Last year caught many realtors by surprise. “January and early February are typically slow months, but 2013 took off from the start and never really slowed down,” says realtor Doug McKay. “And 2014 is shaping up to be last year on steroids: There is a severe shortage of well-priced homes for sale, and this is creating a chaos like we haven’t seen in years.”
“Well-priced” is the key. Affordable, drop-your-suitcase homes are provoking bidding wars in some neighborhoods. But many sellers are setting higher prices or waiting—and the shortage is driving prices even higher. One forecast predicts St. Louis will see a 30 percent increase in the median price of a single-family home between 2012 and 2018—among the largest gains in the nation. The market is back—for buyers and sellers.
Though downtown saw a significant shift in demographics during the recession, from loft-dwellers to apartment renters, it still continued to add about 500 residents per year. Now, there are about 14,000 residents, says Kevin Farrell, senior director of economic and housing development... Read More
In midtown, the new Metropolitan Artist Lofts—just a rock’s throw from KDHX-FM’s new, state-of-the-art studios and building—had a waiting list at press time. (Artists are strongly encouraged to apply; that name isn’t just for show.) Midtown developer Jassen Johnson, a partner with Renaissance... Read More
A lot is happening in this lively city neighborhood. Minneapolis’ Opus Development Company has received preliminary approval for its proposed 12-story, $61.5 million luxury high-rise near the corner of Lindell Boulevard and Euclid Avenue... Read More
If all goes as planned, the St. Louis Streetcar project will connect downtown with the near North Side in 2016. But there are plenty of other projects happening in the neighborhood in the meantime, says Sean Thomas, executive director of the Old North St. Louis... Read More
On the near South Side, the hottest areas are the walkable ones: Benton Park and Lafayette Square, as well as Shaw and the Tower Grove neighborhoods, where there are both serene Victorian parks and hopping business districts. The best deals are in Tower Grove East... Read More
KIRKWOOD, GLENDALE & WEBSTER GROVES
Flipping through Kirkwood real-estate records, Andrew Bauer of Janet McAfee Real Estate finds one property after another with zero days on the market and multiple offers. “We have buyers coming out of the woodwork...” Read More
The real-estate market in U. City is on an upswing, with demand outpacing supply. “Houses are selling for closer to asking price,” says realtor Joanne Iskiwitch. “Clayton used to be so much more expensive than University City. Now, it’s getting a little bit closer... Read More
In Clayton, demand is also high. “There weren’t enough houses on the market,” says Gary Boyson of Janet McAfee Real Estate. But for those that sold in 2013, he notes, “the average price went up to $630,000 - a 4 percent increase [from a year earlier].” In January... Read More
BRENTWOOD, MAPLEWOOD & RICHMOND HEIGHTS
After purchasing her home on Maplewood’s South Street in 2004, landscape designer, artist, and contractor Michele Jianakoplos Brown snatched up three adjoining lots. At press time, she was preparing to tear down one house and build three... Read More
LADUE, FRONTENAC, TOWN & COUNTRY & CREVE COEUR
Big building is back with a bang. In Ladue, Frontenac, and Town & Country, old houses are being razed to make room for new builds, with price tags in the multimillions. “They just keep getting bigger and bigger,”... Read More
Realtors in the westernmost stretches of St. Louis County have wailed for months about having more buyers than sellers. “We are seeing the inventory so low, it’s ridiculous,” says Joan Dewey of Coldwell Banker Gundaker. “The listings are just not coming on...” Read More
Last year, 44 percent of all new homes in the metro area were built in St. Charles County, where land is cheaper than in much of St. Louis County. “More and more home-building has been shifting there in recent years,” says Pat Sullivan, executive vice president of the... Read More
To some St. Louisans’ chagrin, the Post-Dispatch ran an article last summer titled “North County, Suburbia in Crisis,” suggesting many neighborhoods there were suffering from weak housing prices. Yet as the writer noted, “North County is a big place, and it can’t be painted with one brush...” Read More
Inside the Home
Suddenly, it’s a sellers’ market, and house rehabbers are scurrying to gather up the deals.
They use infrared sensors, outlet testers, high-powered flashlights…but their favorite tools are sharp eyes, a trained nose, and a soapbox to instruct the rest of us.
How St. Louisans make their homes is as individual as their DNA.
