Things Are Heating Up!

Ok so maybe the temperature in St. Louis today is just about 16 as of the time of this posting, however, the same can not be said about the real estate sales.  Buyers are entering the market early this year. 

Look at this chart for St. Charles.  Almost 50% of all listed properties experienced a recent price reduction and inventory is way down as homes are sold and taken off the market.  This indicates to us a stastical bottom.

Some Factors Why:

1. For three weeks the conventional 30 year fixed-rate mortgage was around 4.75% - That rate hit its bottom and is now trending upward.  The mythical 4.0% rate wasn't to be found.
2. The elections is over, the new President is in office, and people are ready to move forward with their lives.  Many people sat on the sidelines waiting to see how things panned out.  Now they are ready to act.
3. Prices are at their lowest between November and January 31st.  The reason behind this is Sellers are aware that during these months the fewest Buyers are out looking.  To make their home competitive with a small Buyer pool they must lower their price.  As more Buyers come back into the market, more showings will ocurr and Sellers will achieve higher prices.  That means NOW is the best time to get the best price.
4. There is an influx of investors snatching up foreclosures in St. Louis and St. Charles countines.  They smart people know prices are low and will buy now and sell later.  
5. There are plenty of great foreclosure and short sale homes out there that need little to no work but are being sold at a big discount.
6. Thousands of families sat on the sidelines last year thinking it was possible for prices to crater in St. Louis.  That didn't happen so there are plenty of first time and move up buyers looking.

We can say all this because the phones and email information requests at River City Real Estate have NEVER in our history been this high for the month of January.    This translates to what will be our best February ever in terms of volume of closings.  

Yes the market was down last year, yes prices dropped in some places of North County 25%, yes prices dropped in St. Charles County (albeit only about 4%) .  

But this means it's a great time to buy.  And in our estimation, we have finally hit the bottom and are trending up.