St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch December 20th, 2008

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports

Saint Louis Real Estate Market Watch by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
December 20th, 2008
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!

 T’was the weekend before Christmas, and all through the St. Louis Real Estate Market buyers and sellers alike seem to be focusing on the Holidays and putting their home buying and selling process as a second priority.

 As usual at this time of year, we are seeing active listings and buyer activity falling off and more homes hitting the expired list. Our pending ratio has dropped to 10.39 percent. One positive note; the average listing prices have bumped up just a bit with the average selling prices remaining relatively stable.  

For homeowners thinking of giving themselves a Holiday gift of a remodeling project, such as a new kitchen, bath, office, lower level or family room in their existing home, check out the most recent report of home remodeling project cost versus value at this LINK. 

Once again, curb appeal seems to rule the day.  The report shows that exterior remodeling projects return the maximum value at re-sale followed by interior projects.  There are some interesting statistics in this report contradicting what we hear from some “experts” in our area. 

Once again, from all of us at the St. Louis Real Estate Voice- We wish each and every one of you and your family a very Happy Holiday Season.

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!! 

Fill out the form below to view the Market Report.

Posted by Art Wagner   |   Read More   |   Your Comments Are Welcome!   |   12.21.2008

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch December 13th, 2008

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports

Saint Louis Real Estate Market Watch by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
December 13th, 2008
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 has our pending ratio ( homes accepting contracts) inching up slightly to 10.47 percent from last week’s 10.04 percent.  When you look at the segment of the market that moves St. Louis Real Estate; price ranges from $100,000 to $249,999; the pending ratios are continuing well above the average pending ratio.

Buyer activity is remaining fairly stable this month, as seller activity continues to decline.  It’s not unusual that these specific price ranges are doing well, as these are the ranges that fit into the FHA guidelines for financing.  We believe, as others do, that FHA loan programs will be the engine to help bolster the St. Louis Housing market in the next 12-18 months.   

On a National level, RealtyTrac, an online source for foreclosed properties and statistics recently reported that default notices, auction sales and bank repossessions fell 7 percent in November from the previous month.  That’s a good sign, but as compared to November 2007 we are still up 28 percent.  The top five states for foreclosures are still Florida, Nevada, Arizona, California and Michigan. Read the complete article at RisMedia.com

For homeowners looking for information and help with financial education as it relates to homeownership, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has recently launched a website to assist Americans.  A unique feature on the website is a cool Self-Assessment Tool to help homeowners learn about personalized options for purchaseing and refinancing a home.  The website can be found at www.HUD.gov and www.FHA.gov. 

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!! 

Fill out the form below to view the Market Report.

Posted by Art Wagner   |   Read More   |   Your Comments Are Welcome!   |   12.14.2008

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch December 6th, 2008

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports

Saint Louis Real Estate Market Watch by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
December 6th, 2008
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 gives evidence as to why sellers ought to stay in the marketplace and why buyers ought to be buying right now.

Active listings have dropped by 234 this week, followed by accepted contracts (pendings) only dropping by 10.  This has caused our pending ratio to bump up a bit to 10.04 percent.  Buyer activity has not declined nearly as much as seller activity. 

Our average listing price has remained fairly stable for the last several months, while our average selling prices has declined slightly.  4 weeks ago, our average selling price was $480,857 as compared to this week at $457,502.  Sellers want to get their home sold before the end of the year, and some are making concessions to get it done.  Even so, our average list price to sale price ratio remains at 95 percent.  When you remove the $800,000+ price range from the statistics, we see the average list to sales percentage increase to 97.5 percent. 

Buyers that are staying in the market may be finding even better value for the dollar from now until the end of the year.  

Thursday, this last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, spelled out more aggressive steps that the Government could take to help reverse the nationwide housing slump.  This report came a day after reports came to light that the Treasury Department is looking at steps that could put some mortgage rates below 5 percent, and a day before the Mortgage Banker’s Association reported record foreclosures and delinquencies from July to September this year.  Read the complete article with Mr. Bernanke’s suggestions on how to help fix this mess at RISMEDIA.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!! 

