While there is a lot of anecdotal evidence bouncing around St. Louis Louis that home values ??have been rising steadily since 2000, that employment is below the national average, although just barely, and that the worst part of the housing crisis has come and gone, in actuality many factors, such as an overvalued real estate market, uncast option adjustable rate mortgages, and an expiration tax credit lend to a bleaker outlook on the St.. Louis real estate market in the coming year.
Several real estate websites and blogs describe a healthy annualized appreciation in the St. Louis Louis real estate market since 2000, particularly in the affluent neighborhoods surrounding the city, like Ladue. In actuality, it's the luxury-priced homes that are seeing some of the highest rates of foreclosure. What's more, according to CNNMoney.com, the St. Louis housing market is overvalued at a rate of 9% and is long overdue for a price correction.
Although many realtors are saying that troubled properties are a thing of the past and that the worst is behind us, the St. Louis. Louis real estate market may not have seen its full share of foreclosures yet. Foreclosures in Missouri are at a rate of 5.02%, slightly higher than the national trend, according to CNNMoney.com. Missouri as a whole had 2 failed banks, and most likely the rate of foreclosure contributed to their downfall. According to The St. Louis Business Journal , foreclosures in St. Louis Louis alone rose 79% between 2007 and 2008. While these numbers are shocking, they may not be the worst we see before the housing market recovers completely. What's most frightening is that, according to the ratings agency Fitch, 88% of option ARMs (studied nationwide) have not yet been recast. This means that 88% of homeowners with option adjustable rate mortgages have not yet reached their balloon payment, and that interest is continuing to compound on the principal.
While a first-time homebuyer tax credit has provided some relief for homes priced at entry-level, this credit may have only provided an eye for the hurricane. As the brisker sales season of summer draws to a close, and with it comes the expiration of the housing tax credit, we may be plunged back down into the miserable depths from which we came. What's more, Missouri's unemployment rate is at 9.5%, which is just below the national average of 9.8%; and the hold-tight mentality is preventing many people from moving on to new jobs and new cities. While Missouri received enough stimulus money to create 19,200 jobs, it remains to be seen whether this puts any real dent in the failing housing market.
St. Louis is home to over forty Fortune 1000 companies; and although the recession has caused some panic in the city, St. Louis will recover robustly. However, the solution to the St. Louis Louis housing crisis may require more time than anyone expected. While everyone hopes that the worst is over, we may not have seen the end it yet.
