Mid-year Market Overview

We ran some reports at the end of April.  The Clayton and Ladue markets were looking great.  We were so busy achieving sales that I never got around to posting about them.  We’re now at mid-year and have just run, for all MLS transactions, single family home sales reports for January-June 2011 compared with the same period in 2010.  There is still some good news to report – just a little less rosy than if we had written this post two months ago.

Condo Update/Foreclosures

I ran some statistics recently for a client considering purchasing a block of bank-owned condos and was shocked by what I learned.

Looking across all price points for all of St. Louis County, the average sold price for privately owned condos for the period June 2010 to June 2011 was $198,907.  The average days on market was 142.

The REO stats by comparison to privately owned blew me away.  The average sale price was $100, 211.  The average days on market was 74. 

So, your typical REO is selling for half-price and it is selling twice as fast.  That is an amazing difference. 

Here's a fantastic example of one of our current condo listings (nowhere near average and not a foreclosure - just giving it a plug):



What do I mean by REO? 

Expensive Mistake?

In Saint Louis, it is not the standard for listing agents to meet and accompany the buyer’s agent when the buyer’s agent is showing a property to a client.  However, it is a fairly common practice for many listings in the higher price categories.  There are some valid reasons in favor of the practice, but from my experience working with both buyers and sellers, sellers should be cautious:

Move to Improve

What to Consider When You Outgrow the Nest

By Iyna Bort Caruso

The architecture is stunning, the neighborhood ideal and the schools are highly rated. But the home that was once a perfect fit is now a tight squeeze. When there’s everything to love about your house but its size, it’s time to decide: move or improve. 


The benefits of each option are tempting. Renovating is an opportunity to custom fit your home to your lifestyle. On the other hand, moving to a larger estate lets you sidestep weeks or months of construction zone living. 


There is no right answer and certainly no easy answer, which is why experts advise isolating the many variables down to a few manageable decision points.