Fill out the form below to view the Market Report.

Posted by Art Wagner   |   Read More   |   Your Comments Are Welcome!   |   12.07.2008

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch November 29th, 2008

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports

Saint Louis Real Estate Market Watch by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
November 29th, 2008
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 slow as we head into Holiday season with 100+ less active listings, almost 50 less accepted contracts and our pending ratio dropping below 10 percent to 9.76 percent.  This is the lowest pending ratio we’ve recorded since we started tracking these statistics in August of 2007.  Please remember that some of this slow-down is typical of the season we are in. 

The notable statistics are when you compare our current numbers to the same week last year.  Compared to last year, this week, we are down 700+ active listings, 255 less accepted contracts, and the pending ratio is below last year by almost 4 percent.

Sellers-this is a good time to stay in the market, as inventory is shrinking, and as long as you are priced at or below market value, you have a better chance of attracting a motivated buyer.  Buyer activity is still good, and buyers now are much more motivated than previous months.  

Buyers-you have less inventory to look at, which should make your decision easier when you find the right house for you.   For buyers who will be using FHA financing, better buy by the end of the year, as after the first of the new year, FHA guidelines will be changing.  FHA’s minimum 3 percent downpayment will be going up to 3.5 percent, and the upper limits of FHA loans will be lowered by $10,000. 

The good news from the Fed this past week is that they will be buying up to $500 billion of securitized home loans in the next 12 to 18 months.   This news alone is what has caused mortgage rates to drop so significantly this last week.  Read Bankrate.com’s article detailing the Fed’s actions HERE. 

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!! 

Fill out the form below to view the Market Report.

Posted by Art Wagner   |   Read More   |   1 Comment »   |   11.30.2008

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch November 22nd, 2008

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports, Uncategorized

Saint Louis Real Estate Market Watch by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
November 22nd, 2008
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 slow a bit, as Thanksgiving and the other Holidays are approaching.  Homes that are accepting contracts (pendings) have remained fairly steady from last week, which signals steady buyer activity.  Again we are seeing less active listings coming onto the market.  These two situations have caused our pending ratio to increase slightly to 10.44 percent. 

 It is noteworthy that the buyer activity in the price ranges from $100,000 up to $300,000 is still beating the averages.  Pending ratios in these price ranges are still well above 10 percent.  We expect to see this activity continue, as this is the range that the FHA financing guidelines operate in.  With those guidelines changing a bit after the first of the year,  homebuyers in these price ranges should buy now before the end of the year.

It’s not cast in stone yet, but anticipated that FHA will be increasing the minimum downpayment requirement of 3 percent to 3.5 percent after the first of the year.  Also, the Mortgage Insurance Premium is anticipated to increase slightly also.  If these changes do take place after the first of the year, it will mean that home-buyers in these price ranges will have to bring more money to the closing table, thus giving them less purchasing power. Also anticipated is a decrease in the maximum loan amount of $281,000 to $271,000.

On a positive note, the Bush Administration this week announced changes to their “Hope for Homeowners” program to help more distressed homeowners refinance their mortgages to help them stay in their homes.  Read the article posted on RisMedia.com HERE.

HAPPY THANSGIVING TO ALL OUR READERS!!

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!! 

Fill out the form below to view the Market Report.

Posted by Art Wagner   |   Read More   |   Your Comments Are Welcome!   |   11.23.2008

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch November 15th, 2008

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports, Uncategorized

Saint Louis Real Estate Market Watch by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
November 15th, 2008
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 has our pending ratio dropping from last week to 10.27 percent, with a few more active listings and a few less homes accepting contracts.  This “slow down” is very typical in our local St. Louis Real Estate Market for this time of the year, however, it feels worse this year, as we are well below last year’s buyer and seller activity levels. 

What makes this year different than last year also is the $700 Billion Dollar Bail-Out (OR Capital Injection)plan recently approved and now talk about another Stimulus Package possibly coming down the road. It’s no wonder buyers and sellers alike are waiting to see what’s going to happen next. 

