St Charles County Real Estate Market Report - First Half 2018

To be a well-informed homebuyer, seller or investor, it is important to understand the current real estate market conditions. Part of our job is making sure our clients have the information necessary to make the best real estate decisions possible. To help, we’ve put together a report on the real estate market conditions in St. Charles County, Missouri for the first half of 2018.

Number of Homes for Sale

This first chart depicts the number of active real estate listings by month over the past 3 years. As you can see, late spring and early summer have the most homes listed for sale. In 2018, the number of homes listed for sale in January was 1047, while currently there are about 1375 homes listed for sale in the St. Charles County area of Missouri.

Also notice that while summer is a busy selling season, there are still a LOT of homes for sale in the middle of winter. So you can buy or sell a home any time of year.

But when you compare the number of homes for sale in the first half of the year to the two previous years, you can see that 2018 has fewer homes on the market. These conditions point to a sellers market, where there are a similar number of homebuyers looking for homes and a smaller number of homes listed for sale.

Average Sales Price

With a similar number of homebuyers and fewer homes listed, the average sales price of residential property in St. Charles County, Missouri has increased. However unlike 2016 and 2017, where prices increased every month, 2018 has had fluctuations. This may be a sign that prices are leveling or at least not climbing as quickly. If you’ve been thinking about listing a residential property for sale, now is a great time.

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Percentage of Original Price Received for a Residential Property

While sellers like to get the most money they can for their property, buyers want to pay the least they can for a home. Through the negotiation process the price received for residential real estate is often a little less than the original price the property was listed. The first half of 2018 shows that with more competition for residential properties, sellers are netting more money for their homes. Look closer at this chart and you’ll notice that homebuyers who purchase in the first quarter of the year (during the winter months) are more likely to get a better deal on their home purchase.

Days On Market

A decreasing number of days on market are another indicator of a sellers market. This points to competition among homebuyers - as there is often more than one buyer looking at and bidding on each home. Homebuyers are sometimes learning this the hard way, when they try to see a home for sale and find out that it already has an accepted contract.

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For St. Charles County, Missouri, the first half of 2018 is keeping a similar fast pace of home sales as 2017. Homebuyers should be prepared when looking at homes to act quickly when they find a home they like and prepare for possible bidding wars with other buyers. Working with a great buyers agent, like the buyers agents on The Boehmer Team, will increase a homebuyer’s chances of finding a great property for sale before it is sold.

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Contact The Boehmer Team for expert home buying or investing assistance. We know the St. Charles County, Missouri real estate market and have information on homes that are not yet listed for sale. Or if you are ready to get the most from a residential home sale in the current market, contact us to help with a smooth home selling experience. 

5 Reasons to Consider a Villa or Carefree Home

Homebuyers often forget a superb option when looking for St. Louis or St. Charles County real estate – villas (sometimes referred to as carefree homes or low maintenance living). Villas are sometimes attached homes, but could also be freestanding homes, situated within a villa community. While some might think that villas are just for retirees, many of today’s villas are created for everyone. Here are five reasons to consider a villa for your next home purchase.

1. Low Maintenance

Villa communities are created with low-maintenance living in mind. Like many single-family home communities, villa communities have a homeowners association or HOA that oversees daily community operations. However villa community HOA’s usually offer a lot more with regards to maintaining your property including the exterior maintenance, lawn care, landscaping maintenance, and snow removal.  Some association fees even cover structural home insurance.

2. Amenities

Many of the amenities you get in a single-family home and community are offered at villa home communities. Villa homes are usually created to offer privacy by providing buffer zones between entrances to homes, have private decks and/or secluded patio areas. Shared walls are built with sound and fire proofing materials for additional privacy and security. Also, planned villa communities sometimes include community green spaces, a clubhouse, a pool and tennis courts. 

A lovely deck in Lake St. Louis at a villa community built by Bridgewater Communities.

3. Affordability

Villa owners often see money savings when comparing villa community HOA fees and what they include to the cost of hiring individual services for exterior maintenance, lawn care, landscaping and snow removal. Also, villas have proven to hold their value at resale as more and more homebuyers discover the advantages that a villa home provides. In fact, increased interest in villa homes has lead to the creation of many luxury villa communities for the villa buyer who craves more space and designer details. 

Spacious and open villa home kitchen in St. Peters.

4. Security

If you travel frequently or only occasionally but for an extended period of time, a villa home is an excellent option. With exterior maintenance done for you, the exterior of your villa home will be kept in tip-top shape while you are gone. This thwarts potential thieves looking to break into homes that appear unoccupied. A leaky roof or gas leak is less likely to go unnoticed in an attached villa home where neighbors share a wall or roof. 

An open floor plan at a villa/carefree home built by Bridgewater Communities.

5. Location

While single-family homes may be built in a secluded neighborhood removed from town, villas are often in areas near shopping, banks, hospitals, vibrant entertainment and dining options. You may find a perfect villa that is closer to your office, shortening your daily commute or making your commute doable by bike or by walking. The right villa could even negate the need to own a car. 

A beautiful villa/carefree home in St. Charles, MO, built by Fischer & Frichtel.

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The Boehmer Team helps homebuyers buy or build the perfect villa/carefree home and helps home sellers list and sell their villa when they are ready to move on. We are villa experts that are well versed in all types of homeowner association agreements and can assist in making sure you understand everything that is included with a particular villa community. If you are considering buying or selling a villa/carefree home in the St. Louis or St. Charles County are of Missouri, contact The Boehmer Team. We would be happy to answer any questions you may have about villas and would love the opportunity to serve you.