With talk of a possible recession, the stock market drooping and consumer confidence lower, I wasn't sure what to expect this spring for St Louis home sales. Nationally I read that prices are stagnant, even dropping in some areas. But not here in St Louis! Sellers are enjoying a hot spring market, like the last several years. While buyers in several areas had a brief upper hand just a few months ago in Dec - Jan, that door has slammed shut.

There has been a homeowner movement the last year or 2 from higher priced areas around the country to the Midwest - a lower priced area. St Louis Metro unemployment is at 4.1%, a slight drop the last few months, up from last fall, but about the same as last summer. The national unemployment rate is 4.2%, and has been very steady the last 6 months. So the job market appears solid here, and that underlies home sales strength.

3 weeks ago I showed, and ultimately sold, a Ballwin ranch listed at 395k that had 5 offers. The first day on the market had 22 showings, it was like 2022 all over again (the peak of multiple offers here). Other April buyer offers I was up against were a Valley Park ranch listed at 370k that had 9 offers, and a Ballwin ranch listed at 330k that had 5 offers.

On the sellers side in April, I had a Manchester townhome listed at 260k that drew 3 offers, all over list price, and a Wildwood ranch listed at 700k that also drew 3 offers, all over list price. It was a busy month! But you see the pattern, all 3+ offers the first weekend on the market, averaging 5 offers per listing, and I know 4 of the 5, and likely the 5th, all went over list price, some substantially over. And these offers are going back to buyers limiting some of their protections, such as financing/ appraisal and inspection repairs.

That in a nutshell is the STL spring market. You can see by my stats below in April, that we moved to a strong seller's market, although inventory still rose. It is just that buyer demand is increasing faster than seller supply, pushing prices up rapidly.

As we head toward summer, Memorial Day is this weekend, the current housing inventory rose 14% from March. Here is an update on local, existing home sales activity as of Thursday, May 1st:

• ##Manchester had 6 homes available and 22 under contract##
• Ballwin had 27 homes available and 66 under contract
• Kirkwood had 46 homes available and 68 under contract
• St Peters had 45 homes available and 92 under contract
• Arnold had 17 homes available and 20 under contract
• Florissant had 68 homes available and 108 under contract

##Strong Seller's Market##

The ratios range from 1.2 to 3.7 pending sales for every 1 available, averaging 1.8 pending to every 1 available. My last comparison of these areas in March was 1.6 to 1 (and 2.8 to 1 in June 2022) with the available home supply UP 13% from February. That shows sales increasing faster than the rising inventory, typical for a spring market, and swinging back to a strong seller's market. Manchester is still on top for best seller's market, but at a reasonable 3.7 to 1 ratio of pendings to available. Sellers, take advantage of this spring market and call me about selling your house now!

To move or improve in 2025, contact Gary to sell or buy (HRE), or for ongoing home and design management (HHC) in your current or new home.

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