As we exit the cold months and see buyers re-enter the market, St. Louis continues to outperform the rest of the country when it comes to the losses in real estate.  While some places in the United States saw 30% declines in home values last year, the average around the St. Louis area seems to be about 6-8%.  Of course there are some staistical outliers.  But even the hardest hit areas are coming in at less than 15%.  At the present time pretty much every city in the St. Louis area we would classify as a “Buyer’s Market,” however this doesn’t mean there aren’t some areas that have weathered the storm significantly better than others.

Let’s discuss some bright spots of the market:

Affton, MO

Affton has been an affordability haven over the past year or so.  While Affton had been overlooked through the expansion in the early to mid 2000s, Affton’s low prices made it one of the few cities with increasing home values last year.  Even through the slow months of winter, there was only a 1.4% drop in values.  (This is normal for even the best areas during the slow months of December, January, and February.)  It will be very interesting to see how things go in Affton this year.

Oakville, MO

Due to few sub-prime loans, Oakville is a fairly steady area and with the demand for the school district by South County buyers, this city should remain steady.  It did see a decline last year of about 6% but much of that decrease looks to be gained back as early 2009 buyers cleaned out around 7-8% of the total inventory of homes.  This is high percentage wise for Winter months. 

Saint Ann, MO

While Saint Ann saw a price decline of around 10% last year, it looks to be primed for a jump at the present time.  Our Market Action Index (which compares the different aspects of price, inventory, and how long it’s taking to sell a home) is seeing an early spike for 2009.  This means that homes are selling quickly, inventories are reducing, and prices are stable or increasing.  

Saint Peters, MO

Data shows that Saint Peters, MO actually saw an increase in values in 2009.  Inventories of homes declined dratstically throughout the year.  The key factor is that people took their homes off the market that didn’t need to sell and left inventory for those that did.  As supply reduces and demand increases for the buying season, this should keep prices the same if not go higher.

Wentzville, MO

While Wentzville saw a huge housing boom over the past few years, the fact that it’s on the outer edge of suburbia should have made it perfect fodder for significantly declining prices.  As builders needed to clear inventories and sell off new lots their downward pressure on prices should have seen a more profound drop in values.  During the majority of last year, Wentzville actually saw an increase in home prices!  While prices slipped over the slow Winter months, inventories dropped significnatly making the city poised for another shoot up in values.