The number of available homes for sale in St. Louis County, St. Charles County and St. Louis City is going to be much higher in January 2008 compared to what was available in January 2007. The higher inventory levels of homes should provide savvy buyers with many great opportunities if they are ready to get off the sidelines and get into the real estate market.
The charts below show the inventory level of available resale homes by county throughout 2007.
You can clearly see that in all three counties the available homes for sale now is substantially higher than it was in the beginning of January. Actually, the current inventory is at the same levels we saw last spring in April 2007. Since it is unlikely that a flood of homes will come off the market in the next two weeks, you can expect the inventory in January 2008 to be much higher than the same time last year, and to continue to rise through the spring and summer seasons.
Throughout 2007, buyers seemed to be watching the national news about the slow housing market and opt to wait rather than make a purchase. The result of buyers sitting it out this year is a higher level of available homes that haven’t sold. Some of those sellers have taken their homes of the market…either planning to just stay put or wait until next year. But, with over 30% of the actively listed homes vacant, there are plenty of sellers that just don’t have the option to stay put and wait for the market to turn around.
Of course, there were still plenty of homes that did sell in 2007.
The chart below shows the number of sold homes through the MLS through September 30 in 2006 and 2007.
| Closed Sales (per MLS) | 2007 | 2006 | % Change |
| St. Louis City | 2,565 | 2,894 | -11.3% |
| St. Louis County | 9,743 | 10,817 | -9.9% |
| St. Charles County | 3,498 | 3,830 | -8.6% |
Yes, there was a definite drop. But, plenty of sellers DID sell their homes this year.
If you are a buyer, especially a first-time buyer, you’ve got a great opportunity now to find a good deal.
If you are a seller, don’t despair. Homes ARE still selling. But, you need to price your house appropriately for the competition and condition. If you do, your house will sell. If not, it will likely be one of the 43% (or more) of listings that failed to sell.
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