If you read, listen, watch the news,  credit and lending are loosening a bit. WHERE??  We are not seeing it here yet.  We think it will take another three to six months before we see any noticable improvements with lending institutions really beginning to lend again.  That’s what we need to happen to even hope to instill consumer confidence back into the market.  

This past week, Unemployment claims have risen again, and this time above the 90 day average by 25,000 to 516,000 and October retail sales have dropped 2.8 percent.  The National Federation of Independant Business has said that small business sales conditions were the worst since 1980.  There doesn’t seem to be much consumer confidence evident here yet.   Read Lou Barnes’ article posted on Inman News this past Friday entitled, “Economy needs full $700 billion, and more” HERE.

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!! 

Fill out the form below to view the Market Report.

Posted by Art Wagner   |   Read More   |   Your Comments Are Welcome!   |   11.16.2008

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch November 8th, 2008

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports

 Saint Louis Real Estate Market Watch by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
November 8th, 2008
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 is “getting ready for the holidays”.  Our pending ratio has risen slightly to 10.65 percent, which reflects about the same number of homes accepting contacts as last week, but with fewer active listings.

We are still seeing lower numbers of homes sold this past six months, compared to the same six months last year.  Most of the sellers who have let their listings expire are telling us they are ready to take a break until the holidays are over.  

For the sellers that are still on the market-STAY THERE; Buyer activity is still good and with falling inventory, your home has less and less competition.  We also find that this is the time of year when buyers tend to be  more motivated than the summer “tire kickers”.   There’s another motivating factor facing buyers now.  FHA guidelines will be changing after the first of the new year.  The minimum down payment the FHA will require will be going UP to 3.5 percent from 3 percent.  There are several other changes occuring also, but the downpayment change is the one that will effect most people using FHA financing. 

 This is worth noting in our market because the FHA loan limit is $281,000 (and change) and coincidentally, the price points that move our local St. Louis Real Estate Market just happen to be price ranges from $300,000 and down.  Check the current Market Watch Report and look for the highest pending ratios across all price ranges.  The double digit pending ratios are in these price ranges.

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!! 

Fill out the form below to view the Market Report.

Posted by Art Wagner   |   Read More   |   Your Comments Are Welcome!   |   11.09.2008

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch November 1st, 2008

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports, Uncategorized

Saint Louis Real Estate Market Watch by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
November 1st, 2008
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 is almost 900 active listings shy of where we were last year at this time.  We are also showing 130 less homes accepting contracts as compared to last year.  The number of homes coming off the market, or market rejected listings (expired), have increased by almost 100 over last week.

This week it’s important to look at our new smaller report which shows our average totals WITHOUT the $800,000+ price range.  Without the $800,000+ price range, our average Selling Price to List Price percentage is 97.7% with average Days on Market at 122.  The $800,000+ price range skews our numbers quite a bit this week. 

We are still obviously in a buyers market with 9 months of inventory, but things are getting a bit more challenging for buyers.  Inventory is shrinking, compared to last year, and now with lenders tightening their practices, some buyers are finding financing more of a challenge to obtain.  It still stands that buyers with very good to excellent credit ratings,  and down payment ability will continue to obtain financing without too many problems.  It’s the marginal credit ratings, low to no down payment ability and other financial obstacles facing some buyers that will continue to present challenges now and into the future.

This week, I ran across a great article posted on RISMedia.com addressing the concerns of many as to whether the $700 Billiion Dollar Bailout will really help our real estate market.  It’s fairly long, but gives a great over-view of how this all started, and outlines the major provisions of the nearly 500 page “Bailout” plan.  Read the complete article at www.RISMedia.com. 

DON’T FORGET TO VOTE TUESDAY NOV. 4TH.

DECISIONS ONLY GET MADE

WHEN PEOPLE SHOW UP!!

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!! 

Fill out the form below to view the Market Report.

Posted by Art Wagner   |   Read More   |   Your Comments Are Welcome!   |   11.02.2008