders Association’s new home report shows similar results in St. Louis as well with permits in St. Louis county up almost 24 percent in October from a year before, a 44 percent increase in St. Charles County and modest decreases in Jefferson County and Franklin County. Continue reading “St. Louis New Home Construction Activity Continues to Increase; Fed Chairman Bernanke Warns of Moderate Reovery Though“
By Dennis Norman, on October 5th, 2012 Strategic defaults are something I’ve written about several times over the past few years and is something that there are very strong feelings within the industry at opposite ends of the spectrum on in terms of whether they are OK to do or not. A strategic default is essentially when someone that has the ability to pay their mortgage but, usually because they are “underwater” (meaning they owe more than the property is worth), choose to “walk away” and allow the home to go into foreclosure. Almost one-third (32 percent) of Americans think there is nothing wrong with doing a strategic default, according to survey results just released by ID Analytics. Continue reading “Survey shows thirty-two percent of Americans say it’s ok to strategically default on a mortgage“
By Dennis Norman, on September 12th, 2012
As of the end of the second quarter of this year, there are 90,937 underwater St Louis homeowners, according to a report just released by Corelogic. This represents a slight increase from the prior quarter when there were 90,196 underwater St Louis homeowners and a decrease of almost 9 percent (8.8 percent) from the 2nd quarter of 2011 when St Louis underwater homeowners numbered almost 100,000 (99,792). One is said to be “underwater” on their mortgage when they owe more on their mortgage than their home is currently worth, which is also referred to as having “negative equity”.
Playing a large part in this reduction of homeowners with negative equity has been a combination of both an increasing number of foreclosures (which thereby removes the underwater loan from existence) and increasing home prices. As you can see by the chart I produced below, St Louis home prices have been increasing in the past year. The current price trend shown on the chart indicates an upward trend that, if continues, will help pull more underwater borrowers back above water. Continue reading “Number of St Louis Homeowners with Negative Equity Drops Almost 9 Percent in Past Year“
By Dennis Norman, on August 24th, 2012  I have good news for homeowners that are underwater on the mortgage and need to do a short sale, or for buyers looking to buy a short sale. The Federal Housing Financing Agency just issued new guidelines to lenders that service Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans that are intended to “offer a streamlined short sale approach” which will be music to the ears of anyone that has been through the process. I don’t always agree with the actions of the FHFA but I think this is a good move and will help the market. The new guidelines (see below for highlights) go into effect November 1, 2012 Continue reading “Short sales just got better“
By Dennis Norman, on July 27th, 2012
Over one in four homeowners in the U.S. with a mortgage are “underwater” meaning they owe more on their homes than they are currently worth and, according to data just released from a survey by Zillow, 75 percent of them are underwater by 40 percent or more meaning it will most likely be many years until they even have the hope of seeing equity in their home again. Nonetheless, this has not deterred the majority of these underwater homeowners from “staying the course” as 59 percent said would not consider a strategic default in order to get out from under their home. Continue reading “Should you consider a strategic default if you are underwater on your mortgage?“
By Dennis Norman, on July 13th, 2012 Here’s some good news to end our week with: In St. Louis the number of homeowners that are underwater on their mortgage (owe more than their home is worth), otherwise known as being in a “negative equity” position, dropped to 90,196 homeowners, or 16.1 percent of all St. Louis homeowners with a mortgage, in the first quarter of this year, down from 101,829 St Louis homeowners, or 18.1 percent during the prior quarter, according to a report just released by Corelogic. Continue reading “Number of St Louis Homeowners with Negative Equity on the Decline; Short sale help for Sellers and Buyers“
By Robert Fishel, on June 13th, 2012 
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of the Treasury released their May Housing Scorecard, which collects key market data and tracks the administration’s recovery efforts. According to the May scorecard, recent market data contains a number of promising indicators and increasing signs of stability. In April, sales of existing homes increased in every region of the country and the number of new homes rose for the first time since 2007. Continue reading “St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update; Housing Scorecard Finds Promise in Recent Market Data“
By News Desk, on May 27th, 2012
Rents Rise in Three-Quarters of Markets, According to April Zillow Real Estate Market Reports
National home values rose for the second month in a row, climbing 0.7 percent from March to a Zillow Home Value Index of $147,300. This is the largest monthly increase in home values since January 2006, when they rose 0.8 percent, according to the April Zillow® Real Estate Market Reports.
