November 2009 St Louis Area Housing Report

The data is coming in, but it appears that a flurry of buying has occurred over the past month around St Louis and St Charles counties. Prices are trending up in many zip codes, while home values in areas that were previously plummeting have seen some stability.

Florissant, MO 63033 – has seen a price stabilization where previously it appeared to be falling steadily. It appears as if at the present point April was the bottom for this market. As with most of the areas in St Louis, the bottom occurred as inventory was flushed out of the system. Our data however indicates that Florissant and much of the North St Louis County area might be ready to experience another drop in values. This being due to the foreclosure moratorium that has now ended.

St Charles, MO 63303 – has seen a price increase over the past two months of almost $10,000. The inventory in this area plummeted 20% during that time. There are reports of multiple offer situations on many houses. Realtors are reporting activity on homes priced correctly similar to that of 2006.

Just as oil prices are controlled by supply and demand, home inventory works the same way. The truth is that desirable areas of St. Louis are experiencing inventory drops as buyers are taking advantage of incentives. But as Sellers sit on the sidelines not listing their homes, it makes inventory drop. What you noticed when you go into the data is that there is a wide difference to create the average days on market for these areas. Many homes are selling within 60 days, plenty of other overpriced homes are sitting for 180 or more days