St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch July 25th, 2009

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports

Saint Louis Real Estate-Market Watch  by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
July 25th, 2009
The Anatomy of St. Louis Real Estate

The St. Louis Home for Sale Team provides a weekly St. Louis County and Bi-weekly St. Charles County Market and Jefferson County Market Watch Report to review and plug into your home buying or selling scenario.  Your questions and comments are welcome!

 The St. Louis Real Estate Market this week shows a small increase in active listings and a small decrease in homes accepting contracts (Pending).  Thus, our pending ratio has dropped slightly from last week.  Homes sold for the past six months is at 3246, a decline of about 900 from this same time last year. 

WHAT?!  I thought our activity was up considerably from last year??  Well, check the numbers; as far as we know, statistics don’t lie.  Last year, our active listings were up about 700 from this year, with the pending ratio last year at this time at 15.02 percent.  This year at this time, our pending ratio is at 15.48 percent.  Pretty close, I’d say.   Also, our average list prices are within a couple hundred dollars and our average sales prices are within 8-10 thousand dollars when you compare this year to last year.  More proof again that we really are in a very stable market. 

SO…. has the “First Time Homebuyer” tax credit really done anything to help incresase sales??  It appears that it has at least helped stay off any further decline in sales in the lower price ranges.  What we hear from some of our clients is that the tax credit, coupled with lower interest rates has spurred them into buying this year instead of waiting another year. 

It will be interesting to see what happens after December 1st, when the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit expires.  It will be difficult to determine exactly what effect the expiration has, as our market seasonally slows down anyway in December.  We will be watching and comparing sales numbers closely in October through December, as our market tends to fall off a bit beginning in late September and into October and into the winter months.  Stay tuned, we’ll try to have some analysis for you that makes sense.

HELP ME OUT- Shoot me an email and tell me what you think about our market stability and activity this year.   You can reach me at art@stlouisrealestatevoice.com. 

 REAL ESTATE AGENTS AND FOR SALE BY OWNERS- Are your listings and / or home sitting on the market too long?? 120 days or more??  We have a program designed to get your listing or FSBO home sold.  Real Estate Agents get paid their commission in full.  Contact us for more info.

 WHO DO YOU KNOW NOW that is challenged with their mortgage payments OR needs to sell for less than their home is worth?? WE CAN HELP!! 

Posted by Art Wagner   |   Read More   |   Your Comments Are Welcome!   |   07.26.2009

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch July 18th, 2009

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports

Saint Louis Real Estate-Market Watch  by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
July 18th, 2009
The Anatomy of St. Louis Real Estate

The St. Louis Home for Sale Team provides a weekly St. Louis County and Bi-weekly St. Charles County Market and Jefferson County Market Watch Report to review and plug into your home buying or selling scenario.  Your questions and comments are welcome!

 The St. Louis Real Estate market this week doesn’t look much different than last week.  Active listings have increased a tick, our pending ratio continues to hover  around 16.5% and inventory remains at 6.1 months as an average across all price ranges.

Buyer activity remains strong and we are even seeing a bit of an up-tick in activity in some of the higher price ranges.  Witmessed in the past several weeks by increased attendance at some Open Houses we have hosted and in talking with sellers and For Sale By Owner’s about their Open House experiences.

Sellers that are still “sitting on the fence”  should be on the market now,  as our “peak season”  is still here, but won’t be for too many more months.  Homes that are within market value, or a bit below, and are in top-notch condition are selling-and ususally beating the Days On Market averages for their price range.  You still must be the number one choice in the neighborhood.

  REAL ESTATE AGENTS AND FOR SALE BY OWNERS- Are your listings and / or home sitting on the market too long?? 120 days or more??  We have a program designed to get your listing or FSBO home sold.  Real Estate Agents get paid their commission in full.  Contact us for more info.

 WHO DO YOU KNOW NOW that is challenged with their mortgage payments OR needs to sell for less than their home is worth?? WE CAN HELP!! 

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Posted by Art Wagner   |   Read More   |   Your Comments Are Welcome!   |   07.19.2009

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch July 11th, 2009

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports

Saint Louis Real Estate-Market Watch  by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
July 11th, 2009
The Anatomy of St. Louis Real Estate

The St. Louis Home for Sale Team provides a weekly St. Louis County and Bi-weekly St. Charles County Market and Jefferson County Market Watch Report to review and plug into your home buying or selling scenario.  Your questions and comments are welcome!

The St. Louis Real Estate Market this week continues to show great buyer activity, especially in the “First Time Homebuyer” price ranges.  These price ranges tend to be around the $100,000 to $250,000 range. 

Pending ratios in these price ranges continue at or above 20 percent.   Note worthy also is that in seven of the higher price ranges, the pending ratios have increased to over 10 percent, with some over 15 percent. 

Our over-all pending ratio (homes listed compared to homes accepting contracts in the last 30-40 days)  is at 16.49 percent, which is 2.5 percent above last year’s pending ratio. 

Another point worth mentioning is that looking at average list price to sales price comparisons for the first six months of 2009, there is only a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars difference when compared to the first six months of 2008.  We are in a very stable market with regards to pricing.   Our average List Price to Sales Price percentages in all price ranges remains between 97 percent to 99 percent for homes sold in the past six months. 

  REAL ESTATE AGENTS AND FOR SALE BY OWNERS- Are your listings and / or home sitting on the market too long?? 120 days or more??  We have a program designed to get your listing or FSBO home sold.  Real Estate Agents get paid their commission in full.  Contact us for more info.

 WHO DO YOU KNOW NOW that is challenged with their mortgage payments OR needs to sell for less than their home is worth?? WE CAN HELP!! 

Posted by Art Wagner   |   Read More   |   1 Comment »   |   07.13.2009