Rents also rose from March to April, increasing 1.6 percent, according to the Zillow Rent Index. Rents rose in 78 percent of the 178 markets covered by Zillow. Continue reading “St Louis home values fall in April; St. Louis rents on the rise“
By News Desk, on May 25th, 2012
But Negative Equity is a Paper Loss for Most, As 90% of Underwater Homeowners Pay Mortgage on Time
Nearly one-third (31.4 percent) of U.S. homeowners with mortgages – or 15.7 million – were underwater on their mortgage in the first quarter of 2012, despite rising home values, according to the first quarter Zillow® Negative Equity Report[1]. Collectively, underwater homeowners owed $1.2 trillion more than their homes were worth. Negative equity rose slightly from 31.1 percent in the fourth quarter, and declined from 32.4 percent one year ago.
Continue reading “Despite Home Value Gains, Underwater Homeowners Owe $1.2 Trillion More than Homes’ Worth“
By Dennis Norman, on March 19th, 2012  A report just released by RadarLogic states the obvious by saying “housing is a buyer’s market” which, I think by now, we all know. However the report goes on to dig into the driving forces behind this buyer’s market and makes some interesting (and concerning) observations including the fact that, while the National Association of REALTOR’s (NAR) reported that the inventory of homes for sale in January dropped to 2.31 million homes (a 6.1 month supply and the lowest level since 2006) this does not take into account vacant homes that have been held off the market, homes that have delinquent mortgages on them and are headed to foreclosure or in the foreclosure process, nor homes with underwater mortgages. This is a large pool of homes that while they are not “on the market” now, a large percentage of them likely will be in the coming months and years thereby increasing the inventory of homes for sale. Continue reading “Report Says Realtors’ Existing Home Supply Understated by "Millions of Homes"“
By Peter Wright, on March 5th, 2012  There are approximately 11-Million homeowners that are underwater, which represents about 23% of all outstanding mortgages. So, here comes another program to help the America Homeowner! Is it hype…or will it help?
Well, the new HARP program (Home Affordable Refinance Program) was released in Continue reading “Is the New Home Affordable Refinance Program Hype or Help?“
By Dennis Norman, on March 2nd, 2012  A report just released by CoreLogic shows that, at the end of fourth quarter 2011, there were 107,183 underwater St. Louis homeowners, or, to put it another way, St Louis homeowners with negative equity accounted for 18.8 percent of all St Louis homeowners with a mortgage. This is up from 17.1 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2011. In addition, 6.1 percent, or 34,639 St Louis homeowners, were in near negative equity for fourth quarter 2011 compared to 5.9 percent, or 33,694, in third quarter 2011.
By Dennis Norman, on February 27th, 2012  The National Association of REALTORS released it’s Pending Home Sales Index for January today showing an increase of 2.0 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and an 8.0 percent increase from a year ago. This marks the highest level the pending home sales index has been at since April 2010 when it hit 111.3 as a result of buyers racing to buy before the homebuyer tax credit expired. Continue reading “Pending home sales index hits highest level since April 2010“
By Dennis Norman, on December 5th, 2011  “We may indeed being seeing the beginning of at least a ‘soft landing’ in housing,” said Michael Feder, President and CEO of Radar Logic.
The latest housing market report by RadarLogic contained said, while trends in home prices remain negative in most major U.S. metropolitan areas, there are indications that market conditions are starting to improve. Continue reading “Is the housing market seeing the beginning of a "soft landing"?“
By Dennis Norman, on November 29th, 2011 
A report released today by CoreLogic shows that 17.10 percent (96,986) of all St. Louis homeowners with a mortgage were in a negative equity position in the third quarter of 2011, down slightly from 17.30 percent the prior quarter. Negative equity is also referred to as being “underwater” or “upside down” and refers to homeowners that owe more on their mortgages than the current value of their home. Continue reading “Fewer St. Louis Homeowners Underwater on Mortgage“
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