January started off strong for the St. Louis housing market, with healthy buyer demand and strong market fundamentals. A robust increase in housing starts in December points to an active year for new construction, but higher material costs, especially lumber, and a limited supply of buildable lots will temper the number of new units.
New listings increased 0.5 percent for residential homes but decreased 0.7 percent for townhouse/condo homes. Pending sales increased 17.6 percent for residential homes and 6.2 percent for townhouse/condo homes. Inventory decreased 41 percent for residential homes and 12.3 percent for townhouse/condo homes.
Median sales price increased 16.6 percent to $230,000 for residential homes and 8.1 percent to $173,000 for townhouse/condo homes. Days on market decreased 29.8 percent for residential homes and 28.3 percent for townhouse/condo homes. Months supply of inventory decreased 45.5 percent for Residential homes and 15 percent for townhouse/condo homes.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s January research estimates approximately 2.7 million homeowners with mortgages are currently in forbearance plans. Some of these homes may eventually come to market, but given the strong appreciation in most market segments in recent years, these eventual home sales are likely to be mostly traditional sellers. However, a modest increase in short sales and foreclosures at some point this year would not be surprising.
