Spotlight: Missouri
GREATER ST. LOUIS
3 Regions to Watch
WHEN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER POURED ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI THIS PAST
SPRING, MANY HOMEOWNERS FOUND THEIR PROPERTY UNDERWATER. WHETHER THE
LITERAL TIDE OF FLOODS OR THE FIGURATIVE TIDE OF MORTGAGE DEBT IS WORSE REMAINS
TO BE SEEN. MISSOURI HAS SEEN ITS SHARE OF BOTH.
As of the end of 2010, more than one in seven Missouri mortgages held negative equity, and one in
20 had less than 5 percent equity, according to CoreLogic. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)
reported 7. 45 percent of Missouri mortgages delinquent this past first quarter, down from 8. 5 percent
a year earlier.
Despite that improvement, help has been slow to come. Of the nearly 587,000 active permanent mortgage modifications issued nationwide under the Home Affordable Modification Program, only 6,208 —
barely more than 1 percent — were for Missouri homeowners as of the end of this past March.
In May, five counties received a new chance at relief. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced foreclosure bans and 100-percent financing for specific homeowner groups following the floods.
Missouri’s most-populous area was the nation’s
14th lowest-performing major market this past
April, according to Clear Capital. Real estate-owned properties made up 36. 8 percent of
the metro area’s home sales. The National
Association of Realtors reported a 20.2 percent
dip in the median home price (to $103,200) in
the 12-month period ending this past March.
Home Sales and Prices
HOME-PRICE CHANGE
Two of the nation’s worst drops in
home sales in major metropolitan
statistical areas (MSAs) in the year
ending this past March occurred
in Missouri. The National Association of Realtors reported declines
of 20. 3 percent and 14. 7 percent in
the Greater St. Louis and Kansas
City MSAs, respectively.
Statewide sales of single-family
homes, apartments, condos and
co-ops fell 13. 5 percent from first-quarter 2010 to first-quarter 2011,
the second-worst falloff nationally.
Source: CoreLogic Home Price Index Note: Includes single-family existing homes
The state’s single-family median home price, meanwhile, dropped 8. 3 percent in the 12-month period
ending this past March, according to CoreLogic.
Foreclosures
MISSOURI FORECLOSURES
Missouri’s foreclosure rate ranked
23rd nationally this past first quarter. RealtyTrac reported 4,064
auction notices and 4,706 bank
repossessions during the period.
The state’s foreclosure rate declined
3. 3 percent from a year earlier and
10. 4 percent from the fourth quarter
of 2010. Although judicial foreclosure is possible in Missouri, nonjudicial action is much more common.
Source: Realty Trac
KANSAS CITY
Last year was the third-worst on record for home
builders in the MSA, despite a 14. 7 percent increase in building permits (to 2,471) compared to
2009, according to the Home Builders Association
of Greater Kansas City. Demographia’s annual
survey called the Kansas City metro area “
affordable,” noting a median-priced home costs
2.7 times the area’s median income.
COLUMBIA
Home to the University of Missouri, this town’s
median home price jumped 10. 9 percent from
first-quarter 2010 to first-quarter 2011, according
to a report published by the Columbia Board of
Realtors. Home prices increased 4. 5 percent from
2006 through 2010 — while declining 7. 5 percent
statewide — according to the Federal Housing
Finance Agency.
WHAT THE LOCALS SAY
Mortgage Delinquency
Missouri posted the highest overall delinquency rate in a seven-state region roughly defined as the
north-central U.S. this past first quarter, according to MBA. It also had the nation’s fourth-worst 30-day
delinquency rate for subprime ARMs — 9.91 percent. Roughly one in every 11 Missouri mortgages was
subprime this past first quarter, a ratio closely aligned with the national trend.
“What we’ve seen for the last year and a half
or so is that the foreclosure rate is high, but
it’s not climbing. When we look at a 15- or
20-month period, we’re not seeing any significant
increases or drops. If we just look at the last
two or three months, we might be seeing a little
bit of a decline, but I’m not sure that two or
three months is enough to hold as a trend.”
— VERNON D. SINGER
PARTNER, MILLSAP & SINGER LLC
Darrick Meneken is an associate editor at Scotsman Guide. Reach him at (800) 297-6061 or darrickm@scotsmanguide.com.
Sources: Clear Capital, Columbia Board of Realtors, Columbia Missourian,
CoreLogic, Demographia, Federal Housing Finance Agency, foreclosurelaw.
org, Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City, Kansas City Business
Journal, The Kansas City Star, Mortgage Bankers Association, Mortgage Banking, National Association of Realtors, Realty Trac, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, U. S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of the
Treasury, U. S. Census Bureau
