Housing Report for St. Louis City and County Show Increasing Prices Shrinking Inventory
As predicted, the St. Louis housing market grows more challenging for homebuyers as inventory continues to diminish while prices continue to increase. Let’s look at a few highlights from the infographic above to see where the real estate market has been and where it’s heading.
Highlights
The median price of a home has risen 9% to $168,500 compared to $155,00 last year at this time.
In other words, a home purchased this year costs $13,500 more than it did last year. Ouch! The cost of procrastination.
What’s driving this? Simple:supply and demand.
Active Listings Down
The number of actual homes for sale has decreased 12% compared to last year. There are 843 fewer homes on the market compared to April of 2016.
Days on Market
Last year at this time it took an average of 141 days for a home to sell. This April homes sold within 87 days.
That’s 54 days faster than last year. Homes will probably go under contract as we enter the prime season of Spring and Summer.
Months of Inventory
Months of inventory is defined as how many months it would take to sell all the homes on the market if no other homes were added. According to economists, the ideal balance between housing supply and demand is a 6.5 month supply. St. Louis City and County combined is at 4 month supply.
Sampling of Home Inventory Supply and Available Listings
To get a snapshot of the months of inventory supply around St. Louis simply click on the blue dots on the map below. You will also see live links to existing active homes that are for sale. The links are refreshed every 24 hours so be sure to check back whenever you want as things change. If you want to follow a particular market then look into our MarketSnaphot reports. Click Here
Which Home Price Ranges Show the Most Activity?
50% of all home purchases in April were for homes selling for $199,000 or less.
This is the sweet spot for most first time homebuyers and one of the most competitive segments of the market.
The higher end price homes ($500K plus) keep slugging along representing only 18% of purchases.
The Outlook for the Rest of 2017
In the most recent press release from the St. Louis REALTORS Barry Upchurch the President stated:“There’s no doubt we are in a ever-tightening housing market. The trend we have seen the first three months of this year is continuing and we expect housing availability to only get tighter throughout 2017.” Mr. Upchurch continued; “With more demand for housing than available supply, we have a highly competitive market, which in turn creates some new challenges and sustained pressure for buyers in being able to successfully navigate the homebuying process. What happens in this type of market is houses sell more quickly, often within days of going on the market, quite often for more than the original asking price and there are frequently multiple, competing offers in the mix.”
What’s a Buyer to Do?
Get the data.
Educate yourself to the landscape of today’s real estate market.
Align yourself with an Exclusive Buyer Agent who works the business full-time and can help you put together a winning strategy.
Prepare to act quickly when a home becomes available.
Finding Homes for You has put together an arsenal of tools that will bring you up-to-speed and protect your interests in this challenging time.
Related articles
- What Price Home Could You Buy for $1000 Monthly Mortgage?
- Spring 2017 Home Buying Guide
- How to Monitor Your Home’s Value in Changing Times
- How to Investigate and Analyze a Market with MarketSnapshots
Related Posts:
