St. Louis Housing Market ~ 10 Year Trends

by Karen Goodman on April 4, 2010

When we talk about how the housing market is doing, it’s important to understand that single family homes and condos often have very different trends.

St. Louis County ~ 10 Year Trends:

Properties for Sale vs. Sold Properties:

Single Family Homes:

st louis co homes 10 yr for sale and sold St. Louis Housing Market ~ 10 Year Trends

Condos:

st louis co condos 10 yr for sale and sold St. Louis Housing Market ~ 10 Year Trends

Total Days of Market and Original Sale Price to List Price:

Single Family Homes:

st louis co homrd 10 yr cdom and sp lp St. Louis Housing Market ~ 10 Year Trends

Condos:

st louis co condos 10 yr cdom and sp lp St. Louis Housing Market ~ 10 Year Trends

Months of Inventory:

Single Family Homes:

st louis co homes 10 yr months of inventory St. Louis Housing Market ~ 10 Year Trends

Condos:

st louis co condos 10 yr months of inventory St. Louis Housing Market ~ 10 Year Trends

Bottom Line:

When you look at the charts, you’ll notice that there is a difference in both the shape of the charts and also in the actual numbers – make sure to take a good look at the numbers on the left axis.

Condos sell in much smaller numbers, take longer to sell, and there is a huge difference in the months of inventory.

In the last couple of years, there has been a 12-24 month supply of condos at any given time. In comparison, single family homes have had between 6-10 months of supply during the same time period.

A 6 month supply of properties is considered a balanced market. Once the inventory levels drop, either because fewer sellers are listing their homes or because more buyers start purchasing the available homes, the housing market will stabilize. Clearly, the single family home market in St. Louis County will recover long before the condo market.

The result is that condo sellers need to price their properties very aggressively or they won’t find a buyer. Sellers who think that they can simply wait a year or two and try again are being unrealistic. Prices may still fall more before they hit bottom, and even when property values do start climbing again, they will most likely appreciate only 1-3% per year.

Property owners who are waiting for their $200,000 property to get back to the $240,000 level it was worth a few years ago, could be waiting 10 years.